Games of the Week: February 20-26, 2012.

An abbreviated Games of the Week, as All-Star Break looms large on the horizon.  Look for a more in-depth All-Star Weekend preview this coming Thursday.  In the meantime, we've got four excellent regular season games to look forward to before the forced pageantry of All Star Break descends upon us. Let's get right to it. 

Monday: Portland Trailblazers at Los Angeles Lakers (7:30 PM PST)

Do you remember when this was the greatest rivalry in professional basketball on West Coast? Man, I do.  Good times. Shaq vs. Sabonis.  Kobe vs. Pippen.  Sheed vs. The Refs.  In my opinion, enough time has passed since the 1999-2000 Western Conference Finals to finally award the series-deciding Game Seven "One of the Greatest Games of All Time" status.  Although, folks in Portland might not like to think too hard about their team blowing a fifteen point lead in the fourth quarter, an appearance in the NBA finals, and a (probable) victory against the Indiana Pacers.  Of all of the "What If?" questions regarding NBA history, "What If Portland Had Won Game 7 of the 2000 WCF?" remains one of the most compelling, at least in my mind.  In any case, the 2012 Lakers-Blazers rivalry might decide who has the honor of being eighth seed, rather than Western Conference champion/Miami Heat fodder.

Jeremy Lin Nickname Bracketology: Sweet Sixteen

Ed. Note: We thought about calling it "The Sweet and Sour Sixteen", but even The Diss has a tighter lid on our editorial process than ESPN.

Thought #Linsanity would die down this weekend? Wrong. Think again. One aforementioned reprehensible ESPN headline, an SNL cold open, and 28 points and a career high 14 assists (on national TV) later, I can only speak for myself and The Diss when I say: He's lindescribable! Linvincible! He Lin Lin Lins, no matter what! Even this woman wasn't afraid to tell the world about her (cruel) lintentions.

The MPAA just upgraded this blog's rating from PG-13 to R

However, the real big news of the weekend that was were the results in voting for Round 1 of our Jeremy Lin Nickname Bracket. There were several notable upsets that shocked the selection committee, most of all the overwhelming defeat of 1-seed ShaoLin Monk & The Nu York Knickerbeez by 8-seed Lin & Out Burger, aptly predicted by our very own self-described "bracketology hater," Mr. Jacob Greenberg. When  reached for comment, Greenberg stated, "For the record, everyone knows Animal Style beats Shaolin Style. It's not even a question." Upon further research, the we've Diss-covered that Lin himself is a fan of In & Out burger, and even called it his "favorite postgame meal" during his tenure with the Golden State Warriors. We should have known.

8-seed Lin & Out Burger: our Linderalla?

Of course, The Diss would like to thank each and every one of over 600 voters who made this Sweet Sixteen possible. Without any further ado, we are proud to present the updated Jeremy Lin Nickname Bracket and the round of sixteen:

Click for full size bracket

Vote below! Check back for Elite 8 pairings later this week, and look for further Sweet Sixteen breakdown and lin-alysis tomorrow.

Sunday Discussion: An Interview with Jason Angeles, Seattle's only Oklahoma City Thunder Fan.

Editor's Note: When the SuperSonics left Seattle in 2008, most fans crawled into their holes, and began a long hibernation, awaiting the return of professional basketball to the city.  However, Jason Angeles bravely waited out the winter, and now is one of the city's only Thunder fans.  As such, he's enjoyed the team's rise to eliteness, even as the rest of the city remains shocked, saddened and angered by the circumstances that surrounded the franchise's move.  With news of an imminent arena deal in Seattle -- and, presumably, a return for NBA basketball -- it felt fitting to interview Jason, the city's only living Thunder fan, here on The Diss.  In addition to the Sonics and Thunder, this interview touches on the importance of loyalty, supporting winning and losing teams, and the designation of Seattle sports fans as "fair weathered."  Let's get to it.

******

Jason.  How are you?

I'm good.  Thanks.

A few questions, hopefully they don't offend.

Just don't use the word "chink".

I'll try.  So, when did you first start to pay attention to basketball?

Oh, it was the 80s.  I watched a lot of basketball with my dad.  Watched Larry and Magic, that whole rivalry.  The finals.  I went to my first Sonics game in '83. Maybe it was '84.  I remember Gus Williams and Lenny Wilkens, the coach.

So obviously, you're a Sonics fan.  When'd that start?

So I was a little kid, and I liked them then, but then I got out of basketball, and didn't really care until 1992, when George Karl came in midseason and rescued the Sonics.  He brought them all the way back to the playoffs, where they beat the Warriors.  Sorry.

It's okay.  Lots of people beat the Warriors.

So yeah.  It was Kemp's second year, and the Payton-Kemp show started to dazzle, and yeah, it caught my attention.  I started playing more basketball then when the Sonics started winning.

