Player Haiting…?
If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times... I love Shaquille O'Neal. But this attitude at the moment regarding LeBron James' participation, (or lack thereof) in this year's Sprite Slam Dunk Competition is pathetic.
He's calling out the likes of Vince Carter and Kobe Bryant to participate when neither of them has been near the event participation-wise in approx 10 years. He also claims that meeting those conditions is the only way James will compete. I say get a life and stop clinging on to the limelight Shaq! Then on top of that, he has the mouth to suggest the prize money can be halved between the winner and Haiti.
Wow.
When we were all in shock regarding the tragedy that still is Hurricane Katrina, Kenny "the Ninja Jet" Smith assembled a sensational crew of stars to play the "relief game" in Houston. This took approximately 24 hours to organize and as much money as could be donated was thrown into the proverbial hat.
What's different about Haiti?
I know what you're thinking. If every player throws his wallet open for every single cause, the players will have no money left. To that, I call B.S. It's safe to say that the NBA in general, let alone the players, have plenty of cash to make a difference.
As Ryan put it, The NBA Cares... about themselves.
The 2010 All Star Game is about to be played in front of possibly the largest Basketball attendance in living history with potentially 100,000 seats available and in a stadium that cost some $1.3 billion dollars to construct.
This building cost $1.3 billion dollars...
Is anyone else seeing the issue here?
Whether it's Haiti, Katrina, Africa or your local school or community, something is definitely out of sequence.
I think the NBA is on notice to really show something here. This is not a 30 second spiel on the water and food delivery in Detroit, or the "read to achieve" day in Cleveland or even the "drop dimes not pills" kids day in Atlanta. It's about a serious fund raising attempt.
Although Shaq may struggle with this, it's also not about Kobe, Shaq, VC or anyone dunking a Basketball. It's about the juggernaut that is the NBA and the fact that while players like Larry Hughes and Eddy Curry can "earn" more than $10m for 8 months work... we have a problem.
It's a bigger problem than this little white blogger can solve in one column... but just think about it.
Meanwhile, regarding the Slam Dunk Competition... hell, I suggest you give KryptoNate the ball for 15 minutes and get people to phone and text to pledge money on every missed dunk. We'll have raised enough for another new Cowboys' Stadium by the time it's finished.
KryptoNate! The potential savior of Haiti... and quite frankly any other cause depending on how much people pledge...
Average Jackson to get his wish?
It appears Stephen "Average" Jackson is likely to be moved out of Oakland soon... with possible suitors including the Clippers, Spurs, Cavs and Hornets...
Or is he? And are they?
It seems the trade will definitely happen at some stage but the Warriors aren't prepared to part ways with Jackson for a bargain basement fee.
There's a lot of implications regarding Jackson's 3 year $28m extension that kicks in after this season. So his potential new home needs to account for that. Will they get a return on investment? Unlikely, unless he's the final piece to a franchise's puzzle. No one can logically say that about the Clippers or Hornets.
So that leaves the Cavs and the Spurs. I'd be pretty sure the Spurs are happy with what they have, although Jackson is talented and his arrival might provide a little insurance for the potentially fragile Ginobili and Richard Jefferson.
The Cavs, and more importantly LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal are reportedly very interested in bringing Jackson to the Q. But the asking price is Zydrunas Ilgauskas. A price that at this stage, is too high for Cleveland.
Where will Stephen "Average" Jackson spend his Christmas?
There's a article on ESPN's TrueHoop that sum's it up best. It's not so much the article itself as the title of the article.
I think either Chris Broussard is being clever, or he just simply made a spelling mistake.
There's two O's and no E in Moron.
Opening Night Outstanding Games
With opening night upon us, it's time to take a quick walk down memory lane to see what players got a fast start to the season over the last decade.
While the vast majority of the great performances on Opening Night are strangely by Los Angeles Lakers, a few other players seem to get their act into gear, historically speaking. Who will stand up and get their team off on the right foot in 09/10? Safe to say it won't be Blake "Jimmy" Griffin. *awkward*
| Best individual Opening Night efforts
00/01 Jerry Stackhouse DET Shaquille O'Neal LAL 01/02 02/03 04/05 06/07 07/08 09/10 ??? |
With four games on the slate for day one, (BOS@CLE, WAS@DAL, HOU@POR and LAC@LAL) with plenty of bona fide stars to step up, who will it be? BOS@CLE LeBron will want to get their disappointing 08/09 as far behind him as possible so he's a good candidate, although facing what may be the best defense in the league isn't a great way to do it. WAS@DAL Gilbert might have a huge game until half time. Then quickly off to hospital for knee surgery. *cold blooded* HOU@POR Houston are craptacular. But very strong defensively, so this game might be a wash in terms of big performances. LAC@LAL Given their amazing history of strong individual performances on Opening Night, this is our pick for a standout game. Although given that they are getting their Championship Rings, they may get poleaxed by 40 like the Miami Heat starting their 06/07 campaign. With Pau Gasol most likely sidelined, we select Lamar Odom the most likely to excel on Opening Night 2009/10. Memo to the Lakers: No pre-game predictions of a repeat. It just ends badly. |
Might, Magic and Electronic Myth?
