Well that's it for 2013 you guys. 2014 will be quite different for me personally as I will be getting married and probably giving up on my lifelong goal of being able to dunk a basketball two-handed. However, as time permits, I'll still be regularly throwing things up on ole hoopology.
I hope y'all will continue visiting the blog and gettin' your fill of NBA things through my photoshopped pictures of silly quotes, videos/gifs of basketball players acting really silly or just checking in for all kinds of random news that make the NBA so much fun.
Finally, here's a really blinding "happy new year" video from the tall white guys who play for the Pelicans (Jeff Withey, Ryan Anderson, Jason Smith).
*for audio, go to the top right of the video and click the "speaker".
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Video: Deandre Jordan Hootin' Like Usher
Deandre Jordan really gets how to use vine. Also pretty sweet goatie that DJ seems to be growing and he's leading the league in rebounds so looks like he's gonna end 2013 pretty much on fire.
*for audio, go to the top right of the video and click the "speaker".
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Blog Update: Holiday Break 2013
Hi Everybody,
If you haven't noticed the lack of updates lately then we're all good. For any of you wondering what the dealio might be, this is just a notice that posts will be more sparse from today to the New Year as I will be spending much of my free time with my family as well as my fiance's family.
Please continue to check back in periodically for goodies as posting will pick back up after we start 2014.
That is all for now because I may or may not be working on my supers stern gaze like Eric Bledsoe and those really serious-looking Suns.
If you haven't noticed the lack of updates lately then we're all good. For any of you wondering what the dealio might be, this is just a notice that posts will be more sparse from today to the New Year as I will be spending much of my free time with my family as well as my fiance's family.
Please continue to check back in periodically for goodies as posting will pick back up after we start 2014.
That is all for now because I may or may not be working on my supers stern gaze like Eric Bledsoe and those really serious-looking Suns.
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| via @ebled2 |
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Christmas Day Games and Jammies with Landry Fields and Kevin Durant
Merry Christmas! Five Games to enjoy today after a quiet Christmas Eve, so don't forget to set your fantasy line-ups and then scroll over to ESPN and then ABC to catch all the t-shirt jerseys that will be worn today.
The line-up of games starts out kind of bad with the Bulls and Nets game becoming a lot less interesting with D.Rose and Brook Lopez out for the season. Later, two not quite playoff teams (Knicks and Lakers), are playing division dominating teams (Thunder and Heat), but it's Christmas so who knows what kind of JR Smith shooting barrage or Nick Young reverse 360 might happen. The evening games should be much better with the Big fundamentals-of-video-bombing and the Big Crybaby playing against each other (Rockets at Spurs) and then lots of dunks and threes in the last game of the night between the Clippers and Warriors.
I hope you'll be enjoying the day of hoops in your most comfortable jammies or maybe even some gnome ones like the ones wore by Landry Fields, Kevin Durant and some bros from Hillsong Church in NYC.
The line-up of games starts out kind of bad with the Bulls and Nets game becoming a lot less interesting with D.Rose and Brook Lopez out for the season. Later, two not quite playoff teams (Knicks and Lakers), are playing division dominating teams (Thunder and Heat), but it's Christmas so who knows what kind of JR Smith shooting barrage or Nick Young reverse 360 might happen. The evening games should be much better with the Big fundamentals-of-video-bombing and the Big Crybaby playing against each other (Rockets at Spurs) and then lots of dunks and threes in the last game of the night between the Clippers and Warriors.
I hope you'll be enjoying the day of hoops in your most comfortable jammies or maybe even some gnome ones like the ones wore by Landry Fields, Kevin Durant and some bros from Hillsong Church in NYC.
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| via @landry2fields |
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Video: Tim Duncan Pushes Sean Elliot Over During Warmups
Leave it to Duncan to be super efficient in a video bomb as he transitions directly from the push into a windmill reverse layup.
So maybe this videobombing thing is gettin' out of hand although I guess you can hardly consider what Tim Duncan doing as "bombing" since you barely see a glimpse of his chinny chin chin as he zooms by while those Heat guys like to stay in the camera's view for as long as possible. With the upper statesman of the league like Duncan actin' like this, no wonder that young dudes like Jonas Valucinias find it ok to join in a pregame broadcast and unbutton a grown man's dress shirt.
Video: Claymation Stephen Curry Breaks Gingerbread Man's Ankles
The irony of this video is a bit too much considering Stephen Curry's history with ankle injuries. Or maybe this is the kind of voodoo video that is meant to cast out all the sprained ankle demons. Otherwise, this is the kind of video that a more superstitious person might say is totally asking for something disastrous to happen to the nimble-footed Curry. As Mark Jackson used to love saying when he was broadcasting on ESPN, and I'm guessing says once in a while in the Warriors huddles:
"hand down, man down"
especially if you're a gingerbread man and you can't change directions at the knees
It's almost Christmas Eve, Everybody!
"hand down, man down"
especially if you're a gingerbread man and you can't change directions at the knees
It's almost Christmas Eve, Everybody!
Noteworthy: 12/23/2013
Way to Go:
Al Jefferson who had 29 and 9 and managed to have 0 turnovers which I know I should be impressed with but so did fellow starters, Gerald Henderson and Josh McRoberts...Pistons' Brandon Jennings had 13 assists and Josh Smith had 25 points and 8 rebounds in their easy win over the Cavaliers...in a losing effort, Arron Afflalo kept up his all-star bid with a 26 point and 5 three-pointer game. Backcourt teammate, Jameer Nelson just missed a triple-double with 17-10-8 as did Gordan Hayward meaning both Jameer and Gordon's teams lost despite them doing a whole lot...Lance Stephenson followed his triple double last game with a 26-points and 4 three pointers tonight as he returned back to Brooklyn and the Pacers easily beat the Nets. On of Stephenson's threes was this unique shot....
Ray Allen conjured up images of yester-year with a reverse jam. He also hit 3 free throws to tie the game and force overtime between the Hawks and the Heat. Also, monster scoring night for Lebron with 38. Lebron James also definitely made another poster tonight.
So I guess Paul Millsap is solidifying himself as a three-point shooter with the 7 out of 10 threes he made last night (on the season he is an efficient 30-66)....With James Harden out with a left ankle injury, Chandler Parsons, Dwight Howard, and back-in-the-starting-lineup Jeremy Lin had 20+ each, but Dirk had 31 in moving to 13th place in the all-time scoring list and the Mavs won by 7....Nuggets were without Kenneth Faried, but Timofy Mosgov filled in well with a double-double. Not a particularly good shooting game for the Splash Brothers, but Curry did have this nice move and jumper on Ty Lawson.
Rough: Khris Middleton hitting a buzzer beater but because his foot was on the line, the Bucks ended up losing by one instead of tieing the game in the overtime period...Andrew Bynum and Paul Pierce both went scoreless tonight which is pretty meaningful because Bynum hasn't gone scoreless in a game since '12 and Paul Pierce hasn't gone scoreless in a game since I was in sixth grade ('99)..Knicks finally win but word is that they might lose Melo for a couple games to an ankle injury...For the Lakers, cus back in '11, Gerald Green was signed to be a Laker but just didn't get much chances to prove himself in the purp and gold. Well he's doing pretty well now as a Sun and I wonder if Green had that in mind when he tied his career high for three-pointers tonight en route to 22 points as the Suns beat the Lakers in Phoenix...Tyreke Evans also had some former team revenge as the Pelicans played the team that Tyreke ran with in his rookie year and made Sacramento probablyy miss him a little with his 25 and 12 stat line, all coming off the bench too.
