Entourage 6.3 (Spoilers)

This was one of the most perplexing episodes I have seen first time through. Mainly because looking back a lot seemed to happen, but it didn't feel as though a lot happened. I think this can be attributed to the flow of the episode. It was just off for some reason; it felt rushed.

A lot happens to Turtle in this episode, but, again, a lot of it felt rushed. The tabloids point out the improbability of his relationship with Jamie-Lynn Sigler. His mom wants him to do more with his life which leads to Turtle wanting more out of his life. It's his birthday; he receives two cars, one from Vince and one from Jamie-Lynn. Because he feels like he has not done a lot with his life, he goes to Ari for advice on his career. There's a good line from Ari about Turtle getting funding for his business, "Did you tell them (banks) about your hat collection?" Turtle, with the advice from Jamie-Lynn, decides to go back to school by the end of the episode. A lot happened to Turtle, but it feels like too much to condense into one episode (actually the span of one day) especially on a show where he is not the main character and where the show is only a half hour in length.

The other main focus of the episode was on Charlie, E's other client, who has created and stars in a television pilot. The show tests well with focus groups, but his character does not. The studio plans to get rid of him. E goes to Ari for advice on how he would fight for his client. Why is everyone going to Uncle Ari for advice? Also, is it a good thing when a character played by "Bow Wow" is one of the more interesting characters on your show? On the other hand, I have to give credit to "Bow Wow's" acting which has been surprisingly adequate (so far).

One quick observation. The four guys go out to test drive Ferrari's on the track as part of Vince's research for his next film (along with presenting Turtle with one of his two new cars). Anyways, for some reason Vince, who could not pass a driving test two episodes ago without bribing the proctor, is driving smoothly four-wide on the track. Just shows the lack of attention to detail that goes along with the show. Sure, not a big deal, but more of a "just sayin'."

In the last couple of minutes of the episode, Vince has an interesting line to E as he says, "everything's changed." For the characters in the show that seems to be somewhat true. Vince is a big star again. E now likes his neighbor and seems to have forgotten about Sloan. Turtle's changes were documented earlier. With all of those changes, one would think that it would feel like a lot has happened, but it does not feel like a whole lot has happened and I have little confidence that anything will change in the end. The line "everything's changed" could be considered one of the more laughable lines in the show's run. Sure, things have changed, but is there any doubt that when all of the storylines have concluded that things won't, in most ways, end up peachy for the main characters on the show? There is no sense that anything is really at stake for the characters.

Episode Grade: C-

Entourage 6.2 (Spoilers)

While not a classic episode, the second episode of the sixth season of Entourage almost felt like it was when compared to the season premiere a week earlier.

This episode had some really good humor. The best part of it being that most of the funny moments had to do with the characters interacting with each other as opposed to being put into situations that were funny on their own discretion. Also, a discussion about "Knocked Up" that persists over the course of the episode is very well done and humorous. Well written comedy in this episode.

We also get a good look at Andrew Klein (Gary Cole) in this episode. Most of what we saw from him last season was his hesitance to join Miller-Gold. Now it seems that he is thriving in his new position, so much so that he is having some sort of an affair with another agent. This causes Ari to get upset because Klein is not respecting what Ari he gave him (his career/relevance) and could be throwing it all away for a fling. Ari attempts to stop Klein from interacting with the agent and warns him that he is risking a lot. Additionally there are a couple of funny interactions between Lloyd and Klein.

Probably the most interesting moment of the entire episode was the meeting with the show-runners (the interesting part lasting about one minute in screen time). In the meeting we get to see Ari at work and we get a look at why he is so good at what he does. This is what I wish the show focused on more. Why is Vince a movie star? Why is Ari such a great agent? I wish we got more of these scenes. This stuff is interesting and could give the audience an idea about how Hollywood works (whether it's factual or not).

