Artest at it Again

Ever since being selected by the Bulls in 1999, Ron Artest (a.k.a. MWP) has been considered a "thug" among fans and players in the league. You might recall his 2003-04 season when Artest, playing for the Indiana Pacers, ran into the stands in a game versus the Detroit Pistons after a fan threw a beer at him during a fight on the court. Following that incident, Artest was fined and suspended the remainder of the season (86 games), which stands as the longest on court suspension in league history. He then shuffled through the Western Conference as a member of the Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and then finally the LA Lakers. Prior to joining the Lakers, Ron Artest had tallied up over 100 games of suspension in his professional career, which is by far the most by any player in the NBA history. Giving Artest some credit, he has attempted to improve his image over the past few years and had not been suspended in six seasons prior to last year's playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks. Toward the end of  game two, the old Artest came out and leveled the helpless 6 foot Jose Juan Barea. Artest was suspended just one game as the Lakers went on to get swept in the series. This past year, Artest officially changed his name to "Metta World Peace." This was again another attempt to repair his image and it appeared to be working. But this past Sunday, Artest was back at it again.

In a fiesty game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Artest had the ball on a breakaway and dunked over two Thunder players. As he pumped his chest on the way back up the court, Thunder's James Harden appeared to make accidental contact with Artest, at which point, Artest reared back his elbow and threw it into the head of Harden.  Harden instantly hit the ground clutching his head. As Thunder players ran at Artest, the Laker crowd was left confused; most of the fans didn't see what happened as the replay was not shown.  The refs instantly ejected Artest but in the post game interview, Artest claimed he inadvertently hit Harden and was extremely sorry. Looking back at the replay, the elbow to the head does not appear accidental.  The league is determining what Artest's suspension will be. Harden was evaluated and doctors confirmed he has a concussion and will be out for the next few games. With the playoffs just next week, hopefully Harden can have a speedy recovery because he is a key asset to his team. Overall, the "old" Artest came out for the public to see again and this boneheaded play has fans questioning "will he ever learn from his mistakes?"

NBA Playoff Picture

Coming down to the last few games of the NBA season, the playoff race is very tight in the east and west conferences. Here is a look at how all the teams stand as of 4/16 and who they play the remainder of the season.

EAST:
1. Chicago Bulls (46-15) @CHA, @MIA, DAL, @IND, CLE
2. Miami Heat (43-17) TOR, CHI, WAS, HOU, @BOS, @WAS
3. Indiana Pacers (39-22) @PHI, MIL, PHI, DET, CHI
4. Boston Celtics (36-25) @NYK, ORL, @ATL, MIA, MIL
5. Atlanta Hawks (36-25) DET, BOS, NYK, LAC, DAL
6. Orlando Magic (36-25) @BOS, @UTA, @DEN, CHA, @MEM
7. New York Knicks (31-29) BOS, @NJ, @CLE, @ATL, LAC, @CHA
8. Philadelphia 76ers (31-29) IND, @CLE, @IND, @NJ, @MIL, @DET

On the Bubble:
9. Milwaukee Bucks (29-31) @WAS, @IND, NJ, TOR, PHI, @BOS


WEST:
1. San Antonio Spurs (43-16) @LAL, @SAC, LAL, CLE, POR, @PHO, @GS
2. Oklahoma City Thunder (44-17) @PHO, @SAC, @LAL, SAC, DEN
3. Los Angeles Lakers (39-22) SAS, @GSW, @SAS, OKC, @SAC
4. Los Angeles Clippers (38-23) @DEN, @PHO, NO, @ATL, @NYK
5. Memphis Grizzles (35-25) @MIN, NO, @CHA, POR, CLE, ORL
6. Denver Nuggets (34-27) LAC, @PHO, ORL, @OKC, @MIN
7. Dallas Mavericks (34-28) HOU, GSW, @CHI, @ATL
8. Phoenix Suns (32-29) OKC, LAC, DEN, @UTA, SAS

On the Bubble:
9. Houston Rockets (32-29) @DAL, @NO, GSW, @MIA, NO
10. Utah Jazz (32-30) @POR, UTA, PHO, POR

After being 16-20 at the All Star Break, the Suns chances of making the playoffs looked slim. Suns point guard Steve Nash has helped his team turn it around in the second half of the season as they now sit in the 8th spot with five games to go.

National Champs

Monday night the Kentucky Wildcats defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 67-59 giving the Big Blue Nation that elusive eighth national championship.  Their last one came in 1998 so the city of Lexington has been waiting 14 years to call their team national champions. The team this year was expected to win from the start with a roster loaded with NBA players such as Anthony Davis, Terrance Jones, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Doron Lamb. Kentucky had eight players on their roster this year that averaged more than 25 points per game in high school. This team was able to gel from the start of the season as they had lost only two games heading into the tournament.

Much of this success can be credited to coach John Calipari who came to Lexington three years ago trying to revive this program. He transferred from Memphis in 2009, a team which he has just led to the championship with Derrick Rose as his point guard (reigning MVP in the NBA). They lost that game to Kansas so this victory must have felt even sweeter for Coach Cal. What a great coach he has been for Kentucky as he has a 112-14 record with the team and he hasn't lost a home game yet. This championship was the only puzzle piece missing in this Hall of Fame coach's career so it must have felt great for Calipari to finally win after coming up short so many times.

The real star player for Kentucky was Anthony Davis. He is the first college basketball player to win freshman of the year, MVP of the year, All American First team honors, and Final Four MVP all in the same season. The 6'10 center from Chicago is known for his exceptional defense that will help carry him through the first few years of his professional career. Once he improves his offensive game, the sky is the limit for this talented young star. He will most likely enroll in the NBA draft  and will make an instant impact on the team that picks him.

Kentucky will probably lose six players to the draft this year just like they did last year but don't count them out because John Calipari is the master of recruiting and he will have his Wildcats in the mix for years to come.