That's awesome.

Yeah.  That's when I started liking it.  When they had X (Xavier McDaniel), I didn't really care.  I didn't pay attention.  It was the early 1990s, for sure.

Wild Speculation and Outlandish Guesses: Lin Bracketology Edition

Will the #Linsanity ever stop? In short, no. Not anytime soon. Yesterday was simply a monumental day for Jeremy Lin nickname coverage. The Daily Show, Yao Ming, Linked-Lin CEO Jeff Weiner, and even Jeremy himself all jumped aboard the Lin nickname bandwagon with reckless abandon, and of course, so did The Diss with our Jeremy Lin Nickname Bracket. We'd be remiss without offering a tip of the hat to Jimmy Traina at SI Hot Clicks, Sports Grid, and many others for sharing our bracket with the masses. We're humbled and thrilled by the response so far, over 500 votes, and we're excited to tabulate the results on Sunday night and move on to the Sweet Sixteen.

Bracketology: Somewhere between Art and Science lies perfection

With that said, what would a bracket be without some good old fashioned Bracketology? For some breakdown and lin-alysis of some key match-ups, let's bring in noted bracketologists Andrew Snyder, Jacob Greenberg, Jordan Durlester, and Franklin Mieuli for a round table.

The Week That Was: February 13-19, 2012.

Every part of me wants to do a "Week That Was" that doesn't mention the words "Jeremy" or "Lin." But that's no longer possible in today's NBA. A specter is haunting New York -- the specter of Linsanity.

Anyways, on tap for this week: signs of concern in the City of Angels, on forgiving and forgetting, and some tangible proof of what a major market can do for you (and your growing brand). Let's get to it.

1. FYI: Ron Artest is All Feel.

The Mike Brown era has gotten off to a somewhat rocky start in Los Angeles. The Lakers, at 17-12, are currently the fifth seed out West. Though their defense only allows their opponents to score 90.4 points per game, good for fourth in the league, they are a truly terrible offensive club. They only manage 92.5 points per game, placing them at 24th out of 30 teams. Moreover, the Lakers are in the bottom third of the Association in a number of important statistical categories, including steals, assists, three pointers attempted, three pointers made, and field goal attempts. Indeed, they're riding a two game winning streak, and have won six of their last ten overall. The team has struggled with scoring, defensive intensity (strange to type "intensity" without an "L" at the beginning), and now, seemingly, locker room chemistry, especially between player(s) and coach.

Two interviews this week gave glimpses into what might be a devolving situation in the Lakerslocker room. This past Friday, forward Metta World Peace, who, statistically speaking, is having the worst season of his career, pointedly questioned Brown's lineups and background, and additionally asserted that he wasn't in touch with his veteran squad. "I'm trying to win," World Peace said to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, "and right now, coach is a stats guy. His background is video coordinator or whatever. So he's all stats. But Ron Artest is all feel. He doesn't understand that." Additionally, forward Matt Barnes, in an interview with Dan LeBetard on "Dan LeBetard is Highly Questionable"(with a hat-tip to Kelly Dwyer at "Ball Don't Lie"), seconded World Peace's sentiments, although he couched his opinions behind the deceptive language of competitiveness. At around the 1:38 mark of the interview (and the entire interview is worth watching, MB is a smart dude), Barnes somewhat passive aggressively wonders if Mike Brown's defensive match-ups played a role in Lin's 38. "I wanted to guard him the whole game," said Barnes, "and I know Ron wanted to guard him the whole game." Mike Brown, however, seemed unfazed. In the greatest comeback a coach could have against a player who questions his ability to separate stats versus "feel", Mike Brown said: "Metta, if I were a stats guy, you wouldn't be playing at all." Zing.

Mike Brown is known as a defensive coach, and was hired to change the Lakers defensive culture moving forward into the post-Phil Jackson era.However, while Brown can hang his hat on his quality defense, he should neither ignore his team's offense, nor the opinions of his players, who have been teammates longer than he has been their coach. It is a dangerous game to play, and Mike Brown could certainly end up unemployed yet again.

Consider the cautionary tale of Terry Porter. After the 2008 firing of Mike D'Antoni, then-GM Steve Kerr hired Terry Porter was hired to instill a defensive mentality into the Suns. The organization had let D'Antoni go because he refused to heed former Kerr's advice about hiring a more defensive-minded coaching staff.Terry Porter was meant to fix that problem. However, about halfway into the season, it was clear that Porter was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. The Suns, at the time, were a veteran team that had been used to the freedom of SSOL, and for them the offensive struggles that came with instilling a defensive system were seen as an unacceptable side effect. So, Kerr listened to his players (whom, coincidentally, were also the organization's highest paid employees), and axed Porter after 51 games, despite the fact the Suns were 28-23, and ninth in West. D'Antoni holdover Alvin Gentry was promoted to head coach, and crafted a scrappier version of SSOL offense which carried the team to the Western Conference Finals in 2010.

