This Glass is Half Gangsta – new tracks by the Clipse are just okay.

New releases by The Clipse are always welcome, but they make me wish for the days when Pharell was in charge of the beats.

Together, its “Money,” “Fast Life,” “Zen,” “Us Not You,” and “My Life’s the Shit”

Download them all here.

Kanye West – Stronger (Andrew Dawson Remix)

This time last year, Kanye’s “Graduation” was comsuming my summer. I’m kind of bummed that there’s nothing like it out this summer, but no one can expect albums that good on a regular basis. Anyways, this Andrew Dawson remix of “Stronger” is fantastic, and brings back lots of good memories.

Kanye West – Stronger (Andrew Dawson Remix)

Saul Bass – “Design is thinking made visual”

Saul Bass was an illustrator who provided the film industry with many of its most recognizable movie posters. His unique and simple style was emblematic of the 60s mod look, and continues to be replicated today. Read more about Saul Bass here, see his posters here, and anticipate a new publication of his work by Pat Kirkham and Martin Scorcese here.

Here are some of his most famous posters:

The Man with the Golden Arm, one of Frank Sinatra’s best films:

More after the jump:

Roz Chast

Roz Chast is my favorite New Yorker cartoonist. Find her books here, find her biography here.

David Simon returns with Generation Kill.

Generation Kill is the new mini-series by David Simon and Ed Burns, co-creators of HBO’s hit “The Wire.” The show is set in Iraq, and centers around a Rolling Stone reporter trying to cover the war. If it is anything like its predecessor, it will be the best thing on TV until the day it is over.

Read more about the new show here and get more info from HBO’s website.

Making Amends – Warriors add Marcus Williams and Maurice Evans

-Update: The Warriors have matched the Clippers offer to Kelenna Azuibuke, meaning that the Maurice Evans signing will more than likely not occur. Also, a contract settlement with Monta Ellis is near, with a rumored 5 year deal allowing Ellis to enter Unrestricted Free Agency while still quite young.

-Update: Evidently Evans is balking at the contract offer and hoping to get more money out of the Warriors. If he won’t settle for the roughly $2.1/year, the Warriors will likely match Azuibuke’s offer sheet. The deadline for this is Friday at midnight, so things should shake out pretty soon.

In a previous column I assumed that a trade to acquire a starting quality point guard could not happen without the team losing a valuable asset. Though I allowed for exceptions due to GM Chris Mullin’s creativity, I speculated that Al Harrington would not bring us a PG or quality and that we’d have to give something to get something. Well it turns out that there’s a loophole in this line of reasoning – players who would be substantially better in Don Nelson’s system as opposed to the system they are currently in. This applies pretty well to Marcus Williams, the Nets backup PG on the last year of his contract. Williams was the planned heir to Jason Kidd in New Jersey, but things never panned out. Frustration and a poor environment for his skills prompted the Nets to trade him for a heavily conditional first round pick and a small trade exception of roughly $2-3 million. Today, Williams isn’t a starter quality PG, but in a new system he might approach that level and be an excellent complementary player.

It is a fantastic move for the Warriors because Williams fits well next to Monta Ellis – he’s big enough to guard the SGs that Monta would be outmatched against, and he can handle the ball well enough to allow Monta to play at his natural SG position. When both of these players are in the game, one would expect that Maggette would play the 3 and Jackson would get rest, since he seemed to suffer from fatigue during the season.

As for Maurice Evans, I’m satisfied with the signing provided that Evans does three things well. 1. Defend. Evans has been a quality defender at every stop, and his ability to hassle opposing wing players could be extremely useful, considering Maggette’s history of sub-par defensive efforts. 2. Rebound. Evans has great athletic ability and should use it to crash the boards as much as possible. 3. Hit the open 3. If Evans can keep his excellent outside shooting pace, we’ll have 2 reserves who can hit outside shots – Evans and Belinelli. The Warriors relied on spacing the past two seasons, and that can’t happen without players who will take and make a corner 3pt without hesitation.

Evans has been talked about as an athletic freak at every stop he’s made in the league. I remember watching him on the Lakers when the team was particularly bad – his defensive and rebounding skills were always an advantage, but his athletic gifts were wildly overrated. Not that he doesn’t have them, just that they don’t translate into anything more than a few eye-popping dunks from time to time. Evans doesn’t have the ball-handling skills to truly take advantage of his athleticism, but if he could find a way to add them in Nellie’s open offense, we could see a good value turn into an off-season steal.

These signings don’t put us in the playoffs, but in the NBA depth is a double edged sword. As we saw last year, with superstars but no depth, a team is doomed to running out of gas. But with only depth and no superstars, a team is condemned to mediocrity. If this is truly the case,  all eyes should be on our young prospects. Without Randolph, Wright, and Belinelli blossoming, all the depth in the world won’t save us.