Duel: Quite the battle between Brandon Knight and Kemba Walker tonight as both barely missed a triple double. Kemba won in points (25 to 24) and rebounds (9 to 8), but Knight had more assists (14 to 10).
What A Dish:
I hope Quincy Acy gets Isaiah a better gift than what Demarcus said he'd be giving their point guard.
Other: Blake Griffin has a new Redbull commercial coming out during Christmas where hes actually pretty serious...what looks like a pretty cool reindeer halftime show at the Bucks vs Bobcats game the other day...can't find the video for this Jonas V and1 but the celebration was worth sharing.
Al Jefferson who had 29 and 9 and managed to have 0 turnovers which I know I should be impressed with but so did fellow starters, Gerald Henderson and Josh McRoberts...Pistons' Brandon Jennings had 13 assists and Josh Smith had 25 points and 8 rebounds in their easy win over the Cavaliers...in a losing effort, Arron Afflalo kept up his all-star bid with a 26 point and 5 three-pointer game. Backcourt teammate, Jameer Nelson just missed a triple-double with 17-10-8 as did Gordan Hayward meaning both Jameer and Gordon's teams lost despite them doing a whole lot...Lance Stephenson followed his triple double last game with a 26-points and 4 three pointers tonight as he returned back to Brooklyn and the Pacers easily beat the Nets. On of Stephenson's threes was this unique shot....
Ray Allen conjured up images of yester-year with a reverse jam. He also hit 3 free throws to tie the game and force overtime between the Hawks and the Heat. Also, monster scoring night for Lebron with 38. Lebron James also definitely made another poster tonight.
So I guess Paul Millsap is solidifying himself as a three-point shooter with the 7 out of 10 threes he made last night (on the season he is an efficient 30-66)....With James Harden out with a left ankle injury, Chandler Parsons, Dwight Howard, and back-in-the-starting-lineup Jeremy Lin had 20+ each, but Dirk had 31 in moving to 13th place in the all-time scoring list and the Mavs won by 7....Nuggets were without Kenneth Faried, but Timofy Mosgov filled in well with a double-double. Not a particularly good shooting game for the Splash Brothers, but Curry did have this nice move and jumper on Ty Lawson.
Rough: Khris Middleton hitting a buzzer beater but because his foot was on the line, the Bucks ended up losing by one instead of tieing the game in the overtime period...Andrew Bynum and Paul Pierce both went scoreless tonight which is pretty meaningful because Bynum hasn't gone scoreless in a game since '12 and Paul Pierce hasn't gone scoreless in a game since I was in sixth grade ('99)..Knicks finally win but word is that they might lose Melo for a couple games to an ankle injury...For the Lakers, cus back in '11, Gerald Green was signed to be a Laker but just didn't get much chances to prove himself in the purp and gold. Well he's doing pretty well now as a Sun and I wonder if Green had that in mind when he tied his career high for three-pointers tonight en route to 22 points as the Suns beat the Lakers in Phoenix...Tyreke Evans also had some former team revenge as the Pelicans played the team that Tyreke ran with in his rookie year and made Sacramento probablyy miss him a little with his 25 and 12 stat line, all coming off the bench too.
Duel: Quite the battle between Brandon Knight and Kemba Walker tonight as both barely missed a triple double. Kemba won in points (25 to 24) and rebounds (9 to 8), but Knight had more assists (14 to 10).
What A Dish:
I hope Quincy Acy gets Isaiah a better gift than what Demarcus said he'd be giving their point guard.
Other: Blake Griffin has a new Redbull commercial coming out during Christmas where hes actually pretty serious...what looks like a pretty cool reindeer halftime show at the Bucks vs Bobcats game the other day...can't find the video for this Jonas V and1 but the celebration was worth sharing.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Video: What Demarcus Cousins Got Isaiah Thomas for Christmas
Yes Demarcus "Santa"Clausins strikes again; this time sharing what he possibly got his shifty but stout point guard, Isaiah Thomas. Maybe it's all the technical fouls and possible fines that Demarcus will face that is making him a little more frugal. See for yourself, but I don't think that those gifts seem appropriate for what an all-star big man would give to his playmaking guard.
2 more Days Until Christmas, YEEEE!
2 more Days Until Christmas, YEEEE!
Homan League: Week in Review 12/15 - 12/21
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| Brett Davis, USA TODAY Sports |
A review of action in the fantasy basketball league dubbed "Homan League". May include free agent pick-ups, trades, DNP's because someone forgot to set their lineup for the early morning Pacific time game. Also other shenanigans worth mentioning in the league. All opinions are exactly that, opinions. So don't take them too personally, and they are mostly mine.
Happy week before Christmas, everybody. We're about a third of the way through with the NBA season but there's plenty of basketball to still played including the ten game lineup on Christmas day this next week.In our league, the match-up between the 2nd place team, Swagger, and 3rd place team, Adam Silver, was won by Ray's higher ranked team 7-3.
Looks like a big win for Sasquatch over current 4th place team, S7venbyVII, because of the big week from JJ's game-winning basket-making guards, Kemba Walker and Damian Lillard. That means my team, Just Jrue It, is that much closer to making a move into the Top Four!
In the mismatch of the week, first-place Clipper Nation played the second to last Mark Cuban team and for most of the week it looked like it was going to be a 6-4 or 5-5 split. That is up until the weekend and Jon's team pulled away with big games from Thad Young, Kevin Love, and two awesome games from Russell Westbrook.
In 9th and 12th place, Ryan's kobeking team and Jae's Dazzling Suad split the week's matchup 5-5 so neither team looks like they'll be climbing out of that Bottom Four group.
A heads up to Boston Celtics owners cause in week 10 the guys in green are only playing one game and thus won't be much help if you're counting on them for fantasy stats.
Steph Curry is scoring more and dishing out more assists than Derrick Rose did in his MVP season. However, with the Warriors in a bit of a funk losing 4 out of 6, there isn't much mention of Curry as an MVP candidate even though he's averaged 4 threes and 3 more points than his season average in this past week. (TEAM: Mark Cuban)
For the season, Al Horford's points are up but boards are down when compared to previous years. Horford had a great game on Wednesday against the Kings with 25 10 and 5 along with 4 blocks. For the week, Horford is shooting 66% from the field which may seem like an anomaly, but also keep in mind for the season hes at 56% so Horford could easily continue this trend in rising in fantasy value.
Along with his late game heroics, Damian Lillard is also averaging 28 points this week with basically 5 threes a game. For the week, Lillard was also dishing out two more assists than his season average and close to two steals a game (TEAM: Sasquatch).
A really stellar week for Demarcus Cousins as he topped 26 points four out of five games including a 17 rebound game and averaged about 5 assists. He's also leading the league in technical fouls so I guess you can say Cousins is having a pretty busy year.
