Is it just me or does Ariza not sound happy to be a Rocket in his interview? He even mentions that he had no say in what happened. Kinda a strange comment after he signed a 5 year deal with them.

As much as this hurts, let’s take a look at this signing for the Rockets.

Ariza brings a crafty type of defense to the Rockets, but was he really the player the needed? After Yao going down for the year, and T-Mac with his injuries, they needed a scorer. Just a flat out scorer. Is Ariza that player? NO.

The media has been all over this story saying that Ariza can’t create his own shot. I actually beg to differ. He occasionally can, but with the Lakers, he normally just floated around the exterior or slashed. He didn’t NEED to create his own shot. The only real weaknesses in his game at the moment that hinder him from being an explosive scorer are his handles and slow shot release.

Watch some of the clips from last year. If he wasn’t wide open, he questioned his shot a lot and would end up pump faking and either passing or trying to take it to the rack. He needed a good 5-10 feet of air space to get his shot off. If he can work on his shot a bit more and speed up the release while remaining as accurate as he was in the Playoffs, he shouldn’t have any problem… but that’s a big thing to ask of a guy that just recently became known as a shooter.

Not a bad pickup defensively for the Rockets, but they already have Battier. Overall, a possible failed experiment from a team that seems to be in rebuilding mode after the injuries to their 2 star players. At least now they have an Injury exception that they can use, but who is really left for them to pick up that can give them instant offense?

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Hey everyone. Sorry about the delay in picking the winner for the Dwight Howard raffle. Even though PayPal locked up the account after we raised $280. Unfortunately, the money is tied up in the account, but to make sure that this donation is in fact made to Leukemia research, I will make the donation with my own money, then work on the whole PayPal mess afterward. Thank you everyone for participating. And now, time to announce the winner!

I used random.org to help me pick a winner. Out of 57 tickets sold, the winning number is #15!

Congratulations to Gavin Burke from Chicago! Actually after talking a bit to Gavin, it’s only fitting that he won these shoes. He’s fought his own battle and provides inspiration to us all. Congrats. Hope you enjoy the shoes!

Thank you again to Adidas for providing the shoes.

I’d also definitely like to thank the following people, whether they participated by donating money or as some people did, by donating their time and effort to make this a success. Thank you everyone.

• Kenny Hyder
• Tom Kranzle from Venture Media Group
• Vu Nguyen
• Gavin Burke
• Ken Johnson
• Craig and Jim Stob
• Lisa Schramm
• Sara Garrison
• Phong Bui
• Earl Bolson
• Adeel Cochinwala
• Mark Bautista
• All the people of Twitter that shared this with their followers!

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Hey everyone,

This is the third time that PayPal has emailed me regarding the Raffle for Dwight Howard’s autographed shoes. I guess I was right when I said that they weren’t interested in raising money for Leukemia. Apparently, their rules are more important than helping children who have this life threatening disease.

If this is any sign of how they work as a company, I personally do not want them to be a part of this cause anyways. But seeing as how they pretty much have a monopoly on sending money online, I don’t really have any choice but to use them. Unfortunately, what this means is that the raffle will have to come to an end.

Thank you to all of the people who have participated and I will be randomly picking a winner for the shoes soon. I’d like to thank the following people for being so generous and helping this great cause. Hopefully this money can help not only find a cure, but find preventative measures.

• Mark Bautista
• Adeel Cochinwala
• Earl Bolson
• Phong Bui
• Sara Garrison
• Lisa Schramm and Justin Ecker
• Jim and Craig Stob
• Kenneth Johnson
• Gavin Burke

Again, thank you everyone for being a part of this cause. It is truly unfortunate that a company like PayPal does not have it’s priorities in order and would focus on shutting down a raffle for a good cause. Apparently, in the FOURTH email that I just got during the time that I’ve been writing this post, they consider this raffle to be gambling related. Here’s a big THUMBS DOWN to PayPal. I would give PayPal a different finger, but then who knows, they might try to shut down my entire blog.

Now that we’ve raised money for Leukemia research, can we all spend a little time announcing how terrible PayPal is as a company? Anyone with Twitter accounts, please spread this post. Hopefully, it will make them realize how dumb they are and prevent them from shutting down other raffles or projects that are going for a good cause. Thank you again everyone.

