As you can see, The Good Point is going through puberty right now. If things are awkward anywhere, it’s only because we’re making subtle modifications over the course of this month (and last) in order to accommodate some new ads (thanks TheScore.com Sports Federation!).

We’re definitely still open for business despite our virtual acne and squeaky voices, and at the end of this we’ll emerge as a beautiful butterfly! Tomorrow we’re posting a story about the Toronto Huskies. You’re going to want to be there for that.

As we speak, Rajon Rondo is on the verge of another triple-double. I swear that kid is from another planet. I would not be surprised if he had a little bit of Na’vi in him due to his absurd hand size.

I feel like I talk about Rondo’s hands too often here… so I’m going to stop.

Where do we begin?

The last time a basketball team played a game with precisely two guards, two forwards and a center was long before any player on these ballots (Shaquille O’Neal, I assume) was considered a professional athlete. The end result is an often awkward formation of players setting foot on the court for the game’s first few minutes.

Granted the head coaches can, and naturally do mix the line-up around so that it actually looks like a real line-up (at least part of the time), but the process has evolved to the point where the recognition is hardly considered much of a recognition at all. With all of the limitations of the current format the third best player in a conference (most likely a forward) could lose out on a starting spot while a bum gets the nod at center (Antonio Davis, I don’t mean to single you out, but I’m singling you out).

Considering the fact that there’s little clear-cut alternative for eliminating positions altogether, it might make some sense to at least modify the position classifications. Recall the hit NES ice hockey title, aptly titled Ice Hockey. For those unfortunately out of the “know”, the game began when you assembled your anonymous team of anxious players of various shapes and sizes. In other words, you chose whether you wanted any combination of skinny players, medium-sized players or… “the beasts” (which is a slightly more intimidating euphemism for fat players that skated slow but hit with the force of a Mack truck).

Since the 2 Guard-2 Forward-1 Center format has grown out of fashion, might it not make more sense to go with a 1 Little Guard-2 Wing Man-2 Big Forward format? Something that could lump the Kobe Bryants and LeBron James(es) of the world together? So that Kevin Durant no longer has to worry about sitting on the bench because Tim Duncan or Pau Gasol had to bump him out of the way when Andrew Bynum took what should have been their spot at C?

With this 2LG-2WM-2BF format, each team would have a point guard (let’s say Chris Paul and Devin Harris), along with two players that would either fall into the shooting guard or small forward categories (let’s say Kobe Bryant/Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade/LeBron James). Then each team would get two big players to fill in at power forward and centre (might as well come up with an example here too… Tim Duncan/Dirk Nowtizki and Chris Bosh/Dwight Howard). Doesn’t that make a lot more sense then trying to go with what they have now?

The reason this format works more efficiently is because a shooting guard has a heck of a lot more in common with a small forward than with a point guard… and a center is virtually identical to a power forward save for a few inches.

The next part of the ASG process that ruins lives is the fact that idiots get to vote every single day. No longer are votes cast by the most knowledgeable, passionate fans, they’re cast by 13-year-olds homers and a fraction of the world’s cell phone carriers that can do it from their phones (T-Mobile, if you’re wondering. Thanks Mr. Stern).

What I propose is that we abandon this unlimited vote count and let fans cast one single ballot per year. It seems irrational, but believe it or not that used to be how voting worked in real life too. It might eliminate the preposterously high vote counts that NBA execs in the Social Media department felate each other over at the staff Christmas party, but at least the counts will be authentic. It’s like Major League Baseball minus the steroids. Sure the numbers aren’t as absurdly-record breaking, but at least they’re legitimate.

What if the most super elitest of hackers figured out a way to clear their cookies and vote more than once?, you say, thus jeopardizing the integrity of our whole operation? Then have fans print off their ballot and mail it in. Old school, I know, but printers are everywhere and I’m pretty sure stamps cost less than 60 cents. With the power of the internet the ballot can still be distributed at stupid lengths, the only difference is that the actual votes won’t fall into that same realm of vast stupidity.

