NBA
I know that was some jawing going on at the beginning of the game last night between the Rockets and Lakers, and Artest was bodying up Ariza, so Ariza was pushing back. But could this be the beginning of a rivalry between the two players? I could understand it from Ariza’s stand point that he’d be pissed, just because Artest is the only new guy on the squad this year and basically replace Trevor. But check out this quote from Artest after the game:
“I don’t have hard feelings,” Ariza said. “It was emotional, I guess you could say.”
Artest said he thought about giving Ariza a hard shot, but backed down for fear of a fine or a suspension.
“You know if somebody hits me, I’m going to react,” the famously temperamental Artest said. “I got hit with about three elbows. It’s just not fair. I don’t want to fight, I don’t feel like doing it. If you throw an elbow into Ron Artest’s chest, do you know who you’re hitting?
“But I give up, I just give up,” he said. “I’m not fighting anymore. You could elbow me, smack me, use me as a punching bag. I’m not reacting anymore, I’m tired.”
Really, Stephen? Let’s compare you to a few of the other guys that could be in the running. I know Blake Griffin is out for a while, when he comes back, he can still make a splash.
On the other hand, let’s take a look at a few players that are actually getting some court time, Starting with Brandon Jennings. Here’s a kid that took a year off and played overseas, and it sure seems to be paying off for him. Jennings is averaging less minutes that Curry, yet outscoring him by 9 PPG. Curry is at 5.5 APG, but Jennings isn’t far behind at 5.3 APG, not to mention that Jennings is averaging 2.0 RPG more than Curry as well.
Next on this list, someone getting considerably less minutes, but is right up there in stats, Jonny Flynn of the Wolves. 24 minutes, 14.8 pts, almost 3 RPG, and 3.3 APG. Only knock on this guy is that he’s turnover prone.
But just looking at these 2 guys alone, Curry could have a tough time getting that ROY award.
So everyone keeps talking about Tony Gaffney possibly making the Lakers, especially with him still being on the team less than a week before the start of the regular season. I personally still don’t get this obsession with him. Yeah he’s tall and can kinda play defense, but his offense is pretty weak and so is his defense.
The worst part is that apparently he doesn’t yet understand the dangers of Social Media these days. Social Media meaning sites like Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc. Don’t post anything on there that you don’t want getting out to the public. Ummm stuff like this picture…
Nothing against him cuddling with another man, it’s his choice… or he was just really drunk. But there are quite a few things wrong with this photo. A) He’s the freakin little spoon! B) How the hell does a 6′8″ guy fit on a couch with another man? C) WTF? He’s wearing a Celtics shirt!!!
That shirt alone should get him booted from the Lakers. I know he’s already changed his loyalties; he mentioned that after signing with the reigning champs… but come on! There’s just something wrong with this whole thing. What if he’s a spy working for the Smeltics?
I was going to write something on here to kick off the Lakers preseason, but after watching last night’s game against the Warriors, I’m a bit speechless. Just check out one reason why I’m so excited about this season. Wow. WOW WOW WOW! The end.
There are literally no words to describe this video. Marbury has officially lost his damn mind.
It’s been a while since I posted since it’s the offseason and all, but this was definitely worth sharing with you guys. Check out this kid. He’s 3 years old and you can find the story at Oh Me Oh My Jello’s Jigglin
Lebron James and Dwight Howard got nothin on these guys! In the words of my coworker via IM “watch this crzy vid. it’s so sic!”
Sprite ran several dunk competitions nationwide over several weeks in order to pick 10 semi-finalists. 1 winner from each of the 8 cities visited, and 2 online winners. Now it’s up to you. Head over to NBA.com/dunk and check out the videos from each of the semi-finalists, and vote on your favorites.
The four finalists will be flown to the NBA All-Star Weekend in Dallas, Texas next February to put their skills on display. All I know is that if The Air Up There pulls off another 720, no one has a chance.
