Thanks, Mo

Like most of you, I'm barely following the NBA playoffs. I'm just not a big fan of the league anymore. There aren't that many compelling story lines that pique my interest. However, I have been half paying attention to the run by the underdog, Golden State Warriors. One of their contributors has been Sixers' cast off, Matt Barnes. No, I don't remember him either. Nonetheless, he had some alarming things to say about a long time Philly guy that run pretty contrary to his public persona. Barnes had the following things to say about Mo Cheeks:

"He's the biggest a------ in the world," says Barnes. "He talked to me like I wasn't a man. Other players saw it and would tell me, 'Don't let him talk to you like that.' "

"I was real close [to quitting]," says Barnes. "My teammates knew it. My friends knew it. My agent knew it. I was done."

What Nelson also did not know was how hard Barnes had worked on his shooting last year in Philadelphia. That season Barnes worked with shooting coach Buzz Braman to remove the hitch in his jump shot. Once free from Philadelphia, Barnes continued to focus his attention on becoming a more lethal perimeter player.

"I owe that to [Cheeks] too," says Barnes sarcastically. "The stuff he did to me lit my fire. Whenever I was tired, I thought of him."

I realize this is not a major deal, but we all hate to see when a Philly coach or GM runs a guy out of town that can play. Plus, who would have ever expected this from Mo? I always looked at him as a soft spoken guy. I never thought he would be able to control guys like AI due to his seemingly low key personality. I guess he does have it in him to be a ball buster. Unfortunately, he couldn't get this guy to play while he was here.

However, as I think about it...why couldn't Mo alienate the entire team like this guy over the final 40 games of this year so they could have cemented a top 5 pick?

Wait...does anyone care? Is anyone reading this? I realize it's the Sixers. I'll refrain from mentioning them again until the lottery gets here.