The NBA has found itself on a path of convenience lately, but too much convenience can have unfortunate results, especially when the goal all along is to maintain integrity and control. With this new method, fans no longer have to worry about having zero impact and it avoids the inevitable scandal that will come when one community figures out a way to flood the severely flawed voting process (a similar thing happened with the Montreal Canadiens and the NHL All-Star Game a few years ago).

Oh well, it’s not like anybody watches it anyway. I’m still on strike until they bring 2Ball back.

Kid spends one year playing basketball in Rome, insulting just about anybody he’s ever been or will be associated with, and suddenly he’s included in talks of the best guards in the league. Creeped out yet?

I want to like Brandon Jennings. I’ve literally tried, but there’s just something scary about the entire idea. This is not to say that I have anything against him as a player, just as a concept in general. There’s something that screams “Wait, not yet, this isn’t right”.  No matter the fact that his debut was for the ages, or that he’d scored 55 points before Blake Griffin even dressed for his first regular season game, I still, for some unexplainable reason view this as a precautionary tale that will end with heartbreak and a box of Kleenex.

Just when you thought the cocky kid with the wacky hair was sentenced to life in drama queen purgatory (really, is there anything to Milwaukee? Go Brewers), he turns everything on its head. Meanwhile, he’s outperforming many of last year’s All-Stars and turning Ersan Ilyasova into a household name (okay, maybe not quite).

I’m sure there are some religious passages that refer to the dangers of temptation, and Brandon Jennings could just as easily play the part. If too many people jump on the bandwagon, he might just reveal himself to be a snake-headed woman with a penchant for carnage. Trust me. The bandwagon’s not safe.

Recall Jamaal Tinsley and his impressive debut. Or the fact that Gordon Giricek at one time in the not-so-distant past broke Allen Iverson‘s record for points in a debut. Things happen in rookie seasons that never quite work out. So cool your jets. I’m not saying Jennings is on that level, he’s clearly in a world of his own – but that world is cold, twisted and bizarre.

Falling in love with Brandon Jennings is like trying to predict prom queen in freshman year – it’s impossible to make a safe assessment. As much as I would love to get in on the whole “He’s a rookie and he’s outplaying Player X, wahoo, let’s dance”, you know that come 2011 or 2012 he may just as well be overweight and skin-damaged from too many cigarettes between home economics and gym.

If Jennings can prove me wrong for the remainder of the season I will happily tout him as one of the best young stars we’ve seen in ages (numbers, apparently, never lie), but if he doesn’t then I don’t want to be the one rubbing your back while you cry over your excessively-long commitment to the latest edition of Stephon Marbury.

If this is true, and I doubt that it is given the childish vibe that surrounds it, then I find myself rooting for a man I’ve never been particularly fond of. Think about it, with all the quirks and absurd motivations that have made Arenas who he is, this is like all of that stuff on crack times infinity.

Remember when the Cavaliers and Washington had that rivalry a few years back and Cleveland used to beat up on the Wizards with regularity? Or when LeBron James heightened that rivalry when he jinxed Arenas at the free throw line (“Hey Gil, I hear your wife is having an affair with Shaq. LOLZ”).

Then DeShawn Stevenson raised it up another notch with sheer stupidity, a bunch of rappers got involved, Soulja Boy became famous, and then the Cavs went right back to sticking it to the Wizards on the reg.? Add to that one part love-scorned Gilbert Arenas and a naturally competitive, stubborn, 350-pound egomaniac and there you have it, problem solved.

You now have the best rivalry in the NBA.

If Hines Ward and Brandon Marshall combine for over 10 points, the victory is mine, fate is sealed and hell frozen. If not, it’s back to the drawing board.

Judging by the discrepancy between team quarterbacks and anyone else on a fantasy football roster, I’m having a hard time getting into football the way I’ve always been drawn to fantasy basketball, baseball and hockey. Imagine if shooting guards netted most of your fantasy points and power forwards were hardly worth having at all?