Anyone that would still like to donate, can send money to chrisjbui@hotmail.com

You will still be recognized for your contributions, although unfortunately, you can no longer be eligible for the autographed shoes. Thanks again, PayPal.

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Alright, folks. I’ve gotten great responses from the previous post last week about the raffle for shoes autographed by Dwight Howard. First of all, I want to thank you all in advance for supporting such a great cause. Hopefully, the money we raise from this can help not only my cousin in his fight against Leukemia, but for anyone else that is affected by this disease.

So here’s how the raffle will happen:

• “Raffle Tickets” are $5 each, and there is no limit to how many tickets each person can purchase. The more you donate, the better your chances are of winning the shoes.
• Raffle Tickets can be purchased through PayPal by sending your donation to REMOVED BY PAYPAL (That’s an account I set up specifically for this raffle) or by clicking here:

*edit* Paypal is being dumb and asked me to remove the PayPal link/image since apparently I’m offering gambling by raffling off the shoes. Hey PayPal, you might want to actually read not only this post, but the email I sent you. This raffle is for a pair of shoes, and the money is getting donated to Leukemia research. Apparently you aren’t that interested in being involved in a good cause either.

Either way, you guys can still send the donations to REMOVED BY PAYPAL.

• If your account does not match your actual name and email address, please let me know by either sending me an email to cbui81@yahoo.com, or posting a comment here. I want to make sure that everyone that participates gets their due recognition. During the raffle period, I will occasionally post the names of those who have donated, and I need your email address so I can contact you if you win the shoes!
• Upon receiving your donation, I will email you with a set of numbers representing your “Tickets” (Don’t worry, I’ll keep track of the numbers also if you happen to lose them)
• On May 31st, I will be running the numbers through random.org and let that program pick the winner.
• On June 1st, the winner will be announced on Nothin But Bball, and I’ll contact you to get your address.

Simple, simple raffle. Nothing fancy. Just people getting together and raising money for a great cause.

As for where the money raised goes, here is a breakdown:

• 50% goes to Team in Training. Click the link to learn more about them. And if you have the time, I’d definitely recommend joining their cause.
• 50% will go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Now I’m pretty sure you all have been dying to take a look at the shoes.

If you took a look at the video in my Raffle announcement post from last week, you probably figured out which shoes we’re auctioning off. And no, they aren’t shoes the D Howard wore in a game, although it’d be pretty funny if he tried to fit into these. They’re a 9.5 US… he might not even be able to fit his big toe in there.  I’d also like to give a HUGE thank you to Tom from Venture Media Group out in Carpinteria, CA for hooking up the photos, and Kenny Hyder for setting me up with Tom. Check out the pictures Tom took below.

Of course, we can’t do this without giving a big virtual hug and high five to the person that started it all. Big thanks to Kristen over at Adidas for being a huge supporter of this cause and for sending me the autographed “kix” as she calls them. You’re awesome and this couldn’t have happened without you. Thank you, Kristen.

Alright everyone, you’ve read through this huge post, now let’s get this raffle started right! I want to see us raise a crazy amount of money so the doctors fighting Leukemia can have the funding they need to create the medicines to kill off this disease. Again, thank you everyone in advance. Spread the word, and let’s give Leukemia a swift kick in the butt… with shoes autographed by Dwight Howard.

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What’s up everyone? For all of you that have been following this blog for a while, you may remember about 6 months ago, my 13 year old cousin was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia. He’s still in the hospital fighting AML FLT 3, which is a type of Leukemia which only hits about 2000 people per year, and mostly adults, not children.

When I heard that Adidas was going to be sending me a pair of shoes autographed by Dwight Howard, at first I thought of keeping them as a collector’s item and letting them grow in value. Last week, my cousin went through some very tough times and made me wonder what I could do to help other people who have been diagnosed with Leukemia as well. My first thought was to auction the shoes when they came in, and donate the money to Leukemia research.

After thinking about it a bit more though, if I did that, only one person would be making a donation. So starting next Monday, May 11th, I will be holding a RAFFLE at $5 per ticket… and you can buy as many tickets as you’d like. Details will come out on Monday, but get your PayPal accounts ready to buy your tickets. We’ll hold off on showing you the shoes until then also.

In the spirit of this raffle, everyone that participates will be recognized for their generous donations in helping the fight against Leukemia. At the end of the raffle, all participants will be recognized in a separate Thank You post. This is a very important event for me, and I look forward to seeing the response that this gets. Please continue to pass on the word about this raffle, as it will run until the end of the month. Where else can you possibly get a pair of shoes autographed by Dwight Howard for $5?