This episode also focuses on E and Sloan again, but at least we got some progression in their story, even if it means that their romance will drag out even longer than first expected. E invites Sloan to Vince's premiere, though they go as friends. E confesses to Sloan that he doesn't think he can be just friends with her, she replies with maybe they shouldn't be friends and goes off to do her own thing. At the end of the episode E gets a text from Sloan reading "Sorry" which Eric deletes. He presumably heads off into the night to be with one of his neighbors who has been hitting on him the whole episode. So, it appears that E is going to forget about Sloan, at least for the time being. At this point, it would be surprising if E and Sloan do not end up back together, so now that it seems they are further apart than before is somewhat frustrating. Again, at least something happened with this storyline and we didn't get five scenes where the guys tease E about his relationship with Sloan. I think we only got two. Hopefully E finally being on his own will mean that those scenes will reduce significantly.

My biggest complaint about this episode and about how the show is being handled has to do with Vince's career. At the end of the day, Vince's career is what allows all of the good times to occur. His success means success and happiness for all the main characters in the show, so it is important for the audience to get an idea of how Vince's career could do a 180 and he can be a huge star again. The show has failed to do that in nearly every way imaginable. We don't really see any evidence that would leave us to believe that Vince can act again. It just happens and we are supposed to believe it. Other than Martin Scorsese directing "The Great Gatsby" we don't know a single other person who is involved in the movie. They wasted about two seasons on "Medellin" and Vince's career ended up in shambles. It has now taken him three episodes to be back on top. Gatsby is sold as Vince's comeback, yet we don't know anything about it. We don't see anything that would make that believable. They could have at least done half of this season on Vince's comeback to at least sell the audience on it.

Overall, this was a decent episode. It did what it was trying to do; hold Vince's premiere/seal his comeback once more and have some character progression. The episode didn't advance the storylines greatly (with the exception of E/Sloan) but it was a light, fun episode. For it being one of those types of episodes it was above average.

Episode Grade: B-

Entourage 6.1 (Spoilers)

First, my thoughts/mindset on Entourage coming into Season 6. For the most part I enjoyed the first five seasons of Entourage. The show's strongest feature is its entertainment value; it's a very easy show to watch. In the past couple of seasons, however, I have felt a growing problem with the show, though it has never been a deal breaker. The problem being that essentially nothing changes. Everything that happens on the show happens so that eventually everything comes back to the same starting point. It works in a circle. It's not that I have a massive dislike for the show for this reason, but it does take away from its overall quality. It leaves me wanting more. Maybe the show is supposed to be light, on the surface, and about how movie stars hangout/party, but it has always had the potential to be much better.

At the end of last season, for the first time, I found myself annoyed with the direction of the show. After Vince has a colossal flop with "Medellin" (a movie he stared in and sunk his own money into) he attempts to rebound with "Smoke Jumpers" but production is shutdown by the studio. With his career in the dumps, Vince and E part ways and Vince moves back to Queens. We are left thinking that Vince is going to have to struggle to get his career back on the right track. Except in the final five minutes left in the season when Martin Scorsese calls up Vince and offers him the part of Nick Carraway in his adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Are you kidding me? First off, are we supposed to believe that Leonardo DiCaprio wasn't already going to play Carraway if Scorsese was to ever make the film? Secondly, Vince is offered the part because of some footage from "Smoke Jumpers" that E passed to Gus Van Sant, for his project, who in turn passed it to Scorsese who apparently saw enough to have Vince and his failing career play one of the leads in his next big film. In sum, everything turns out peachy for Vince and the gang once again. I am left wanting more once again. Quick side note: I am not the first to point this out, but isn't there a problem when your TV show is about Hollywood and the worst actor on your TV show is supposed to be playing a movie star? The footage that apparently sold Scorsese on Vince was largely unintentionally comically acted by Grenier. Hard to buy as a viewer. Anyway, I would have liked to have seen Vince struggle more to get back to movie star status instead of lucking out once again. All right, I've gone on too long, lets see about Season Six (my fingers are crossed)...


"Yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah..."

Not exactly the opening I was hoping for. It turns out we have warped all the way back to Season 2 (I believe) this time as Vince has moved back into his old mansion. I don't like where this is headed.

Vince has successfully completely Gatsby and his career looks to be in perfect condition. I really don't like where this is headed.

First conversation the boys have is about E's perceived quest for love, being a softy and not being able to play the man's role in a romantic relationship. This is the 80th conversation about this subject they have had. It's actually almost the same dialogue to boot. Man, I really don't like where this is headed.