Here are some details about how this whole thing started:
<!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:”Cambria Math”; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”,”serif”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>
NEW YORK, July 27, 2009 – After weeks of dunk contests, ten semifinalists have been selected from among amateur dunkers across the U.S., and it is now up to the fans to select which four dunkers will go on to compete in the first-ever Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown at NBA All-Star 2010 in Dallas, Texas.
Fans can visit NBA.com/dunk to watch dunks from each of the ten semifinalists and vote on who they think should be flown to NBA All-Star in February to compete for the chance to be crowned the Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown Champion. The winner will receive a grand prize of $10,000 and will attend the Sprite Slam Dunk contest during NBA All-Star Saturday Night on Feb. 13, 2010.
<!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:”Cambria Math”; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”,”serif”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>
Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown competitions were held in eight cities during May, June, and July at NBA Nation presented by T-Mobile and Kia Motors, the league’s touring vehicle that transforms into a 20,000-square-foot basketball playground. The competitions were open to all local dunkers, ages 18 and up, who were able to show off their dunking skills before a panel of judges at NBA Nation. One winner from each of the eight cities was selected by the fans via SMS text voting.
Fans that could not attend the NBA Nation stops were able log on to NBA.com/dunk to upload videos showcasing the best dunks. LeBron James led a panel of judges that picked two winners from among the online entries. The eight local winners from the tour combined with the two online winners to make up the group of 10 semifinalists, and now fans are being asked to narrow the group to four best-of-the-best finalists. The voting period begins today and runs through August 24, 2009.
Now it’s time for you to stop reading this and get your mouses clicking. Vote for your finalists and let’s see what they can do next February in Dallas. Follow it all on Twitter at http://twitter.com/spriteshowdown or @spriteshowdown if you know what you’re doing. Or you can check out their Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SpriteSlamDunkShowdown
Good luck to the semi-finalists, and we’ll find out soon enough who gets to go to hot and humid Dallas next year.
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?
Enjoy the video from Sports Science on the Discovery Channel. They test different scenarios to see what it would take to turn Sasha into Shaq at the free throw line. Kid definitely has a shooting touch. Just wish it was there during this last season.
Check out Amare’s Twitter. He’s at it again.
Just 4 days “Breaking News! Amar’e Stoudemire to the Lakers!!” That ended up just not happening.
Then about half an hour ago he posted “Breaking News! Amar’e Stoudemire to the Lakers!! He might take less money to win a championship.”
I know there has been a lot of talk with him being moved to all sorts of different teams in sign and trades, or free agency, but what’s with all the Laker love? I wouldn’t mind having him at all, but which Laker free agent would have to be let go?
Odom needs to be signed, and so does Ariza. And letting Shannon Brown go doesn’t clear enough money to sign Amare. How about this scenario though? Luke and Sasha for Amare… please? Someone just take Sasha and Luke off our hands, especially Sasha.
But Amare, what’s your deal? How low would you really be willing to go in order to bring home that trophy? Imagine a lineup as follows. You know you want this.
PG: Fisher / Farmar / Brown
SG: Kobe / Brown / Ariza
SF: Ariza / Odom or vice-versa
PF: Amare / Pau / Odom
C: Pau / Bynum / Amare
I know it’s a pipe dream, but that’s just plain disgusting. As the kids on Lakersground.net say, “Do it, Mitch!”
This is finally turning out to be the series that I had expected. After Game 1, I was actually disappointed that the Lakers had won by 25. Then after Game 2, I was disappointed that the Lakers didn’t close out the game and had to go into overtime. Let me tell you this. I am no longer disappointed.
The Magic have finally shown up to make this thing a real dogfight. I thought Game 2 was as close as the Magic were going to come to a win in this series based on how they were playing. Who would have thought that they’d come out last night and shoot almost 70% all night long?
You know those nights where it seems like everything that Kobe threw up was gonna go in? The first half looked like one of those nights when he shot 8-11 from the field. Bad part, the Magic pulled a Kobe also. They absolutely were on fire. Yeah teams go on stretches here and there where they make 5 or 6 straight shots, but last night it felt like they made about 40 straight shots without a single miss. The Lakers defense wasn’t strong, but it was there. The Magic just couldn’t be stopped last night.