Stock Rising:
Miles Plumlee had his best game in a while grabbing 13 boards to go with 13 points and 2 steals and 2 blocks on Thursday. He followed those games up with rebound efforts of 12 and 8 on Saturday and Sunday, so he's becoming more dependable of an option. (TEAM: Clipper Nation)
Xavier Henry: Very smart of Oliver to pick Henry since the Lakers are supremely short-handed at the guard positions. Also, since the Rockets have closed communications regarding trading Omer Asik, dropping Asik was the best decision at this point unless he wanted to keep gettin a gooseegg from the Turkish big man. (TEAM: League Champion)
Giannis Antetokounmpo: This one is a bias pick cause I personally wanted to pick him up but Ryan beat me to it. Giannis has had decent rebounding numbers since his re-introduction to the main rotation but his production should increase as he adjusts to the increased minutes since physically he has all the skills to be a high impact player for the Bucks. (TEAM: kobeking)
C'mon maaaaan:
Forgot to play Trevor Ariza for Saturday's early game so I didn't get nuffin' to help my team when Trevor decided to score 27 and knock down 5 threes. bah humbug. (TEAM: Just Jrue It)
Tough week of DNP's for Gabe's team as Kirk Hinrich, Jordan Farmar, and Tony Parker all missed games. Also, along with Derrick Rose, another all-star is going to be in our league's free agency pool since Nets center, Brook Lopez, is out for the season with his foot injury. Good thing Andrew Bogut has all of a sudden decided he must grab every rebound cause Gabe's going to need to be creative with replacing Lopez' production in his lineup. (TEAM: Adam Silver)
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Video: Jared Dudley Wishes You A Merry Christmas
Excuse the bad quality cause I literally held my phone up in the air to record the teevee after I was finally able to stop laughing at Dudley's neck movement.
3 more days until Christmas!
3 more days until Christmas!
Noteworthy: 12/21-22/2013
Good job:
Trevor Ariza with 27 points off of 5 threes in leading the Wiz to a road win over the Celtics.
Dwight Howard with 35 and 19 against Andre Drummond, perhaps, the only big man in the NBA that can match him athletically. Dwight got the win and the more impressive statline as the Rockets beat the Pistons in Detroit.
Andrew Bogut, after having an 18 board game against the Spurs, grabbed 20 against the Lakers on Saturday in the Warriors dominating home win.
The Bulls who beat the Cavs at home behind double figures from 6 different players. With their injury issues, this type of team effort is what the Bulls might need to get wins this season.
That guy Khris Middleton, who had his second 27 point game this month and the Bucks as they beat the Sixers despite double-doubles from Thad Young and Spencer Hawes.
Another great game from the combo guard lineup of Bledsoe and Dragic as they both had 20+ and they beat the Mavs at home .
Raptors, the whole team, cause they ended the Thunder's undefeated record at home on Sunday night.
This year's king of triple doubles is Lance Stephenson cause he registered another one tonight in the Pacers win over the Celtics. Plus he did a filthy move to put a Celtic on his backside (see below video)
Alexis Ajinca played in his first NBA game this season on Saturday after being signed as a free agent. He had 11 boards, which was more than Lamarcus Aldridge and Anthony Davis had in Portland's win over New Orleans. Good job, newbie Pelican.
Curren NBA Championship belt-holders, the Clippers did not trail once in Saturday's game against the Nugget. Things were closer against the T'wolves tonight. In fact, the Clippers looked like they had lost the belt when they were down 5 with a minute left to go. The Clippers did not give up, as they kept doing that quick basket and then foul thing until this happened.
If you're going to lose the ball, losing it in the backcourt while double-teamed is pretty much the worst. Tough minute a half for Kev Martin as he also basically threw an outlet pass to Darren Collison later in overtime.
Jared Dudley hadn't made a three all game up until this point. So if you're a T'wolves fan, this shot going down must have been a serious "c'mooooon man".
Bad times
The Knicks have the second most losses as the home team with 10 this season. I didn't watch the game (cause the game was on when I'm usually enjoyin my cereal), but my expectation of another Knicks home loss was correct.
Poor Courtney Lee
Celtics had won 7 in a row against the Wiz, but then that streak was ended when they loss at home to Washington on Saturday. Then tonight they got dominated when they had to go to Indiana and Courtney Lee fell on his butt trying to stay in front of Lance Stephenson.
Plus, Rondo said he's not gonna be back in January so i'm guessing the Celtics are watching this year's college basketball guys pretty closely.
Pretty well timed block
No Look
Alexis Ajinca played in his first NBA game this season on Saturday after being signed as a free agent. He had 11 boards, which was more than Lamarcus Aldridge and Anthony Davis had in Portland's win over New Orleans. Good job, newbie Pelican.
Curren NBA Championship belt-holders, the Clippers did not trail once in Saturday's game against the Nugget. Things were closer against the T'wolves tonight. In fact, the Clippers looked like they had lost the belt when they were down 5 with a minute left to go. The Clippers did not give up, as they kept doing that quick basket and then foul thing until this happened.
If you're going to lose the ball, losing it in the backcourt while double-teamed is pretty much the worst. Tough minute a half for Kev Martin as he also basically threw an outlet pass to Darren Collison later in overtime.
Jared Dudley hadn't made a three all game up until this point. So if you're a T'wolves fan, this shot going down must have been a serious "c'mooooon man".
Bad times
The Knicks have the second most losses as the home team with 10 this season. I didn't watch the game (cause the game was on when I'm usually enjoyin my cereal), but my expectation of another Knicks home loss was correct.
Poor Courtney Lee
Celtics had won 7 in a row against the Wiz, but then that streak was ended when they loss at home to Washington on Saturday. Then tonight they got dominated when they had to go to Indiana and Courtney Lee fell on his butt trying to stay in front of Lance Stephenson.
Plus, Rondo said he's not gonna be back in January so i'm guessing the Celtics are watching this year's college basketball guys pretty closely.
Pretty well timed block
No Look
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Video: What A Baseball Pass From Rajon Rondo Looks Like When It's Flying At You
Saw this video from celticsblog about their star point guard finally making his return to full-contact practices since injuring his knee last season.
While watching the Celtics scrimmage, I was completely caught off by this pass by Rajon Rondo to who I'm guessing is Jared Sullinger. Check out the videos over on their site and make your judgement about how well Rondo is moving and also get a serious scare about your nose getting squashed by a basketball.
While watching the Celtics scrimmage, I was completely caught off by this pass by Rajon Rondo to who I'm guessing is Jared Sullinger. Check out the videos over on their site and make your judgement about how well Rondo is moving and also get a serious scare about your nose getting squashed by a basketball.
Noteworthy: 12/20/2013
Nice Job:
Throwback game for Paul Pierce with 24 points, 10 rebounds, on 7 of 9 shooting with 4 three-pointers, but it was spoiled by Evan Turner's 29 and 10, including the game winnner...Great road win for the Raptors in Dallas, as all five of their starters scored 15 or more points. Despite the overtime loss, good game for Monta Ellis as he had his 2nd 20+ point 10+ assist game this season (in his career he has 21 of these type games). Pau put together a really nice night of 21 points 13 rebounds and 8 assists for the Lakers in their home win against the pretty good T'wolves. So basically, take your time Steve(s) and Kobe. Pau's got things perfectly under control.
Richard Jefferson showing that you still shouldn't give him the baseline and Brandon Knight had a really neat all-around game with 17 points 14 rebounds 8 assists and 0 turnovers. Can't forget about their other lanky Bucks teammate, John Henson, who threw down a really snappy putback dunk. Kyrie Irving had a huge scoring night of 39 points as did Kemba Walker with a season high of 34 points as both the Cavs and the Bobcats won beating the Bucks and Pistons. Demarcus Cousins led all scorers in the Kings/Heat game with 27 but the Kings lost by 19 so he probably wasn't shaking hands with anybody still.
