Game 5’s Spaghetti and Meatballs

Prep Work:

I was looking for a little comfort food to cook up as I was driving to see my butcher Baron last night. I wanted to make something that was easy and not keep me in the kitchen since game 5 of the Cleveland/Celtics is on early ( I live in Cali), the Black hawks where trying to close out their series against the Canucks and the White Sox needed to get off to a good start against the Hot Twins. Sometimes comfort food is the only way to get through these difficult match-ups so if you understand where I am coming from here is the recipe that serves 2 but you will have leftovers.

1 lb organic ground beef

1 lb organic ground pork

Fresh basil

Couple squirts of Worcestershire sauce

1 egg

Sprinkle some bread crumbs

Salt & pepper to taste

Garlic

I used dry Oregano, fresh would be best.

(Just an FYI, I did use certain amounts of ingredients for this recipe. I did everything to taste. If you like a lot of garlic, add a lot of garlic, etc…)

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and make as many meatballs as you can make. Heat a pan with olive oil and cook meatballs until each side is brown. On the side start boiling water and add spaghetti but only cook for about 5 minutes. Drain water and add meatballs and sauce together to cook for another 15-20 minutes. Next to my butcher is a wonderful bakery that makes French baguettes that are made fresh around 4pm daily, perfect for this dish.

Digestion:

Game 5 did not look like anything anyone would have predicted. Boston played like a team. Let me say that again, Boston played like a team, which is very entertaining to watch mind you. Rondo runs this team almost better than my NBA 2k10 character, (avatar name uttermostcomma, Xbox 360 find me). Rondo was setting up Ray Ray for almost every single one of his threes (6-9 shooting). Rondo knows how to find people in rhyme which is so important, tonight he found Ray Ray and he did not miss much. They ran plays for KG who Antwan clearly cannot guard one-on-one. KG cleared space and shot over him. When KG makes his 12-15 footers and is active Boston looks so much more relaxed. A lot of people have started to doubt him in the press which is true to some degree. He is not the same KG of old but he does not need to dominate the whole game, just stretches of them. Pierce finally got his shot going and is starting to look like he is getting his swagger back.

Cleveland wanted to stop Rondo early but he was looking to pass and got Pierce going. Rondo controlled the pace in the first half and the Original Big Three did their thing, leading their team in scoring in the first half. (Rondo had zero pts taking only 2 shots). The Second half just got ugly. Cleveland guarded Rondo to pass and make plays so he took Mo off the dribble and drove to the hole. He started scoring; Mo Williams plays no defense, FYI and if he is not hitting his pull up jumpers he is not being very effective. Big baby got into the fun as well. Again, Antwan can’t play one-on-one D, he let baby spin and try to steal the ball. If this gamble does not work, easy layups will follow. He has never had to play D in big games. He has played for the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizard and now the Cleveland Cavs, all offensive teams that really don’t stress D, except Cleveland but he has only been there for a few months. He has played in 32 playoffs games and his numbers are decent scoring around 20pts and 8 rpg per, pretty much his career average. When in the playoffs did his team win anything?

The cool people over at databasebasketball.com compare players careers to other players careers. They compared Antwan’s career to the likes of Jalen Rose, Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson, Allan Houston, and Jamal Mashburn to name a few but do we need to? The positive note could be working at Sports Center since 3 out of 4 of the guys are or have worked for ESPN. Here is a link to check out other comparisons. http://www.databasebasketball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=jamisan01

I like Spike Lee am pulling for these Celts to beat Cleveland. I personally dislike the Celtics because well I am a Bulls fan. Me, growing up in Chicago, watching every Bulls game would gladly have Lebron consider playing with are more younger group of talent than the old fogies Cleveland is currently playing out there. If you don’t think people in Chicago are getting excited about the possibilities of him playing in a Bulls uniform, this site might help express it some http://sendlebrontochicago.com/.

We are going to hear about how bad Lebron played and how he did not take over or look even involved in Game 5, which is all true. He did play bad but the whole team played bad and this is a team game, just ask Boston how they won. Who is stepping up to help him? Someone needed to spark Lebron because Lebron cannot be the spark every single game. Boston plays defense, plain and simple. Mo Williams was the big spark Lebron needed in game 1 when he took over in the 3^rd quarter, dunked and made his jumpers. Antwan needs to be that spark but where have they been. Shaq cannot be the spark because well he can’t spark anything anymore. So who then? In Game 6 Lebron will bounce back but if his teammates don’t show up the questions will be does Lebron shake hands with the Celtics after the game and will any Cleveland fan have a good night sleep this summer? Game 6 is in Boston Thursday night and if Boston win's, it will be a gloomy night in Cleveland, Ohio while they wait on someone's big decision.