Here’s a hint to what the shoes will look like:

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Alright, let’s put aside the whole Dalembert incident. It’s the Playoffs and guys are bound to get heated. Dalembert had him all wrapped up and Howard retaliated. If it was on the playground, that definitely would have happened, but since this the NBA, everyone expects the players to hold every single emotion inside.

Tonight, Howard gets a whole new look. Adidas created these for the big man that likes to bang down low. Hmm. What would make Howard EVER want to wear these? *Note: Yes that was sarcasm.

He’ll be rockin these shoes in a Black colorway for tonight’s away game, and Whites for the home games. These won’t be released until October, but the new design is definitely worth the wait. I have no doubt the Black colorways are gonna look sick tonight. Maybe my contact over at Adidas can send me 365 pairs… one for each day of the year. We can all dream can’t we?

INTRODUCING: COMMAND + CREATE EVOLUTION

EXCLUSIVE PLAYER EDITION WORN ONCOURT BY DWIGHT FOR THE PLAYOFFS

* NOTE: Colorway above will launch in Fall 2009; Dwight will wear special home + away colors of this shoe throughout the series.

STYLE NAME: TS Commander LT

ABOUT: Designed for the big men under the basket with evolved cushioning, support at the heel counter and a EVA-midsole.

• Perforated upper for ventilation and maximum performance.
• New fat-stripe design.
• Synthetic leather upper for light weight and durability.
• Perforated upper materials for superior breathability.
• Linking textile.
• Midsole: Dual-density EVA for focused support and cushioning.
• adiPRENE + insert for forefoot propulsion and efficiency.
• Outsole: Non-Marking rubber outsole.
• Herringbone pattern outsole for optimum traction.

SRP: $100.00

AVAILABLE AT RETAIL: 10/1/09

WEBSITE: www.shopadidas.com

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Alright folks,

We’re right in the middle of the Playoffs with Lebron and Kobe taking a rest, so I have somethign for you guys to do to kill a little time. Check out this contest from Adidas and win yourself some tickets to the Finals and a crap load of Adidas gear to wear to the game. I want to see you all in your shameless glory. I want to see someone from this blog win that contest, then come back to thank by for telling them about the contest by taking me to the game with them. Alright, that might be asking a bit much. But I truly want to see the craziest shit you can do. My contact over at Adidas has already given me a heads up that she’s seen some wacky and shameless stuff posted. Time to get to work folks. Let’s see what some true hardcore fans can do. Check the rules below:

Calling All Hoops Fans:

Join the Ultimate Fan Contest + Score Trip to NBA Finals

Who’s your team? Who’s your MVP? Who’s gonna take the Title? These are not new questions folks - but now there’s a very sweet reward for sounding off on your favorite topic!

Starting today, adidas is hosting “Rep Your Brotherhood” and we want to see and hear from you. Submit your best photo in NBA team gear with a quick 100 words on why and how you love hoops. The top 20 submissions will then be in the running for an online vote. We’re encouraging fans to go all out here because one winner will land a hefty prize: trip and tickets to Game 3 of the NBA Finals and $500 worth of adidas fan gear.

And because we love to be team players, there are no sloppy seconds here. Every person to vote in the contest is in the running to win a three-stripe gift pack worth $500.

So let’s recap: Take your trash talking online and sound off on why your team is best and you could find yourself sitting pretty at the 2009 NBA Finals. Impossible Is Nothing!

HERE’S ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW TO WIN BIG:

· WHO: All NBA fans seeking tickets to the 2009 NBA Finals

· WHAT: Enter “REP YOUR BROTHERHOOD” Ultimate Fan Contest

· START: Submit entries April 28th – May 15^th

· VOTE: Top 20 submissions go head-to-head in on-line voting May 18^th -29^th

· WINNERS ANNOUNCED*: June 1^st, 2009

· WHERE: http://adidas.promo.eprize.com/brotherhood/?affiliate_id=2h

· GRAND PRIZE: Trip for 2 to Game 3 of NBA Finals and $500 in adidas gear

· SWEEPS PRIZE: $500 in adidas gear

For more information on the adidas Brotherhood and the 2009 NBA Playoffs check out: www.adidasbasketball.com

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