Ball Fake of the Night:
Return:
Danny Granger played for the first time this season and he did look a bit rusty with those 5 turnovers. However, he did have a nice block on Dwight Howard.
On the subject of blocks, Gordon Hayward's hustle on this Demare Carroll fast break layup is a little Tayshaun Prince-ish or maybe just very Gordan Hayward-ish. Either way, dejavu.
Not the Worst Attempt At Taking A Charge:
Not bad because what else could you do if Lebron comes barreling down the lane at you? Definitely an addition to Ben's Mclemore's library of "Welcome to the NBA" moments categorized under "dangit".
Bummer
Gerald "Gets his lips to the rim" Green took 12 shots tonight all of which were threes. He made six of those shots which is a really impressive amount of three-pointers made but that stat also means there were no dunks to report on. Hence, the bummer subtitle.
Cheerful
In the first game of the season without Kobe since his return from achilles injury, the Lakers looked like they were having a lot of fun on the court. It didn't even look like they had lost their superstar shooting guard or their first-second-and third string point guards this season.
First a block by their gimpy backup-center which led to a dunk by the streaky but really good at dunking, Wesley Johnson
Now the T'wolves were the team to draft Wes Johnson so maybe tonight was a bit personal for him cause then he also brought Staples to their feet with this long jump dunk too.
Nick Young whose big smile is currently the banner on this blog, led the way for the Lakers with 25 points. As a review, some were really far three-point shots and one of them was™ this 360 spin on his follow through of a 4-point play opportunity.
Not to be left out, Pau also hit a pretty miraculous three tonight, which was the reason for the cute celebration between Nick and Pau that you can see at the head of this post.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Two Tall Lakers In One Chair
Pau, Rob, Santa Chair, everybody.
5 more days until Christmas, hooray!
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| via @Lakers |
5 more days until Christmas, hooray!
Video: Kanye West Laments About Michael Jordan's Time As A Wizard
Some NSFW auto-tuned words and lots of ridiculous claims by Kanye West about how deserving MJ was to be a part owner of the Chicago Bulls.
I guess since the Bobcats are doing better this year, Kanye is forgetting about all the dummy moves his Airness has made as part-owner of both the Wizards and the Bobcats. Or maybe he's not much of a Bulls fan and hasn't considered that with Jordan at the helm, the Bulls very well could have picked Michael Beasley instead of Derrick Rose as the first overall pick in the 2008 Draft.
Gotta give Mr. West his dues for this little ditty though. I'm probably going to spend the day confusing my fiance by singing the hook over and over again. ("Why do you keep singing about 'Michael the Wizard'").
I guess since the Bobcats are doing better this year, Kanye is forgetting about all the dummy moves his Airness has made as part-owner of both the Wizards and the Bobcats. Or maybe he's not much of a Bulls fan and hasn't considered that with Jordan at the helm, the Bulls very well could have picked Michael Beasley instead of Derrick Rose as the first overall pick in the 2008 Draft.
Gotta give Mr. West his dues for this little ditty though. I'm probably going to spend the day confusing my fiance by singing the hook over and over again. ("Why do you keep singing about 'Michael the Wizard'").
Video: Kevin Hart's "Ride Along" Trailer With CP3, Kobe, Melo, Iguodala and Ice Cube
Good job covering all the necessities for a music video:
90's Hip Hop Song with some customized lyrics - check
Fish Eye Lens - check
Cameos from famous people - check check check check
Still not sure that I would watch this movie (which is half the point of a trailer), but I thoroughly enjoyed this particular trailer. Happy Friday, all!
Video: Another Rasheed Wallace Dunk in Practice
Since Andre Drummond tagged this as #TBT, this must be one of the unshown footages from the dunk contest between assistant coach Sheed and Tony Mitchell that I posted a little while back.
Really like the artistic eye Drummond has for using the monochrome filter. Very appropriate for one, cause black and white means its old and this is a a throwback thursday video, and two, Rasheed Wallace dunking in sweats is funnier when seen in black and white.
Really like the artistic eye Drummond has for using the monochrome filter. Very appropriate for one, cause black and white means its old and this is a a throwback thursday video, and two, Rasheed Wallace dunking in sweats is funnier when seen in black and white.
Noteworthy: 12/19/2013
Only 2 games tonight. A yawner win by the only undefeated team at home this season and a surprise road win by a team playing the six through nine guys in their rotation.
First that yawner game where Reggie Jackson showed off his shiftniness and the Thunder led the whole way in beating the short-handed Bulls.
Then the Spurs won at Golden State behind a solid game from Marco Bellinelli and a whole lot of Boris Diaw making plays in the last two minutes.
First, Boris blocked Stephen Curry on a fast break attempt.
Then a Diaw Dunk. So basically in a matter of a minute, Boris Diaw stopped the best player on the other team and then put the Spurs up three off a nice give-and-go with the Tiago Splitter.
Splitter ends up making the biggest and most controversial play of the night, tipping in the game-winning basket after this scramble underneath the basket
First that yawner game where Reggie Jackson showed off his shiftniness and the Thunder led the whole way in beating the short-handed Bulls.
Then the Spurs won at Golden State behind a solid game from Marco Bellinelli and a whole lot of Boris Diaw making plays in the last two minutes.
First, Boris blocked Stephen Curry on a fast break attempt.
Then a Diaw Dunk. So basically in a matter of a minute, Boris Diaw stopped the best player on the other team and then put the Spurs up three off a nice give-and-go with the Tiago Splitter.
Splitter ends up making the biggest and most controversial play of the night, tipping in the game-winning basket after this scramble underneath the basket
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Video: Roy Hibbert Makes Jokes About Hairlines Before Game Versus Heat
At first, he was just video-bombing,
But then Roy tossed out a very decent Stephen A zing.
"Hows my hairline compared to..." asks Stephen A
Spoiler: Roy basically says "better than the King's"
But then Roy tossed out a very decent Stephen A zing.
"Hows my hairline compared to..." asks Stephen A
Spoiler: Roy basically says "better than the King's"
Video: Celtics Announcer Calls For Best Inbounds Play Ever And Then A Pretty Good One Happens
Bring the legendary Tommy Heinsohn with you to Vegas cause his predictions skills seem to be in mid-season form.
Color me shocked because the person making Heinsohn's prediction come true was the most unsuspecting of alley ooper finishers.
Color me shocked because the person making Heinsohn's prediction come true was the most unsuspecting of alley ooper finishers.
Noteworthy: 12/18/2013
Way to Go:
Similarly good games by Lebron (24-9-7) and Paul George (28-8-6), although Lebron's team got the win - tieing the season series up at 1-1.
Also, don't know about the title of this video being accurate cause I don't think Luis Scola was fooled by Lebron; more like caught flat-footed and not as athletic so he looked fooled when Lebron punched the accelerator on the way to the basket.
Career high for Trey Burke as he thoroughly outplayed his fellow rookie of the year candidate, Victor Oladipo, by recording 30 points and a solid 8 rebounds and 7 assists as the Jazz win in Orlando.