E gets a call from Sloan. We are really moving backwards this season. E attempts to sneak away from the rest of the guys. Turtle and Drama, of course, try to follow him so they can hear his conversation. We have seen this particular scene about 80 times. She asks him if he is interested in subletting a house from her friend who is moving to Vancouver for a year. Side note: Sloan is in the hills outside downtown L.A. on one of the smoggiest days on record. At least, I hope there aren't many other days that are smoggier. OK, this is semi-interesting. E may be moving out of the mansion.

Then we get to some odd territory. Ari is on a high because the agent he vouched for, Andrew Klein, sealed the deal with the show-runner for "My Name is Earl." This episode had to have been filmed awhile back because "My Name is Earl" is canceled. Anyways, things appear to be working well at Miller-Gold.

OK, maybe things aren't great for everybody. Lloyd, Ari's assistant, demands to be promoted. We have now arrived at the most interesting storyline this season will have to offer. Ari dismisses Lloyd's demands and tells him to get back to work. Good stuff, shows some promise.

Vince is practicing his parallel parking as he is going into the DMV to get his driver's license so he can be "independent" and drive for his upcoming movie role where he is supposed to play Enzo Ferrari. His parking job is horrendous and he hits E's Aston Martin. Funny scene.

E is set to leave to meet with Sloan. The rest of the gang has the same reaction they have had for the entire run of the series as they tease E about falling for her. Yep, 80 times is about right.

Vince passes his driving test because he gives his test proctor free passes to the Gatsby premiere. Fair enough. We are at the DMV after the test is finished. The boys are all leaving when once again they give E a hard time about his relationship with Sloan. 81.

We get to Vince's appearance at The Tonight Show w/Jay Leno. Yes, this episode was definitely filmed a while ago. I get the impression that the studio audience was asked to laugh every time Leno spoke because I have never seen one of his audiences laugh this much. The Leno appearance apparently seals the deal on Vince's comeback.

At Leno appearance the 82nd installment occurs.

Guys get back to the house. Vince is drinking Budweiser. I don't know why, but I doubt many movie stars have Budweiser as their drink-of-choice.

Vince and E discuss living alone. We have definitely been here before. Which guy needs the other guy around more? Uninteresting.

Ari tells Lloyd to wait on his porch at 10:00 PM and wait for him to meet him. Ari wakes up at 1:30 AM and tells Lloyd he'll give him 100 days to prove himself. This storyline really has some potential. Hopefully it won't be squandered.

Vince and E meet up with Sloan and her friend that is offering up the house. Vince hits on her, she resists...I mean goes to Vince's Escalade so the two of them can be alone. Draw your own conclusions if you must. This happens about once every couple of episodes.

With everyone out and about, Vince comes home to a dark/empty mansion. Episode concludes.


All right, so, first episode of a new season. I realize it's time to setup all of the stories that will play out for the rest of the season. Lloyd trying to be an agent is interesting. Vince being alone, not very interesting. I just hope we don't have to hear Vince, Turtle, and Drama give E a hard time about his romantic life the whole season. Those scenes are tired. There were some good things and some not so good things. Again, it was entertaining, left me wanting more, and I am still interesting to see where it goes from here.

Episode Grade: C-

Have I Gone Insane? (Or Has Just About Everyone Else?)

Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson. For almost two weeks now, the death of Michael Jackson has been the only thing that matters in the world. Well, at least it appears to be the only thing that matters if you turn on the "news", listen to people talk in public or peruse the internet. I never would have guessed that Michael Jackson's death - or for that matter the death of just about any person in the world - would have gotten this kind of reaction. Unfortunately, this has gone way too far.

When the news broke that Michael Jackson died on June 25th my initial thought was, "That's too bad. That must be horrible for the people that were close to him." You would never believe what I did next though. I continued to live my life. In a way, I think it's what Michael would have wanted. In all seriousness, I was a little bit surprised that Michael Jackson died, but I was not shocked. Apparently, I was in the vast minority. I mean, from afar anyone could see the odd behavior and changing physical appearance of Michael Jackson. All of that has to take a toll on your body. Not to mention the stress that he had to endure over the course of years making music, performing, and being a part of the public spotlight. I knew that it would be a big news story that would be covered for several hours. I never would have imagined that it would be virtually the only thing talked about for almost two weeks though.

Why are we getting this kind of reaction out of the death of Michael Jackson? I realize that Michael Jackson was about the biggest musical "artist" in the world for two decades (sure, you could argue longer, that part doesn't really matter). Let's even go ahead and say that Michael Jackson made the best pop music ever created; fine, I won't argue that either because it does not matter because that still does not explain this magnitude of public reaction or volume of news coverage. I mean people all around the world are seemingly going into the streets to "celebrate his life." People are going to his house, his star on the Hollywood Walk-of-Fame, and who knows where else. They're all going there because Michael Jackson had a big effect on their life? I don't get how it could have possibly become this big. I am twenty-one years of age; from since I can remember Michael Jackson has been thought of as a weird person, who made great music in years past. Sure, I recognized what he did as a musical talent. I understand that. What has Michael Jackson been known for in the past fifteen years? He was thought of as weird. He was accused on multiple occasions of sexual abuse on minors. At the very least he admitted that he was did not feel it was weird to be the lone adult in the company of little boys. I will not judge Jackson, but can anyone question that there were news stories about his odd behavior over this time period? He was not really in the public spotlight in many ways, let alone positive ways. Let me say this much about Michael Jackson. He made extremely popular music that some people consider the best pop music ever. He was also odd, a recluse, and the butt of many jokes. So, again, when Michael Jackson died my initial reaction was surprise. It was a realization that his death would be a big news story. But, I wouldn't have guessed that every minute angle of his life/death would be investigated and people would be talking about his death as if the world had lost its last decent person. For many years now, my view of what most people thought about Michael Jackson was that he was a flawed person (sure we all are), who lived a weird life, and who did not have an overly positive image in the public sphere. When Michael Jackson died, all the odd behavior, all of the questionable actions effectively were forgotten. It's as if it the last fifteen years of his life never happened. Now I do realize that when someone dies many of their flaws are pushed aside so their life can be celebrated. But to outright act like none of it ever happened is mind-boggling. To act like Michael Jackson was a perfect human being who never had anything bad happen in his life that he MAY have been responsible for is the shocking part. Interestingly, I never heard anyone talk about Michael Jackson as if he was perfect until he died. I am not trying to criticize Michael Jackson or the life he lived. Sure, we all have our flaws, none of us are perfect. What I am trying to get across is that the people that are going to the streets and acting like the world's last pure person died are insane. Even if a person was as perfect as people are making Michael Jackson to be, it does not warrant this kind of reaction. This part of it has nothing to do with Michael Jackson. It has to do with the reaction that any person could have to the death of a person they really do not know or have not even met one time in their life. For people to have this big of a reaction to any human being dying that they have never met is shocking. People are treating him as if he was God.

The "news coverage" on TV is completely abhorrent. I have not been watching the "news" much since he died, because I cannot actually find news to watch. What I have been able to watch is 24/7 coverage about all things Michael Jackson. Basically every single second is devoted to Michael Jackson. What really is there to report after ten days and several hours of coverage? It's apparent that there is nothing else happening in the world. Iran, North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Honduras, Russia and the United States of America, absolutely nothing is happening in those parts of the world. Absolutely nothing. There are no problems in the world except Michael Jackson is no longer with us. Shocking and sickening at the same time. I watched NBC Nightly News yesterday (7/6). You know what the news story was after the Michael Jackson coverage concluded? Any guesses? Six American soldiers died in Afghanistan. Am I the only one that recognizes that something is even a little wrong here? Media outlets have people stationed all over the country/globe just to cover his death and the public reaction to it. They have people doing stories about his pet chimp. It's insane. No one has to tell me that the news media is about entertainment and viewership these days, I already know that. But instead of just sitting here and saying, that's just the way things are, I'd rather complain about the disservice they are doing to society. It is their responsibility to inform people about the important events going on in the world and they do a pathetic job. Absolutely shameful.

Other Observation/Thoughts Include:

As many as twelve people committed suicide because Michael Jackson died. Seriously, it's too outrageous for me to have actually made up. It makes me wonder how someone who actually thought life was not worth living if Michael Jackson was not alive could have survived long enough to kill them self after he died. In this day and age it's really an unbelievably believable story. Story Here

My dad just told me that my uncle (his brother) had jury duty today (7/7). When the judge asked if anyone had any questions a lady on the jury apparently asked, "Can I wear my Michael Jackson t-shirt tomorrow?" I am not joking.

How could someone care about what is going to happen to Michael Jackson's assets or the custody of his children or any array of court cases that are going to take place involving Michael Jackson and his death? How can someone possibly be that invested in another person's life? None of us have any stake in any of it. At the most I could see how someone would want his kids to be put into a good situation. I hope they are put in a good situation as well, but I have no idea what a good situation is for them. Do you know why? Because I have never met nor do I know anyone who they might end up living with.

I was disgusted when I saw Joe Jackson, Michael's father, promoting his record company after his son died. Joe Jackson at BET Awards - 3:20 mark

Al Sharpton. How could anyone have even an ounce of respect for this guy? He deserves to be completely cut off from the public at this point. What is there to gain from anything he does or says? A couple of days ago at an L.A. church he called for there to be a National Day of Mourning for Michael Jackson. Really?! He also said that the post office should create a commemorative stamp in Jackson's honor and waive the five year waiting period that has only been used for Presidents of the United States. He also criticized the media's coverage of Michael's death. I did agree with that point until I heard that he was criticizing the media for painting Michael in a bad light and bugging his family too much. Again, really?! All I have heard is the news praising Michael Jackson as if he was a saint. I haven't heard a single person on the news criticize anything about Michael Jackson's life. Let's go ahead and assume that there are news outlets that are talking about some of the questionable parts of Jackson's life. Isn't that part of who Michael Jackson was? It's at least part of the discussion, no? Al Sharpton is one of the main forces responsible for Michael Jackson's death becoming a circus. It's a shame. Please, do us all a favor and go away. Story Here

Over 1.5 million people entered the lottery to get tickets for Jackson's memorial at the Staples Center. With this we have seriously entered Willy Wonka territory. Honestly, I could just imagine seeing one of those fools at Dodger Stadium skipping around the parking lot singing, "cause I got a golden ticket." You'll never see people more happy to go to a memorial.

Oh, how many people feel it was worth it for any human being to get a four million dollar funeral? And the taxpayers will pick up the tab too.

What happens to all of the jokes about Michael Jackson? From since I can remember people have been making Michael Jackson jokes. Now that we have proclaimed him above human, are these jokes off limits? My point here being that I never heard anyone act like Michael Jackson was a flawless human being until he died. What about all the jokes that were made about him? What about the people who made jokes about Michael Jackson and little boys who are now all over TV talking about how perfect Michael Jackson was?

I saw a "news story" on CNN's website about this group of people who found an image of Michael Jackson in the tree in their front yard. First of all, this is crazy. Second, what the image resembled was nothing close to an image of anything other than an ordinary tree. Third, one of the people looking at the tree compared Michael Jackson to Jesus. Well kind of, here is the exact quote, "To Stockton, Michael Jackson meant more to us than maybe Jesus did to some people. I think they are both about even. They're both icons." Oh. My. Goodness! The thought that there is one person in the world that actually believes that, let alone thousands, if not millions, is frightening. I have nothing else to say about this because I might have to be put into an insane asylum if I think about it for one more second. 'Jackson image' in tree?

There is so much public reaction and volume of news coverage that I could write about this for days. Like I wrote earlier, I am not heavily tuned into the Michael Jackson coverage for a reason. I think it's telling how much I can write about it without really being all that tuned into the coverage. There are so many levels to this event at this point.

In conclusion...

I have never understood why/how some people can be so invested in lives of celebrities. I mean at the end of the day, celebrities are people, people that we don't really know. We may think we know them, but unless we have spent any amount of time around them, we really do not know them as much as we may think we do.

Michael Jackson's memorial was today. It was probably the most coverage I have watched regarding the death of Michael Jackson. I have nothing else much to say beyond I feel bad for all of the people who were there because they were the true friends and family of Michael Jackson. The event that happened today was a memorial for a human being. The people who were involved in the service had real emotions. It's very understandable.

