Shine on

Even if you don't like the NBA playoffs (I still love them, for the record, despite the league's increasing attempts to make the games unwatchable with this ridiculously overbearing officiating), you should check out some Lakers-Nuggets tonight to see if Shannon Brown can keep it going.

   For those who missed it Wednesday night, Brown essentially changed the game off the bench late in the third quarter -- guarding Chauncey Billups better than any other Laker can, setting the crowd afire with an ESPN top-10 dunk over the "Bird Man," and hitting a pair of big jumpers, including a key fadeaway with the shot clock fading -- and he got most of the minutes in the fourth.
    Here's an L.A. Times story on Shannon complete with some heady praise from Phil Jackson. Shannon reminds me a bit of Mike James five years ago with the Pistons, an athletic energy guy off the bench who could hit shots and who combined with Lindsey Hunter to change the tempo.
    If Shannon keeps this up, he might be looking at a James-like pay bump as well, whether in L.A. or somewhere else.