Deandre Jordan is this year's rebounding leader and he looked like it with his 20 boards tonight. Plus he had 5 blocks and didn't turn the ball over once.
Lots of Threes
Kyle Korver had 2 more threes than the Kings had as a whole, as the Hawks won by 17. With the way Korver's shooting, that consecutive games with a three-pointer record (94) might continue for a little while.
JR Smith took 17 threes (and made 5 of them) in the double overtime win against the Bucks. Here's an awesome graphic from Matt Moore of CBS Sports in case you weren't sure what 5 for 17 from beyond the arc looks like.
You're Too Far away, JoJo
Silly: Knicks won but gave the Bucks a golden opportunity when Bargnani took this three-pointer despite being up 2 in overtime and a full shot clock in their favor.
Didn't See These Ones Coming:
Someone on the Grizzlies had 10 offensive rebounds last night. Not Rebounder lover Zach Randolph or Marc Gasol cause he's still injured. It was Tony,who hasn't even had more than 7 rebounds the whole season, Allen.
In his first game back, Tyreke Evans registered a triple double with 11-13-10, but the Pelicans were beat pretty handedly by the Clipps so it wasn't the most impactful of triple dubbz.
Unsuspecting
I think Nic Batum is going to be careful about his defensive stance now that he's become another victim of Rubio's nutmeg pass.
Other: Even in a loss to the T'Wolves tonight, Damian Lillard was able to make the crowd ohh&aww after he banked a half court shot after the buzzer...Paul George gettin' his flop tonight dissected
Similarly good games by Lebron (24-9-7) and Paul George (28-8-6), although Lebron's team got the win - tieing the season series up at 1-1.
Also, don't know about the title of this video being accurate cause I don't think Luis Scola was fooled by Lebron; more like caught flat-footed and not as athletic so he looked fooled when Lebron punched the accelerator on the way to the basket.
Career high for Trey Burke as he thoroughly outplayed his fellow rookie of the year candidate, Victor Oladipo, by recording 30 points and a solid 8 rebounds and 7 assists as the Jazz win in Orlando.
Deandre Jordan is this year's rebounding leader and he looked like it with his 20 boards tonight. Plus he had 5 blocks and didn't turn the ball over once.
Lots of Threes
Kyle Korver had 2 more threes than the Kings had as a whole, as the Hawks won by 17. With the way Korver's shooting, that consecutive games with a three-pointer record (94) might continue for a little while.
JR Smith took 17 threes (and made 5 of them) in the double overtime win against the Bucks. Here's an awesome graphic from Matt Moore of CBS Sports in case you weren't sure what 5 for 17 from beyond the arc looks like.
You're Too Far away, JoJo
Silly: Knicks won but gave the Bucks a golden opportunity when Bargnani took this three-pointer despite being up 2 in overtime and a full shot clock in their favor.
Didn't See These Ones Coming:
Someone on the Grizzlies had 10 offensive rebounds last night. Not Rebounder lover Zach Randolph or Marc Gasol cause he's still injured. It was Tony,who hasn't even had more than 7 rebounds the whole season, Allen.
In his first game back, Tyreke Evans registered a triple double with 11-13-10, but the Pelicans were beat pretty handedly by the Clipps so it wasn't the most impactful of triple dubbz.
Unsuspecting
I think Nic Batum is going to be careful about his defensive stance now that he's become another victim of Rubio's nutmeg pass.
Other: Even in a loss to the T'Wolves tonight, Damian Lillard was able to make the crowd ohh&aww after he banked a half court shot after the buzzer...Paul George gettin' his flop tonight dissected
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Another Look at Kemba Walker's Game Winner
Might possibly be the most lol-worthy photo of a game-winner so far this season. Had about 5 different photoshop ideas for this one, but for tonight, it seemed enough just to show y'all the original photo. At least for tonight.
h/t to @outsidethenba
Two Awesome Christmas-Themed Videos involving Nuggets
Here are two silly and kinda holiday-themed videos. They are pretty perfect for it being exactly one week until Christmas.
Never seen any proof, but I'm not so sure that Nate Robinson doesn't actually do these smooth moves in the locker room. In fact, I bet the Nuggets media guys caught a glimpse of Nate pirouetting his way out of the showers and thought:
"what a great idea, let's make an elf video of the players so we can see how it would look if everyone moved like Nate".
On that thought, I actually think that this video would have been more entertaining if they had asked Nate, Timmy Mosgov, and Randy Foye to actually dress up in suspendered elf outfits and record themselves doing these moves.
Then there's this one:
Just in case you thought they left out the other Nuggets, you can see that they were saving Gallinari and the rest of the Nuggets for this late 90's remix.
7 Days Until Christmas Y'all!
Never seen any proof, but I'm not so sure that Nate Robinson doesn't actually do these smooth moves in the locker room. In fact, I bet the Nuggets media guys caught a glimpse of Nate pirouetting his way out of the showers and thought:
"what a great idea, let's make an elf video of the players so we can see how it would look if everyone moved like Nate".
On that thought, I actually think that this video would have been more entertaining if they had asked Nate, Timmy Mosgov, and Randy Foye to actually dress up in suspendered elf outfits and record themselves doing these moves.
Then there's this one:
Just in case you thought they left out the other Nuggets, you can see that they were saving Gallinari and the rest of the Nuggets for this late 90's remix.
7 Days Until Christmas Y'all!
Video: Jordan Hill Talkin' About What He Does
About 99 seconds worth or a little bit less than that of Jordan Hill's favorite catchphrase. Also great to see the different variations of Jordan's hairlocks. My personal faves are at 44 and 58 seconds.
Noteworthy: 12/17/2013
Wow:
So in case you forgot, Damian Lillard is a second year point guard whose predraft comparisons were to Norris Cole. I'm sure the Blazers are glad he's a lot different than Norris Cole cause I don't think Cole would have pulled off that puckered mean mug or knocked down that 27 footer.
So Quincy Acy looks like he may be related to Reggie Evans and jumps like a bearded kangaroo.
If you weren't impressed by how aerodynamic Acy and his beard are, check out the block he had on Cody Zellar
Too Bad:
Demarcus Cousins had the most points, rebounds and assists (30-17-6) of any player in the Kings vs. Bobcats game, but it wasn't enough as the Kings lost by 8.
Almost a Triple-Double
Russell Westbrook missed it by 2 assists and 2 turnovers as the Thunder beat the Nuggets by 12.
Related
Pau scored 21 points playing against his brother's team but his brother wasn't playing. The Lakers played a team that has suffered a whole lot of injuries this season in the Grizzlies as well and Kobe had 21 points but he had a scary moment with twisting his knee in the second half.
Almost a Ig-WHOA-dala Moment
Andre played in his first game back from his hamstring injury and he almost pulled an NBA Street combo move but Jason Smith's wrist kinda got in the way. Still a cool highlight and so so glad Iggy's back.
Other: Marc Gasol is off crutches so it seems...pretty cool Warriors promotion for the All-star game involving kids dressed as current players..Five reasons according to the Suns.com guys why we should be excited for the Suns game against the Spurs this week.
So in case you forgot, Damian Lillard is a second year point guard whose predraft comparisons were to Norris Cole. I'm sure the Blazers are glad he's a lot different than Norris Cole cause I don't think Cole would have pulled off that puckered mean mug or knocked down that 27 footer.