I feel bad for the people that knew and loved Michael Jackson. This has got to be a difficult time for them, as it is for any person who loses someone they know and love. I can even understand, a little bit, if there are people out there that didn't know Michael Jackson that feels somewhat sad that he died. What I can't understand is how people can act like this was a global tragedy and say that the world will never be the same.

My criticisms have little to do with Michael Jackson as a person. I did not know him, I will not judge him. I just do not understand how heavily invested people are in his (or anyone's) life. Especially considering that almost 100% of these people never met him. The thing I might find most perplexing about this, above everything else, is how I never heard ONE person, in my entire lifetime, talk about Michael Jackson this positively (or proclaim him to be as perfect as some make it sound) until after his death. NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. If people did feel this way about Michael Jackson, why didn't anyone ever convey those feelings? Why did they wait for his death?

Maybe I am wrong about all of this and I, in fact, have just gone insane. Maybe I am missing something. Maybe I didn't see any of the apparent vast amounts of outright love for Michael Jackson over the course of my life. Maybe that's true, but I can't remember too many times in my life when I have felt more right about my opinion on an issue/event.

Early Thoughts on NBA Off-Season Activity

I was thinking about writing something about the NBA off-season after the NBA draft was conducted last week. I decided not to because I wanted to at least wait for free agency to start. Today, we learned that Ron Artest will be joining the Los Angeles Lakers. I couldn't wait any longer.

Moves/Thoughts:

• Ron Artest agrees to a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. To put the bias out there immediately, I am a huge L.A. Lakers fan. This move scares me a bit. Essentially what happened with this move is the Lakers are exchanging Trevor Ariza, who is going to sign a deal with the Houston Rockets, for Artest. We all know about Artest's unpredictability (brawl, technicals, odd behavior in general), but at the end of the day Artest is the better player (as much as that pains me to say). I am a huge Trevor Ariza fan. Ariza is just now entering his mid-twenties and was a massive contributor in the Lakers run to the championship. Offensively, Ariza seemed to be improving game by game; look at his 3pt. shooting in the playoffs. He's not the type of player who needs to have the ball in his hands constantly in order to be effective on the offensive end and he does a lot of the small things (sorry for the cliche, I hate them too); he's a glue-guy. As for Artest, the big question is, does he have the right mindset? He certainly has the skills, but can he keep himself right mentally? This is the risky part of this move. Does Artest have respect for Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson (I'll assume that he comes back)? You'd think any person with a resume similar to Kobe or Phil would command respect from others in the game, but if there is one person who might not respect that long term, it might be Artest. Artest is going to have to defer to Kobe and Phil, not to mention some of his new teammates (specifically on offense). On the court, something that has always bugged me about Artest is his propensity to take bad shots. Frankly, the Lakers already have a player that does that (I'll let you figure out who I am talking about). Artest simply cannot do that if the Lakers are going to be successful. The main thing that really intrigues me about this signing for the Lakers is in late game situations (especially in the playoffs). They are going to be able to have Kobe and Artest cover the other team's two best wing players; this should be exciting to watch. Another attribute Artest brings to the table is his physicality; he's strong and is difficult to match up with. This move can be dynamite (in more ways than one) for the Lakers. They'll be extremely difficult to beat if Artest is on board (mentally) and they resign Lamar Odom. I text messaged one of my good friends to tell him that the Lakers were going to sign Artest. His response was, "Who's going to be able to stop us now?" My response: "Artest."


• Richard Jefferson traded to the San Antonio Spurs. This was a really nice move for San Antonio. They get a fourth big time player in their lineup who does not have to be relied upon to carry the load offensively night after night. The floor will open up for him as well because of Parker's penetrating ability and Tim Duncan commanding double teams. The best part is that they only had to give up three old-timers in Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto, and Kurt Thomas. They might even get one or two of those guys back if they get waived by their new teams (I hate this rule, but it's a discussion for another time). Jefferson should also be motivated after spending a season in irrelevant Milwaukee. At the end of the day though, the question for San Antonio is health. Can Parker, Ginobili, and Duncan stay healthy deep into a playoff run? One other small note on S.A.: It kills me when good teams continue to make smart decisions while bad teams continue to make dumb decisions. San Antonio drafting Dejuan Blair in the second round of the draft might have been the biggest steal of the night. It's the exact type of move that makes San Antonio who they are.


