Random List of Fives

Five One Word Named Bands That I Like More Than I Used To

1. Boston
2. Journey
3. Heart
4. Kansas
5. Asia

Thanks to Rock Band, mostly.


Five Places I Have Never Been To But Would Love To Visit

1. Australia
2. Hawaii
3. Central and Northern Europe
4. Japan
5. Cabo

My All-NBA Starting Five From My Era As A Fan

1. Magic Johnson, point guard
2. Michael Jordan, shooting guard
3. Larry Bird, small forward
4. Kevin McHale, power forward*
5. Hakeem Olajuwon, center

* I'm pretty sure Kevin McHale is the most underrated player in the history of the NBA. He is certainly the most underrated key member of a team that won three championships. Unfortunately for him, at least regarding how well known and celebrated he is, he happened to play alongside The Greatest Forward That Ever Lived. But people just forget how great McHale was before he got banged up. He had the best assortment of low post moves I've ever seen. He was basically unguardable on the low block. He was a defensive force (All-Defensive first or second team six times). He routinely shot .600 from the floor and .800 from the stripe, grabbed nine or ten boards a game, and blocked a couple of shots. In 1987, just as an example of his awesomeness, he averaged 26 and 10, shot .604 (led league) and .836, and added 2.6 assists and 2.2 blocks per game for good measure. He averaged those 26.1 points while Larry Joe Bird was lighting up the scoreboard with 28.1 a night, and taking far more shots. In fact, McHale finished sixth in the league in points per game that year, but did not even rank in the top 20 in shots taken. That is efficient and it is deadly, and that is what Kevin McHale was. Imagine how much he would have scored on just about any other team. Jordan averaged just over 37 a night that year for a medicore Bulls team, but he also chucked it up about 50% more often than McHale did. What if they just switched teams? MJ tallied 5.2 boards and 4.6 assists per in '87, and those probably would have inched close to Oscar Robertson numbers on the stacked '87 Celts. Meanwhile, McHale might have scored 40 a night if he was the focal point of the Bulls offense. Or any offense, really. He was probably that good.


The Five Websites I Visit Most Often

1. GMail
2. Facebook
3. ESPN
4. Boston Globe sports
5. The Yahoo (or other) stat site for whichever fantasy sports season I happen to be in.