So Quincy Acy looks like he may be related to Reggie Evans and jumps like a bearded kangaroo.
If you weren't impressed by how aerodynamic Acy and his beard are, check out the block he had on Cody Zellar
Too Bad:
Demarcus Cousins had the most points, rebounds and assists (30-17-6) of any player in the Kings vs. Bobcats game, but it wasn't enough as the Kings lost by 8.
Almost a Triple-Double
Russell Westbrook missed it by 2 assists and 2 turnovers as the Thunder beat the Nuggets by 12.
Related
Pau scored 21 points playing against his brother's team but his brother wasn't playing. The Lakers played a team that has suffered a whole lot of injuries this season in the Grizzlies as well and Kobe had 21 points but he had a scary moment with twisting his knee in the second half.
Almost a Ig-WHOA-dala Moment
Andre played in his first game back from his hamstring injury and he almost pulled an NBA Street combo move but Jason Smith's wrist kinda got in the way. Still a cool highlight and so so glad Iggy's back.
Other: Marc Gasol is off crutches so it seems...pretty cool Warriors promotion for the All-star game involving kids dressed as current players..Five reasons according to the Suns.com guys why we should be excited for the Suns game against the Spurs this week.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Video: Hawks Guessin' Capital of Teammate's Home Country
So I obviously fancy myself to be somewhat of a NBA nerd but I didn't read the description for this video so I initially had no idea why the Hawks were guessin' the capital of a country I only heard of back in 9th grade world history class.
Then I got to the end of the video and I found out the reason was that the Hawks have a player of Macedonian nationality. the really scary-looking power forward/center sitting on the end of their bench, Pero Antic.
Antic looks like a top five most frightening guy in the league or at least most frightening Atlanta Hawk since Ivan Johnson. He's also a proven winner according to his wikipedia page, as he's won championships in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Russia.
Based on the responses given in the video by his teammates, it doesn't seem like the guys have gotten to know ole Pero's home country or they just aren't fans of small Greek Republics.
I'd like to imagine the Antic is so intimidating that his teammates are afraid to ask him about his personal life, ask about his really painfully looking chest tattoo, or look him in the eye.
Take a look at these humorous responses yourself and wonder if Antic could be even scarier when he hears Demarre Carroll's response.
Then I got to the end of the video and I found out the reason was that the Hawks have a player of Macedonian nationality. the really scary-looking power forward/center sitting on the end of their bench, Pero Antic.
Antic looks like a top five most frightening guy in the league or at least most frightening Atlanta Hawk since Ivan Johnson. He's also a proven winner according to his wikipedia page, as he's won championships in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Russia.
Based on the responses given in the video by his teammates, it doesn't seem like the guys have gotten to know ole Pero's home country or they just aren't fans of small Greek Republics.
I'd like to imagine the Antic is so intimidating that his teammates are afraid to ask him about his personal life, ask about his really painfully looking chest tattoo, or look him in the eye.
Take a look at these humorous responses yourself and wonder if Antic could be even scarier when he hears Demarre Carroll's response.
Noteworthy: 12/16/2013
Way to Go:
Josh Smith and the Pistons, as they were the first to beat the Pacers on their homecourt.
Second game in a row for j.smith in which he had 30+ and 7 rebounds. A better game tonight because he scored one less point on 12 less than shots than he did the previous game and his only block was this huuuuuuuge one in the final minute of the game.
A job well done to Joe Johnson as he went BIZERK, knocking down 10 threes for 37 points. 29 of those points was in the 42 point 3rd quarter that the Nets had in beating the 76ers. For the record, Johnson's huge night also helped the Nets set a team record in making 21 threes in a game.
His first game back in almost a month. Bradley Beal's right leg looked fine in helping him soar up for this game-winning drive to the basket against the Knicks.
Nice night for Lebron aside from what looked like a minor ankle injury in the 2nd half as he went for 30-9-9. That would have been tops for points, boards and assists for anyone that played in the Jazz vs Heat game except bench guy Alec Burks outscored Bron with 31 points.
Clippers are the 10th team to get the belt this season after taking it from the Spurs with the 23-point win.
If You Want to Set A Record for 3's Made In A Game as A Team
Play the Sixers. Its been two nights in a row that the team that is playing the 76ers ties the record of 21 three pointers. The Nets play the Sixers again in Philadelphia on Friday so I suspect a little tighter defense on the perimeter by those Sixers.
A Famous Person:
Josh Smith and the Pistons, as they were the first to beat the Pacers on their homecourt.
Second game in a row for j.smith in which he had 30+ and 7 rebounds. A better game tonight because he scored one less point on 12 less than shots than he did the previous game and his only block was this huuuuuuuge one in the final minute of the game.
A job well done to Joe Johnson as he went BIZERK, knocking down 10 threes for 37 points. 29 of those points was in the 42 point 3rd quarter that the Nets had in beating the 76ers. For the record, Johnson's huge night also helped the Nets set a team record in making 21 threes in a game.
His first game back in almost a month. Bradley Beal's right leg looked fine in helping him soar up for this game-winning drive to the basket against the Knicks.
Nice night for Lebron aside from what looked like a minor ankle injury in the 2nd half as he went for 30-9-9. That would have been tops for points, boards and assists for anyone that played in the Jazz vs Heat game except bench guy Alec Burks outscored Bron with 31 points.
Clippers are the 10th team to get the belt this season after taking it from the Spurs with the 23-point win.
If You Want to Set A Record for 3's Made In A Game as A Team
Play the Sixers. Its been two nights in a row that the team that is playing the 76ers ties the record of 21 three pointers. The Nets play the Sixers again in Philadelphia on Friday so I suspect a little tighter defense on the perimeter by those Sixers.
A Famous Person:
Paul Mccartney lookin' a little dissapointed at not catching a free shirt.
Disheartening:
A half court prayer that is answered, except that its not quite enough. A description of what happened for the Bulls last night against the Magic and sadly not even the worse loss the Bulls have suffered this season.
2 Points
Taj Gibson only had two points and it was this ferocious one. Two points is two points though and since the Bulls lost by 1, had Taj Gibson made a three, the Bulls could have gone into overtime. So sometimes a ferocious dunk like this can't be enjoyed quite as much as we would like.
Taj Gibson only had two points and it was this ferocious one. Two points is two points though and since the Bulls lost by 1, had Taj Gibson made a three, the Bulls could have gone into overtime. So sometimes a ferocious dunk like this can't be enjoyed quite as much as we would like.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Homan League: Week in Review 12/8- 12/14
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| DAVID COOPER / TORONTO STAR |
A review of action in the fantasy basketball league dubbed "Homan League". May include free agent pick-ups, trades, DNP's because someone forgot to set their lineup for the early morning Pacific time game. Also other shenanigans worth mentioning in the league. All opinions are exactly that, opinions. So don't take them too personally, and they are mostly mine.