So remember, Mike: they can't fire the players. Only you.

An Idiot Abroad or The House That (the other) Jordan Built

There are a number of excellent advantages to marrying a lawyer. Parking tickets become nothing more than minor inconveniences, you quickly learn the difference between a tort and a torte, and on special occasions you get free bulls tickets.

I moved from San Francisco to Chicago back in October of last year. So far I've really enjoyed exploring this deep dish loving, catchupless hotdog eating, city of sports nuts. These people truly live and breathe everything Cubs/Bulls/Bears. So, naturally, when Ab came home with bulls tickets for Thursday's game against Boston I was ecstatic (mostly because it gave me something better to do than think of more Jeremy Lin nicknames).

The game itself, although unfortunately Roseless, was pretty entertaining for a number of reasons. The Bulls interior passing is a thing of beauty, Mike James may have stolen C.J. Watson's job, Luol Deng become my favorite NBA player of all time, and Joakim Noah's "gun show" routine is even more ridiculous looking in person.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your priorities) the most intriguing aspects of the game took place during the commercial breaks. Like every other NBA venue they fired t-shirts out of semi-automatic fabric shotguns, gauged the sound level by the scientifically-backed jumbotron decibel meter, and implored the crowd to chant DE-FENSE on nearly every Celtic possession. However - unlike every other NBA venue I've been to - they highly value teletubbies, utilize the indigestion-cam, have a thing for grandmas, and have a profound respect for acrobatic Argentinian brothers.

Wouldn't it be great if I just ended this article here?

The Indigestion-Cam: We all know Chicago isn't exactly the healthiest city in America. Whether good or bad - Chicagoans like to eat. However, I find it a little strange that twice during TV timeouts the indigestion-cam displayed members of the crowd stuffing their faces with nachos, hotdogs, and popcorn...in fast-motion. My god. It was awful.

F.O.T.G.: The Fan of the Game is an American tradition. It's pretty simple - Find the cutest kid or drunkest frat boy, put them on camera for 30 seconds, and give out free coupons for Big Macs (which they will later be recorded eating, only to be sped up and used for next games Indigestion-Cam). The United Center crew didn't get that memo. Instead, the fan of the game last night was some hipster in a full on teletubby costume. Why....?

The Swingin' Seniors: I JUST WANNA DANCE! - The loudest the crowd got last night was when these ol' broads got down.

The Anton Brothers: These 2 Argentinian dudes wowed the crowd at halftime by doing a routine that any Cirque du Soleil fanatic would respectfully approve of. For 12 minutes one of the brothers would sit back in a chair and flip the other one in circles by kicking him pretty hard in the ass. That's about as good of a summary as any. See for yourself.

Oh yeah...the bulls won.

Jeremy Lin Nickname Bracketology

Linsanity. The Yellow Mamba. Half Man Half Am-Asian. Have you heard this terminology during a recent Knicks broadcast, or perhaps when perusing Slate.com?

Jeremy Lin has burst to the forefront of the NBA consciousness with some of the best basketball nicknames the Association has seen since Chocolate Thunder, Pistol Pete, and Vinnie "The Microwave" Johnson. While these transcendent monikers had no competition in defining their namesakes, NBA nick-naming forces have not yet coalesced around a single choice for Jeremy Lin. The Diss, however, can offer a solution.

Lin: Jacked up about this nickname bracket

With apologies to Joe Lunardi and all other licensed bracketologists, The Diss is pleased to serve up our lin-augural bracket: "Jeremy Lin's First Ever Bracket Appearance." Well, his first bracket appearance since the 2006 California High School State Championship Tournament anyways. With expertly seeded Regions spanning a broad variety of Lin puns, non-puns, and Asian stereotypes, this bracket comprises the definitive top-32 Jeremy Lin nicknames we've heard around the Internet and come up with on our own here at The Diss.

Click for a bigger bracket!

The selection committee certainly had their hands full with this one, and a few bubble names that didn't quite make the cut still deserve some honorable mention. The Lindy Hop (low RPI), Lindt Chocolate (late season swoon), and Melo Yellow (The Diss staff prefers Mountain Dew) were all part of "the last four," stuck on the outside looking in. Most pundits thought Mr. MSG (couldn't win on the road) was the final name in contention to have its hopes of #linning crushed, and we wish all the Lin nicknames that didn't make the cut well in the NIT (Nickname [L]Invitational Tournament)

Will Linja Turtle KO The Great John Wall of China in the Finals? 

Without further ado, let's get to the voting! Further bracket analysis from The Diss is available here, as we break it down and make some #linning picks. Round 1 voting has now officially closed, click here for Round 2 voting and Round 1 results!