Teh Stupid

In a podcast this week, Bill Simmons talked about how Ron Artest is the summer's biggest move (not Elton Brand, who went to the Sixers), because the trade makes the Rockets them the defensive force of the universe, and Brand doesn't make the Sixers anything more than a 45-win one-and-done playoff team. Oh, and that the Sixers were incredibly stupid for signing Brand.

Let's take the Brand signing first, because it somehow makes my head explode less. I've gone over this before, but what the Sixers have done is basically create a younger version of the Pistons -- not really a 45 win, one and done playoff team. Maybe they didn't get all the way there, and maybe they did -- but it's not like they had no plan, or that the plan was only to have a team with no real room to grow upward. Brand's not exactly ancient.

But even assuming that a Celtics homer's opinion can be trusted on such things, given where the Sixers have been for the past several years, is 45 wins a year really so damned awful? Trust me, the lottery years aren't more fun, and with the exception of the Allen Iverson pick, it wasn't terribly rewarding. (Don't believe me? Jerry Stackhouse. Shawn Bradley. Keith van Horn. Whoop de damn do.)

Next, Testy and the Rockets suddenly being a threat. Every year, people get seduced into thinking that a Tracy McGrady team is going to go far in the playoffs. Heck, I was among them last year, because I had been equally sucked into the idea that Yao Ming had to have a healthy year in him, if only once in his life. Testy doesn't change the fact that Yao and T-Mac can't stay healthy.

Nor can he change who he is... an overrated player, weak rebounder, and someone who's so stock raving flippo that he had beef with Yao before he even OFFICIALLY JOINED THE TEAM.

Look, I realize that NBA hounds adore guys with big reps as talented head cases, because they all think they can fix the guy (if only for a little while) and win. Hell, Dennis Rodman's got rings, so all it takes is the love of a good coach.

But for the love of Andrew Toney, just because Adelman got a decent half season and a competitive playoff against the Spurs, that doesn't make him a good coach. If he were a good coach, he'd have, you know, won a playoff series that you didn't expect him to win.

Anyway, back to Testy. Sure, he's in a contract drive. He'd have to be insane to not stay in his shoes and suck in a new team for a big deal. He's not getting any younger, and as a defensive player, he's going to have less time to be good.

He's also a guy that nearly got arrested for dog abuse. He provoked a riot. His dream as a young player was to work at a Circuit City. His rap work puts the duh in delusion.

So he's (a) not that good, and (b) not going to stay sane, and he's playing for a team where the stars can't stay healthy. So what's there to like here again?