The Kings-Raptors trade that went down this week should have vast impact fantasy-wise as guys like Rudy Gay should actually produce more although you could argue he has a smaller role with the Kings and less is expected out of him. Felt like Gay was pressured into taking too much of the playmaking skills onto himself in Toronto; with Isaiah Thomas handling the ball and Demarcus Cousins gettin touches in the post, Gay will have more of a niche role which I think is good for his fantasy value. Specifically Gay should be counted on for steady scoring he as plays on the wing off of Cousins and also contribute solid numbers in the defense categories. His old Raptor teammates, Derozan - AmirJohnson - Lowry, should continue to rise in their fantasy production as they have already shown in the two games Gay has been gone (TEAMS: Jae's Dazzling Team, Pres(i)ton, David Stern)
The plot for the rookie of the year award is thickening as Trey Burke has been consistently putting up solid numbers. With Gordan Hayward struggling for the most part, Burke should continue to get the green light from the perimeter. He still has plenty of options on the front court to dish out assists to and for a point guard he has had one of the lowest turnover averages at less than one and a half per game (TEAM: Mark Cuban, Just Jrue It)
Some guys cooled off a lot from last week including John Henson who was averaging over 13 rebounds in week 6 but for the week is just around 9. He did tie his season high in blocks on Tuesday with 6, and is filling in nicely until Timon gets Marc Gasol back (TEAM: S7VenbyVII).
Stars of the Week
For our current #1 Seed of the Top 4, Clipper Nation, and #2 Seed of our Bottom four, Sasquatch, they have had great weeks from their number one overall picks, the Kevins. Love and Durant.
Love was straight dominant this week, as he averaged 5 threes along with over 15 rebounds and 31 points per game. Durant is averaging just about 30 points with 9 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block for the week. He's shooting a ridiculous 57% from the field and also pulling away with the free throw makes for the season at 201, almost 50 more than the next player (James Harden - 153).
In previous years, Lamarcus Aldridge has been kind of a below average rebounder like his 6 rebound effort against the Jazz on Monday. But this year he's had some epic games to offset his more anemic rebounding days like Thursday night's 25 rebound game (TEAM: David Stern).
Kind of difficult to imagine that the Knicks or any player much less the star player on the Knicks, not getting enough attention, but its true when it comes to the fantasy year Carmelo's had. On the season, he's second in field goals made, fourth in free throws made, second in points and has more total rebounds than Greg Monroe and Roy Hibbert. But because of the team's struggles, those statistics have been overlooked. On the week, Melo averaged over 31 points while averaging close to 3 threes per game. Jae will need Melo to keep up this production as his team tries to climb out of the bottom four of the League (TEAM: Jae's Dazzling Team).
Russell Westbrook almost hit a triple-double twice this week with his 19-12-8 against the Lakers on Friday night and also his 14-11-9 against the Hawks. His shooting percentage is still lower than it has been in seasons past, but he seems to be making an upward trend considering he missed all of training camp this season (TEAM: Clipper Nation).
Neat Pick-Ups
The plot for the rookie of the year award is thickening as Trey Burke has been consistently putting up solid numbers. With Gordan Hayward struggling for the most part, Burke should continue to get the green light from the perimeter. He still has plenty of options on the front court to dish out assists to and for a point guard he has had one of the lowest turnover averages at less than one and a half per game (TEAM: Mark Cuban, Just Jrue It)
Some guys cooled off a lot from last week including John Henson who was averaging over 13 rebounds in week 6 but for the week is just around 9. He did tie his season high in blocks on Tuesday with 6, and is filling in nicely until Timon gets Marc Gasol back (TEAM: S7VenbyVII).
Stars of the Week
For our current #1 Seed of the Top 4, Clipper Nation, and #2 Seed of our Bottom four, Sasquatch, they have had great weeks from their number one overall picks, the Kevins. Love and Durant.
Love was straight dominant this week, as he averaged 5 threes along with over 15 rebounds and 31 points per game. Durant is averaging just about 30 points with 9 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals and a block for the week. He's shooting a ridiculous 57% from the field and also pulling away with the free throw makes for the season at 201, almost 50 more than the next player (James Harden - 153).
In previous years, Lamarcus Aldridge has been kind of a below average rebounder like his 6 rebound effort against the Jazz on Monday. But this year he's had some epic games to offset his more anemic rebounding days like Thursday night's 25 rebound game (TEAM: David Stern).
Kind of difficult to imagine that the Knicks or any player much less the star player on the Knicks, not getting enough attention, but its true when it comes to the fantasy year Carmelo's had. On the season, he's second in field goals made, fourth in free throws made, second in points and has more total rebounds than Greg Monroe and Roy Hibbert. But because of the team's struggles, those statistics have been overlooked. On the week, Melo averaged over 31 points while averaging close to 3 threes per game. Jae will need Melo to keep up this production as his team tries to climb out of the bottom four of the League (TEAM: Jae's Dazzling Team).
Russell Westbrook almost hit a triple-double twice this week with his 19-12-8 against the Lakers on Friday night and also his 14-11-9 against the Hawks. His shooting percentage is still lower than it has been in seasons past, but he seems to be making an upward trend considering he missed all of training camp this season (TEAM: Clipper Nation).
Neat Pick-Ups
Picked up in week 6, week 7's breakout star has got to be Amir Johnson as he has averaged 23 points and just about 10 boards with about 2 blocks per game. For the week he's shooting at basically 80% from field and actually a pretty good free throw shooter for a bruising big man at 77% for the season (TEAM: Pres(i)ton).
With Michael Carter-Williams out, Tony Wroten was a smart pick-up as he had a 10 rebound game and two 20 point games including Friday night's 5 threes (TEAM: Sasquatch).
If this had been a couple years ago, no way Amar'e would be a free agent this late in the season. But he is, and after getting picked up on Wednesday, he had his third straight game with over 15 points and at least 5 rebounds. Looks like Mike Woodson is extending his minutes, so this might turn out to be an even better pick up as we go into week 8 (TEAM: David Stern).
Tough
After picking up Wroten, JJ only played him for one of the three games he registered this week, meaning he missed out on the two 20+ efforts mentioned above. Pretty sure he has finals this week so that explains him not updating his squad but whatevs cause he's up 9-1 on James as of Saturday afternoon (TEAM: David Stern, Sasquatch).
Kirk, Dirk and Brook. All missed games this week, but based on the reports don't seem to be too serious of injuries (TEAM: Adam Silver)
Quietly one of the top 5 fantasy point guards this season, Ty Lawson hit a snag his campaign for making the all-star team when he hurt his hamstring last week. He made his return this Friday against Utah but had a terrible night going 0-6. Although Ray's team is sitting in 3rd place, he also saw Nene Hilario go down to injury on Monday and Luol Deng hasn't played in over a week with his achilles injury (TEAM: Swagger).
Much better than his current 9th place seeding, Oliver had some inexplicable DNP's from Monday. Maybe he's trying to lull us to sleep but don't be fooled guys, he's got the top guard options in fantasy this season with James Harden and Eric Bledsoe. With his guard dominant team, he can easily win 5-6 categories while punting the traditional big man categories and make a deep playoff run on us. Also, if John Wall replicates his week 5 statistics and Kyle Lowry plays better now that ball-dominant Rudy Gay is in Sacramento, then we better hope he keeps leaving some of his guys on the bench when we are matched up against him (TEAM: League Champion).
With Michael Carter-Williams out, Tony Wroten was a smart pick-up as he had a 10 rebound game and two 20 point games including Friday night's 5 threes (TEAM: Sasquatch).
If this had been a couple years ago, no way Amar'e would be a free agent this late in the season. But he is, and after getting picked up on Wednesday, he had his third straight game with over 15 points and at least 5 rebounds. Looks like Mike Woodson is extending his minutes, so this might turn out to be an even better pick up as we go into week 8 (TEAM: David Stern).