Here’s hoping that this continues to be a closely contested series throughout. Even though I’m still calling Lakers in 5, I really don’t see anymore blowouts happening this series. Enjoy what’s left, and thank you Orlando for finally showing up to the Finals. Congratulations on your franchise’s first Finals win as well.
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!
What game was this guy watching, and how is there no talk of him getting fined for his comments about the reffing? This was one of the better officiated games this series. Lakers shot 35 FTs, and the Nugs shot 30.
Yes, there were some questionable calls and non-calls, but at least it was happening on both ends of the court. Did he not notice that in less minutes, Carmelo shot more FTs than Kobe? Or maybe he didn’t notice that freakin Dahntay Jones shot more FTs than anyone on the Lakers not named Kobe Bryant? Whatever his excuse, quit your whining. You’re an NBA coach and you’re in the Conference Finals. There’s no room for whining like that in the press conferences.
Pretty much the entire press conference was Karl complaining about the refs. How about this, George? Complain about how your team missed crucial FTs. Or how they went for a good 5 minutes in the 4th without scoring? Or how about your team not stop the wrecking ball that is Lamar Odom.
Good job lobbying the refs, George. I look forward to your team shooting 15 more FTs than the Lakers… oh wait, that already happened in Game 4.
Everyone used to talk about how Bruce Bowen is a dirty player and he tries to injure people etc, and I’m not gonna argue that, but has anyone watched the last 2 games in the LA/Denver series? How the hell has Dahntay Jones not gotten suspended for the cheap shots he’s taken in this video? That’s 2 games in a row with plays meant to injure someone else.
Anyone who has ever played basketball know that you don’t push someone in the back, especially when they’re in mid air. That play alone ranks right up there, possibly higher than Bowen’s step under move. Pushing a player in the back like this can end a player’s career, and is absolutely uncalled for in this league. Something needs to be done… something OTHER than assessing a Flagrant 1 AFTER the game. Thanks again for hiring poor refs, Stern.
http://www.lakersmedia.com/?p=1167
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.
According to Yahoo! Sports, Artest was quoted as saying “Obviously, the Lakers are more experienced than us, but I thought we were the better team. Individually, it’s a failure for me. With the team that we have, there was no reason why we shouldn’t have advanced. But I thought it was a good learning experience for these guys. They’ve been through a Game 7.”
I understand having confidence in your team, but really? Come on, Ron. Give credit where it’s due. The Lakers were picked to win the championship at the beginning of the year for a reason. Everyone knows who the better team is/was. Stop lying to yourself and go enjoy your Free Agency.
Gotta love these videos from Lakers-Fan.com. Check out the latest after last night’s game.
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.
No wonder the Big Cactus always seems to come into the season over weight. Silly fat bastard.
There’s something wrong when you have that big of a Free Throw discrepancy, especially when the team with less FTs is driving to the hoop and getting hammered. Last night the Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 100-92, while takign 29 shots from the charity stripe. The Lakers, however, only took 19 free throws.
It is just me, or were the refs horrible last night? I’m a fan of calling the game evenly on both ends. This game was just made worse by the fact that it was the Lakers that were getting screwed, particularly in the 4th quarter. Lamar Odom was taking it to the rim every single play and managed to take 6 free throws. Kobe was being aggressive and driving in, getting hacked, yet now calls.
On the other end, you look at Yao the wrong way and he goes to the line. Artest is allowed to dribble the ball while holding the Heisman pose and stiff arming Trevor Ariza, yet no foul was called. Phil Jackson, PLEASE submit this tape to the league for review. Pull a Mark Cuban. Thanks.
That game was one of the most frustrating games to watch in a long time because of the horrible officiating crew. Hopefully the rest of the series has better reffing. I’d even rather have old man Crawford or Steve Javey (known Laker/Kobe Hater) in there. At least these days, they’re trying to ref fairly. We’ll just have to wait until Wednesday to see if this crap changes.
ABOUT
Just some thoughts on happenings around the league, responses to the media and other bloggers, and just a good place for you to spend time instead of actually working.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |