“I think we were just trying to find ourselves a bit. Early we were waiting for things to happen, now we are making things happen.” -Austin Croshere, Dallas Mavericks -

My boy AC got a little ink in the AP article on a recent Maverick victory. It was nice to see one of your own get some run, but it was the quote that struck me. My man could be talking about BALL DON’T LIE here. We spent a long time trying to find ourselves and now we really have a concrete identity. We know who we are, what we are trying to do and how to do it. We have a hop to our step, a chest-bump on the and-1 plays and a cocky smile that tells our opponent that we know more than him or her. I like that. I like how we are building of late. We’re pushing forward on some real ish…

I’m on foot, all white Stan Smiths on my feet, Royal Blue Fred Perry jacket over a white Tee, Ecko jeans hang, and the Ipod pops thick Johnny Clarke Dread dub in my ear. The air is cool, fog rolling down Pacific, a low rider cruising slow, its beams bouncing back on its hood in the dense puffs of white, Pharcyde’s “Passin’ Me By” bumps from the El Camino’s trunk. The driver is sunk so deep into the car, his race, his look are not discernable.

I want you to remember back a few months ago when everyone under the sun was still telling us that we were never going to make this film, that no actors of note would ever want to be in it, that we were fighting a losing battle… Well, I got one for all the suckers who doubted us out there - Someone of note, of Oscar nominated note, is down for our cause: Sharon Stone has stepped aboard the BDL express and it is, as they say on the streets, on.

We are completely blessed to have an actor of Sharon’s stature and skill set in the mix.

When Sharon Stone is put in popcorn fare, I believe that she is great, but when she has strong, daring material to sink her fingers into, she is simply off the charts good. Scorsese knew this when he cast her in Casino. Haters out there were killing him for the selection before, during and after the shoot. All she did on that picture was get herself nominated for an Academy Award. We have daring material here. She will be off the charts for us. We know that Ms. Stone will absolutely kill it as Francine. Anyone who has read the script or the book will understand that. Anyone that thinks otherwise is lounging in an armchair, playing air guitar quarterback and has no clue about what this move does for us creatively and otherwise. We just stepped off the asphalt into an arena and they even turned the lights on for us to get some shots up. Now, it’s time to fill the seats.

Everyone’s a ball player nowadays. They all say they can play. Every agent in Hollywood’s got an actor for us who’s “got crazy skills on the court.” The way they tell it, just about every actor you’ve ever seen on any sitcom could’ve gone to the show if Shakespeare hadn’t derailed him first. Where do you think all these dudes are coming from? They sure aren’t attacking the rim. Don’t make an old man get his shoes out now and start raining threes on all these upstarts.

The leaves are falling, even if they are floating down and losing their green hue Cali style. Something about Autumn always makes me want to lace up the shoes and run a little on an asphalt court somewhere - Don’t care who’s playing or how good the run is, I just want to run.