With the 2010 additions of our favorite NBA video games about to be released, I have been as excited as the next diehard fan. However, a terrible coincidence has come to my attention and I wish to share the horrible news. A quick scan of the historical NBA LIVE video game covers brings me to the conclusion that Orlando's season could be in even more danger than I had previously thought. Let's take a look at the results of my research...
NBA Live 2009: Tony Parker (injured for most of last season)
NBA Live 2008: Gilbert Arenas (injured for two years)
NBA Live 2007: Tracy McGrady (injured ever since his cover)
NBA Live 2006: Dwyane Wade (significantly injured for 2007 & 2008)
NBA Live 2004: Vince Carter (severely cramped in his first game post cover)
NBA Live 2002: Steve Francis (missed 25 games that season for Houston)
NBA Live 99: Antoine Walker (missed 40 games that season for the Celtics)
NBA Live 98: Tim Hardaway (missed 34 games the following season for the Heat)
NBA Live 97: Mitch Richmond (missed 30% of his games over his final 5yrs of his career)
NBA Live 96: Shaquille O'Neal (missed 28 games in '96 & 31 in '97)
NBA Live 95: Houston Rockets/New York Knicks (we all know what has happened to the Knicks)
With all of this coincidence in mind... Orlando better hope that Dwight Howard doesn't succumb to the NBA Live cover curse.
Will the NBA Live curse strike Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic?
Orlando fans, don't say you weren't warned.
Shaq Foo(d)
I don't care how many articles I read about Shaq reporting in great shape. We've seen too many occasions of the results of Shaqs typical offseason regime to think it's anything other than this.
Shaq busily prepares for a season with the Cavs
Rabbits, Hats & the 2010 Playoffs…
Orlando? In my opinion, the Magic could add the real superman and would still fail to make the NBA Finals this year. They've peaked... and it's over. The only way they'll make the Conference Finals this year is if Boston and Cleveland meet in the opposite half of the bracket. Even then, I'd probably take the Hawks in the Conference Semis over Yawn-lando in 6. The addition of Vince Carter does not produce the NBA Championship rabbit that Orlando left strangled in a purple and yellow hat last June. Bring on the real deal... Boston vs Cleveland, LeBron vs Pierce, Shaq vs K-Perk and Rondo vs West and his guitar case!
Orlando... where finishing 3rd in the East happens!
Best Passing Big Man?
With Vlade Divac getting his number 21 raised to the rafters by the Sacramento Kings in March this year, (and ESPN trotting out another Vlade article today), I thought I'd have a little rant. Not about Vlade, I quite like the goofy, beaded Serb. I just smile and shake my head when some compliments become so mainstream. This from a photo caption of Divac in a circa-1991 Lakers uniform:
"One of the greatest passing big men of all-time"
Back in the early 90's this was a valid statement, because very few players over 6'10" could pass very well at all. There were certainly even fewer that possessed any extended vision or creativity. But as the 90's came and went, media aplenty have used this term to describe the modern "plus six foot tenner". It's becoming a little diluted...
Ryan and I have often joked about this subject. So I thought I'd compile a list of all the players that I distinctly remember being referred to as "one of the best passing big men" in either commentary or print.
It's a fun list, in no particular order..
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Vlade Divac
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Luc Longley
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Arvydas Sabonis
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Hakeem Olajuwon
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Kevin Garnett
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David Robinson
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Zydrunas Ilgauskas
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Bill Walton
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Pau Gasol
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Anthony Mason
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Boris Diaw
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Brad Miller
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Shaquille O'Neal
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Yao Ming
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Chris Webber
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Tim Duncan
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Toni Kukoc
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Clifford Robinson
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Travis Knight (No, I'm not kidding!)