Of course this all may be influenced by the fact that I was auto-drafted Tom Brady and the rest of my team is a painful unqualified mess. Save for Chris Johnson. I appreciate you Chris Johnson.

With Denver fresh off their first loss of the season and Pittsburgh on a streak of four, it will be interesting to see which way the momentum falls after tonight. My wishful prediction? Ward and Marshall each catch five touchdowns and the Broncos defeat the Steelers in overtime (in honour of how awesome John Elway was in NFL Blitz 64)

Tonight, with their prized rookie goaltender in net and their wacky off-season gamble in full swing (Jonas Gustavsson and Phil Kessel, respectively), the Leafs managed to not just beat, but demolish the reigning Western Conference champions. Be afraid. It was their first home win of the season. How cute.

It’s one thing to be a Leafs fan and root for your team out of passion, but it’s another to genuinely believe that things are looking up. On paper, with Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin also new to the regime, things are looking up, but Leafs haters worldwide had been previously taking solace in the fact that fate always beats paper in the inevitable game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Fate.

As a devoted Leafs critic, I can’t say these wins are something to get excited over, but they’re definitely worth considering when looking towards the remainder of the season. It’s one thing to assume that Brian Burke struck out and that the franchise will go back to its laughable ways, but it’s another, entirely more horrifying thing to imagine that they might be on the right track.

Yikes.

Though I’m not as well versed in MLB’s online broadcast offerings, it seems pretty commonplace that they were the first of the four major sports to break the mold. My experience and concern comes moreso with the NBA and NHL.

First, hockey. Never mind the fact that hockey is less of a draw in most of the United States than, say, arena football, paint ball or televised pie-baking competitions, the managers of NHL’s Game Center Live have taken it upon themselves to charged $200 for a yearly subscription. That number is in Canadian dollars but at this point it doesn’t really matter.

The NBA on the other hand runs at $150 and even that is significantly increased from the season prior. I hope that the people responsible for operating this innovative new digital frontier understand that the majority of people computer-savvy enough to want to watch hockey games online in the first place, are also savvy enough to know that there are places to watch them for free.

Until every computer and every internet connection is absolutely flawless, I can’t consider charging anybody a substantial sum to watch the sports they are used to seeing for free on television as a good business idea. I have less sympathy for this relatively new model than the more piracy-troubled music and movie industries because online, all-inclusive sports packages are far less rooted in tradition.

If I’m the NHL already struggling to get young people south of the border interested in my product, there’s no way I’m going to ask them to put down half a month’s rent just to watch a jumpy and sometimes non-functioning video broadcast. And trust me, more often than not the streams of these games is riddled with lag and bugs.

The NBA seems to have a better understanding of the purpose of this new potential, considering their significantly lower fees, but at the end of the day even they seem to fail to grasp the true power of the endeavour – advertising. What’s more beneficial in the long run, having thousands of people pay hundreds of dollars to watch a season’s worth of basketball, or having millions of people get hooked on and obsessed with the sport? With advertising funds and general brand awareness (if you can call it brand awareness) the NBA, or any of the major sports that do so, position themselves to truly cash in on the power of the internet.

This has all been basically one unorganized rant, but now that we’re on the subject. Blackouts. Last night Greg Oden held his own against Tim Duncan. Neato, you say. I said it too. This morning I woke up anxious to see the archived game only to find out that it was blacked out from my NBA Choice package… meaning that just because it was broadcast to the minute few that subscribe to RaptorsTV on a national scale, I’m unable to watch it. Never mind the fact that I went out of my way at the beginning of the season to designate both Portland and San Antonio as two of the seven teams in my Choice package, this game is unwatchable.

The amount of internet users is preposterous and with such stupid growth is mind-blowing power. If we can all agree that the internet is how things are going to work from now on, can we have a little bit more logic involved in the process? A better advertising system that results in cheaper subscriptions, more sensible blackout restrictions, and quality at least high enough to make sitting down in front of your laptop worth your while?

If that’s not possible then there’s absolutely no reason for viewers to do anything other than just familiarize themselves with the many free, live broadcasting websites and save their money for tickets to a game in person. I hear there’s not as much lag when you’re watching from the Air Canada Centre.

I can’t see James switching teams this summer, there’s just something about bouncing from team to team that cheapens legacies. If Kobe Bryant had after all been moved to Chicago he’d still be revered, but not nearly as legendary. Imagine Michael Jordan signing with New York as was rumoured towards the end of his time in Chicago. We all know how we feel about Washington.

Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and Karl Malone all left their respective teams, but towards the very twilight of their careers and even still it leaves an uneasy taste in one’s mouth.

Remember Wayne Gretzky with the Edmonton Oilers? Remember the Kings? The Rangers? The Blues?!

If Hall of Fame athletes are constantly changing jerseys it makes their stories significantly less biblical, and LeBron James is worth his weight in scripture.

Business LeBron will always consider the financial prospects of living in New York City, but Basketball LeBron – the one with the heart – doesn’t have it in him to radically change one of modern day sports’ greatest tales, even though it might cost him millions of endorsement dollars.

I’m well aware of the fact that I might be the only one who feels this way, but I’ve learned to never question my subconscious heart. I, as I assume all of you, acknowledge that his numbers don’t lie and neither does his Finals MVP. I’ve never considered him a boring player or a detriment to the league in any social capacity, I just never really bought into the whole south beach superstar persona.

What used to pique my interest in Dwyane Wade was humility, at least perceived humility – perceived by me. Let me first say that I’ve never met him, I’ve never interviewed him or even looked thoroughly into how he behaves off the court – this is strictly bias and heresay. You don’t even have to read it. I’ve just always known that, to me at least, he used to just be “that guy” that played basketball for Marquette. He had a wife and kid when he was drafted and he earned the trust of Pat Riley in his rookie season. Impressive and respectable, no doubt. Ho-hum. Cool.

That playoff run, the one with Lamar Odom and Caron Butler back before the Heat traded for Shaquille O’Neal, was one of the most exciting, not-overly-significant runs in recent NBA history… but then it kinda fell apart. Imagine if Brandon Roy moved to LA and started wearing sunglasses inside? Or if Danny Granger slept with Courtney Love and recorded a rap song about it. That’s how I feel about Dwyane Wade.

The tabloids, the ridiculous Star Jones rumours, the fame and the alleged affairs. All of this shouldn’t matter, but it does. Just as Alex Rodriguez welcomed haters with his Madonna relations and the news of his self/centaur-portraits, Dwyane Wade turned me off the day he became the fodder of TMZ and PerezHilton.com.

What does this mean for everyone? Absolutely nothing, unless you’re one of the equally non-significant demographics on which the NBA thrives. For somebody like myself who isn’t otherwise particularly traditional, I’m even surprised that I feel the way I do. I guess boring Canadians do have feelings after all.

They managed to hang on, but barely. Oh well, just as I’d hoped, there’s at least one more game of playoff baseball.

In hockey, Washington Capitals fans have to be thinking twice about the status of Alex Ovechkin. According to the Sporting News stock system for valuing players, the general public is selling fast. Luckily for Washington the general public is stupid and likely overreacting. Unfortunately for anyone in the Sporting New fantasy league hoping to hang on to Ovechkin at his current value – yeah, that’s not going to happen.

On a brighter note, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant will be squaring off in Oklahoma tonight, in what could potentially be a pretty intense personal duel. Let’s just preface that with the not-so-epic reality that one-on-one battles rarely live up to what we expect or hope. All it takes is for one person involved to take the high road and refuse to give in to the promise of personal bragging rights.

But still, imagine how nice it would be to see both Durant and Bryant set out to score 40 points against each other? Because of course 40 points leads to 50, which isn’t a far cry from 60 and then… you get the point. We can at least hope can’t we? I refuse to accept any modest point totals with solid field-goal percentages, multiple assists and a W. There’s status on the line here!