Jorge Ben – Oba, La Vem Ela

I listened to this song on repeat while in Portugal the last few weeks. Thought I’d share it, along with a picture from Cascais Beach in Lisbon:

Jorge Ben – Oba, La Vem Ela

Warriors plunge into mediocrity, again

The Warriors have had a disastrous off-season marked by a signing that proves that revenge is not the best strategy for a professional basketball team. When Baron Davis was lured to the Clippers by more money than his knees will likely support — a gift in disguise to many financially savvy Warriors fans — GM Chris Mullin’s response was to blindly sign the Clippers’ second best free agent, Corey Maggette. The phrase “the Clippers’ second best free agent” would typically be enough to send any competent GM running, but Mullin reverted to his old ways and threw money at a player with little long term potential and no clear fit on the team. What makes this even more pronounced is that it appears the Warriors were largely bidding against themselves, as no evidence of a deal larger than the $5.6m Mid-Level Exception has surfaced, and there was no reason to pay a premium for a redundant player at the NBA’s least valuable position.

Don Nelson acknowledged this by stating that poor (for now) Monta Ellis would be left to man the point by himself. No one would claim that this is an ideal situation for the club, and the only way the Warriors can possibly add a point guard is through a free agent signing or trade. The Warriors are virtually assured of another lottery birth in the 2009 NBA draft, but to even sniff at competitiveness they will need another guard who can defend and handle the ball against the best guards in the West.

The free agents left to be signed include Shaun Livingston – damaged goods already coveted by the Phoenix Suns, Sebastian Telfair – who will likely return to the T-Wolves after a decent season, and Louis Williams – a restricted free agent who doesn’t fit next to Ellis anyways. None of these options does look particularly good right now.

Any viable trade idea largely hinges on Al Harrington, the player on the Warriors most suited for departure. Unless the team decides to part with one of its more valuable pieces, (Brendan Wright, Stephen Jackson, etc), we’ll have to deal with an NBA team in a pretty lousy position. Teams that might be potential destinations for Harrington include the Knicks, who don’t have a PG to return to us (but a Harrington for Rose/Balkman trade passes the laugh test), and Dallas, whose testy front office relations with the Warriors’ brass might preclude any negotiations, also have no PG prospects to return to the Warriors. The last possible match is the newly named OKC Thunder, who could be looking to dump either Luke Ridnour or Earl Watson (likely Ridnour), and could be enticed to throw in another contract just to make salaries match. In essence, the best the Warriors can reasonably hope for in a current Harrington-centered deal is a largely useless player with an expiring contract or a backup PG (possibly with another slight contributor).

Needless to say, these options don’t look so good. Chris Mullin might find another team willing to deal for Harrington, especially considering that it is his job.  However, the Warriors won’t be able to add a starting point guard who fits the team’s needs without parting with a player that it actually wants for either the short or long term.

More likely than not, the Warriors are in the position of cutting their nose to spite their face. Unless a miracle appears and we can trade Harrington for a PG, we’ll have to part with talent to get the PG we need to be competitive.  Given the talent of the West, and the overwhelming likelihood that we will not make the playoffs anyways, sitting on our hands may be our best option at this point. Unfortunately, if we take this route, we’re likely consigned to a year of frustrating medicority, of the sort that marked the majority of the last decade of Warriors basketball. But in the end, its better to do nothing than to make a terrible move motivated by desperation rather than clear headed thinking. Here’s looking at you, Corey.

2008 NBA Free Agency Re-Set

Considering it’s the day before the moratorium is lifted, it seems appropriate to go over where things stand in terms of NBA Free Agency.

1. Elton Brand– I’m convinced the whole Warriors/Sixers stuff is just brilliance to either make it seem like there wasn’t crazy collusion between Brand and/or the Clip Show and Baron or an attempt to get a no-trade clause. Either way, I would be floored beyond belief to see EB anywhere else. The talk of his house being on the market is (from what I’ve heard) just about him having a new baby and wanting a bigger place. Nothing more to see there.

2. Baron Davis– He’ll be a Clipper. What’s interesting to think about is that the Eric Gordon pick was likely made with the “understanding” that Boom Dizzle would be playing for Los Clippers. They’re decent fits together, but nothing earth-shaking- I still think they should’ve gotten some big depth if Baron was on the way.

3. Gilbert Arenas– The money he saved the ownership on the luxury tax was nice (probably will add up to like $25m), but it won’t help the team on the court.

4. Andre Iguodala (Restricted)- Surprisingly, there has been very little talk about where Iggy will go. Naturally, the Sixers are a very good fit, as are the Warriors. In a sense, he may be the piece in limbo with Josh Smith (just on the nature of their two situations). Should J-Smoove go to the Sixers, it’s possible this actually makes Iguodala a cheaper commodity since Philly would be less likely to match. He can’t pit the few teams with cap space against each other like Josh Smith can, so that could hurt as well.

5. Josh Smith (Restricted)- In effect, this depends on the Hawks’ ownership. Him leaving would essentially take the core out of this Hawks franchise, since it would create another hole for them to fill (besides the C spot and the starting PG long-term) and they don’t have a ton of resources. I expect him to stay in his hometown, but a smart team (Golden State….) should offer him a heavily front-loaded deal to try deter a match.