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Juwan Howard
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Kendrick Perkins
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Andrew Bogut
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Charles Oakley
I'm sure there's more that I can't recall right now. It used to be a great compliment, but these days anyone who is over 6'10" and happens to throw a few good passes is all of a sudden considered to be one of the "best passing big men" of all-time. I guess the game evolves but at some point you've got to find a new "buzz term".
And just for good measure, here is the only image of Travis Knight that you're likely to ever see on twosidesofthehoop.com
Travis Knight (Photo courtesy: lebasketbawl.com)
09/10 Kobe and LeBron preview
As mentioned in this space earlier, the general media is already anointing Kobe and LeBron as 09/10 conference champions and trying to predict the overall winner. We think this might be a bit over the top given training camp hasn’t begun and so much is still to shake out. The more interesting and pertinent topic will be what does each of those players need to add for the upcoming season to give their teams the best chance to make it to the big dance?
LeBron
While James' play on court is almost flawless, his biggest challenge will come from being the on-court and locker room leader for all the new additions added to a 66-win team. The holdovers will likely be thinking that they were fine and don’t need all the additions, and there is a school of thought there too. But the bottom line remains, finding roles for Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon and the Big Cactus, without stepping on the toes of valuable veterans such as Delonte West and Big Z is going to be no easy matter. Is this another skill that LeBron has? Time will tell.
Kobe
Kobe also has lots of potential roster conflict, although he has the advantage of being able to pass those tasks along to Zen Master Jackson. Probably just as well, as Kobe has not exactly shown himself to be useful at roster placation (see carpark hidden video trade Bynum tirade).
The real issue is that Bryant is no longer a young pup, even though his play reflect it, and all of the Playoff and Olympic miles on his signature shoes over the last several years have to catch up to him at some point. Taking a leaf out of Michael Jordan’s playbook has been something Kobe has never shied away from, so spending more time in the post to conserve energy and focus on fourth quarter heroics would be well served this season.
Shaquations…
To talk of an asterisk for last season's Championship is just horrible work. Even for a Boston strangler such as yourself.
New topic for today... as I'm sure the Laker bashing is getting tiresome.
Shaquille O'Neal to the Cavaliers. It's BIG news, he's a BIG guy and at 2am this morning he got booked for stopping his car on a main street to talk to people outside a nightclub. Just pure gold. Shaq vs... the police I guess.
The question that everyone's asking though is how will Shaq cope with being the second banana in Cleveland? LeBron James IS the King of Ohio... there's no disputing that. Whereas Shaq's other running mates haven't had this sort of a rule in their respective cities.
I honestly think Shaq will be fine. I think Cleveland will have a very successful season and MAY even go to the Finals. I can't see Shaq being a locker room disruption, and I would doubt the Cavs are likely to spiral into some sort of behind the scenes anarchy. I guess with all these new additions, playing time will play a part. A nice challenge for the coaching staff.
If I'm Cleveland though, I'm not moving Ilgauskas out of town for anything! Not only has the guy been through thick and thin for the Cavs, but he's the perfect "opposite" to have on a roster with Shaq. You're giving every team fits every night by being able to play power or finesse. Inside or outside. I think the Cavs would be crazy to move "Z" on...
I guess we'll see what happens...
Welcome back!
Well it's about time...
Safe to say we've been away for a while and a lot has happened in the NBA. (More posts to follow, this is just a taste)
Firstly, Ron Artest is a Laker... Ariza is a Rocket... AI might be a Grizzly... 'Sheed is a Celtic... Shaq is a Cavalier... RJ is a Spur... VC is a Magician... Turk is a Raptor... Andre Miller is a Blazer... The Matrix is a Maverick... and finally Emeka Okafor is a Hornet. The competition this season will be electrifying with the likes of San Antonio, Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland, Boston, Orlando and the Clippers all looking to make a run at the trophy.
Sorry Clippers fans, that was cruel. But if you think the franchise has turned around just because you drafted Mr Potato Head Griffin, then it's going to continue to be a sad state of affairs for you. I personally think you can look at some teams and just KNOW that nothing is going to be won for the next 10years... except maybe the lottery. I put the following teams in that category:
Los Angeles Clippers
Memphis Grizzlies
Milwaukee Bucks
Charlotte Bobcats
Indiana Pacers
Washington Wizards
Sacramento Kings
Orlando Magic
Minnesota Timberwolves
Phoenix Suns
That's my list, and I'm sticking to it. Call me in 10 years and I guarantee there will not be an NBA Champion among these franchises.
Bring on the new season!!