• Shaquille O'Neal is traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I like this move for Cleveland because they only had to give up dead weight (Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic) to get Shaq. The problem is that it looks like Shaq may have been acquired to play defense against one guy (Dwight Howard). Maybe it's worth it, I mean, they didn't have to give up anything vital to get him. A motivated Shaq can be a great asset to a team and he should help out scoring. Cleveland just can't trot guys out on the floor like Mo Williams and Delonte West to try to combat guys that are stronger and taller than they are. This was a good move for them, but it doesn't necessarily address Cleveland's biggest needs (size on the perimeter). Let's be honest, Shaq is going to miss about 20 regular season games anyways. One of these times we are going to see Shaq's last injury, that time may be coming rather soon.


• Vince Carter is traded to the Orlando Magic. Of all of the moves that have happened so far, this one might be my favorite of the lot and I am not even a big fan of Vince Carter's game. Carter, when healthy, is one of the best scorers in the game and he will take some of the pressure off of Dwight Howard's...um...offense? Vince is no longer "half man half amazing" (with injury problems he never was for any long stretch), but he's a very good player. Orlando is going to lose Hedo Turkoglu to free agency (in all likelihood) so this is another trade-off. I'd take Vince over Hedo easily. Orlando also got rid of constant headache Rafer Alston in the deal; this is a case of addition by subtraction. Also in the deal were Tony Battie (replaceable) and Courtney Lee (promising rookie, but probably not going to be star in the league). Orlando also adds Ryan Anderson. This was the sneaky part of the deal. Anderson might become a nice player for Orlando down the road. I really liked this deal for Orlando.


• Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva agree to deals with Detroit Pistons. I'll be honest, I don't think this put Detroit back into contention with the rest of the big boys in the east, namely Boston, Orlando, and Cleveland. Both of these guys are good players, but they aren't obvious stars. This is definitely an improvement for this team over last season, but I don't see how they compete with the other top tier teams. By the way, I still have no clue why they traded Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson. I know it was a move done because of contracts rather than talent, but it was foolish. Billups is one of the top five point guards in the game (easily) and Allen Iverson is a head case who takes way too many shots. More on point, I don't see how Rodney Stuckey, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Gordon, and Charlie Villanueva as a core group is any better than 4th or 5th best team in the Eastern Conference (at best). Call me crazy, but I don't see it. Oh wait, I just took a look at their roster and saw that they still have Kwame "Small Hands" Brown. Never mind Detroit is getting a ring next year. Small rant: two things I marvel at from time to time are how the "genius" Michael Jordan actually handpicked this guy as the number one player in the draft and how he was involved in two of the most lopsided trades in the last decade. Kwame Brown for Caron Butler being the first. Kwame Brown, Marc Gasol, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, and two first round picks for Pau Gasol being the second. I'd like to take this time to thank Chris Wallace once again for giving away Pau Gasol. Mr. Wallace deserves a ring for the Lakers championship this year.


• Quick Hits


• I have no clue what the Minnesota Timberwolves are thinking. Drafting two point guards with the 5th and 6th picks in the draft. Unbelievable. Now Ricky Rubio, in my opinion the clear second best player in the draft, is contemplating going back to Spain. Minnesota may have really screwed this one up.


• The Boston Celtics are not finished, especially if they sign Rasheed Wallace (which it looks like they might do). He'd be coming in as the fifth, sixth, or maybe even seventh best player on the team. Could be a really nice fit.


• The draft last week featured the shallowest (in talent) and most unpredictable group of players I have ever seen. After Blake Griffin and Ricky Rubio, I have no idea of who we can expect to be solid out of the class. Picks 3-20, on a talent level, were very close to each other.


• As of July 2nd here are my top five teams going into next season.


1. Los Angeles Lakers


2. Boston Celtics


3. Orlando Magic


4. San Antonio Spurs


5. Cleveland Cavaliers