Tough
After picking up Wroten, JJ only played him for one of the three games he registered this week, meaning he missed out on the two 20+ efforts mentioned above. Pretty sure he has finals this week so that explains him not updating his squad but whatevs cause he's up 9-1 on James as of Saturday afternoon (TEAM: David Stern, Sasquatch).
Kirk, Dirk and Brook. All missed games this week, but based on the reports don't seem to be too serious of injuries (TEAM: Adam Silver)
Quietly one of the top 5 fantasy point guards this season, Ty Lawson hit a snag his campaign for making the all-star team when he hurt his hamstring last week. He made his return this Friday against Utah but had a terrible night going 0-6. Although Ray's team is sitting in 3rd place, he also saw Nene Hilario go down to injury on Monday and Luol Deng hasn't played in over a week with his achilles injury (TEAM: Swagger).
Much better than his current 9th place seeding, Oliver had some inexplicable DNP's from Monday. Maybe he's trying to lull us to sleep but don't be fooled guys, he's got the top guard options in fantasy this season with James Harden and Eric Bledsoe. With his guard dominant team, he can easily win 5-6 categories while punting the traditional big man categories and make a deep playoff run on us. Also, if John Wall replicates his week 5 statistics and Kyle Lowry plays better now that ball-dominant Rudy Gay is in Sacramento, then we better hope he keeps leaving some of his guys on the bench when we are matched up against him (TEAM: League Champion).
Video: Jeff Green Says He played Like "Poop", Jared Sullinger Cackles
Just a video reminder that Jared Sullinger is still a little (but actually quite big), kid at heart.
Video: Mike Dunleavy Banks in A Game-Winning Three Against the Bucks
A glance at Dunleavy's stats this season as a Bull versus his averages last season as a Buck.
"He's exactly the same freaking player", you might say.
Indeed. Even down to the amount of fouls he commits per game. Really consistent that MDJR.
"So What" - says the Bucks fan
Well tonight his 40% percentage from three was good enough for this last minute straightaway banker which gave his new team, the Bulls, the win.
Crowd goin' nuts when this shot goes down was the most surprising thing. I know Dunleavy suited up for the Bucks for a couple seasons, but you coudn't even tell that the home team had just lost the lead from the way you heard the crowd respond to that shot.
Hope you caught the Bucks color commentator absolutely hating on the shot as soon as it went through the hoop. Also, Taj Gibson hopping up and down with his neck around Dunleavy was very Nate Robinson-esque.
"He's exactly the same freaking player", you might say.
Indeed. Even down to the amount of fouls he commits per game. Really consistent that MDJR.
"So What" - says the Bucks fan
Well tonight his 40% percentage from three was good enough for this last minute straightaway banker which gave his new team, the Bulls, the win.
Crowd goin' nuts when this shot goes down was the most surprising thing. I know Dunleavy suited up for the Bucks for a couple seasons, but you coudn't even tell that the home team had just lost the lead from the way you heard the crowd respond to that shot.
Hope you caught the Bucks color commentator absolutely hating on the shot as soon as it went through the hoop. Also, Taj Gibson hopping up and down with his neck around Dunleavy was very Nate Robinson-esque.
Noteworthy: 12/13/2013
Recap:
Despite a less than stellar game from probably the first quarter of the season MVP, Paul George, the Pacers still beat the Bobcats and are the first team to 20 wins.
Cavs won in Orlando and Alonzo Gee almost recorded a 11 trillion had he not recorded a foul. Missed out, Alonzo.
Raptors beat the Sixers and their box score really showed off the strength of this young team. 20+ points for both Terence Ross and Derozan, Efficient double double from Amir Johnson and 11 assists from Kyle Lowry. Even young center, Jonas Valaciunas grabbed 13 boards to go with 10 points. Maybe their GM shouldn't consider trading their PG and breaking up this team for draft picks.
With the Steves all injured, Kobe was playing point for the Lakers tonight against the OKC Thunder. He had an impressive 13 assists but turned the ball over 7 times. According to my 7th grade math, that means he's averaging almost 4 turnovers a game which is what some other good point guards are averaging (e.g. Steph Curry), so maybe this experiment will continue.
That pass probably defined the night for Kobe as the point guard. Some passes turned into awesome assists like on this play, but there were still too many plays that turned into turnovers.
Duos:
The Pair of Piston big guys, Greg and Andre, had 20 and 10 games as Detroit beat the Nets
Pretty sweet night by the starting guards for the Phoenix Suns. Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe shot 21 for 30 from the field, 6 for 9 from three for a total of 57 points. Speaking of Bledsoe:
Eric Bledsoe and Demarcus Cousins played a season together (09-10) at the University Kentucky along with a lot of current NBA players. I imagine all the NBA-guys on that team ( John Wall, Josh Harrellson, Patrick Patterson, DeAndre Liggins and Daniel Orton (he still counts right?), having a good laugh on their Kentuck-cats group ichat about how Boogie got his shot swatted by teeny Eric.
Another instance of Demarcus Cousins getting blocked. This time the Plumlee that plays for the Suns punched Cousin's lazy layup attempt basically to the half court circle. Very Volleyball of that Miles P.
Unexpected
Probably not a good reflection of what kind of offense Houston is running that James Harden kicks it out to Howard at the end of the shot clock.
Last Monday, the Spurs beat the Hawks with a fallaway game winner off an inbounds play. The Hawkies got one of their own tonight against the Wiz.
Definitely not a smoothly executed play. Actually quite the opposite, a failed lob attempt, but still worth getting rowdy over.
Old Guys Flying
Feels like Manu Ginobili gets one or two of these a season. Feels good to have caught sight of this rare dunk so early in the season.
Kinda forgot that the Celtics had Gerald Wallace. Really forgot that Gerald Wallace has pogo calves even at his age.
Dang, you guys.
Third night in a row mentioning Kevin Love in these noteworthy posts, but the man was dialed in with 42 points, making his first seven threes of the game (ended up 8 for 9). Too bad Manu and Tony Parker played quite good themselves and helped the Spurs come out with 7 point win.
After 4 consecutive games of gobbling up 18+ rebounds, Dwight was a little more modest tonight, grabbing 11 and scoring 18 in the Rocket win against the Warriors.
Gordon Hayward had 30 and 13 which is cool but the bigger deal is that the Jazz retain the belt for another day.
Other: This hilarious Spurs cleaning lady
Despite a less than stellar game from probably the first quarter of the season MVP, Paul George, the Pacers still beat the Bobcats and are the first team to 20 wins.
Cavs won in Orlando and Alonzo Gee almost recorded a 11 trillion had he not recorded a foul. Missed out, Alonzo.
Raptors beat the Sixers and their box score really showed off the strength of this young team. 20+ points for both Terence Ross and Derozan, Efficient double double from Amir Johnson and 11 assists from Kyle Lowry. Even young center, Jonas Valaciunas grabbed 13 boards to go with 10 points. Maybe their GM shouldn't consider trading their PG and breaking up this team for draft picks.
With the Steves all injured, Kobe was playing point for the Lakers tonight against the OKC Thunder. He had an impressive 13 assists but turned the ball over 7 times. According to my 7th grade math, that means he's averaging almost 4 turnovers a game which is what some other good point guards are averaging (e.g. Steph Curry), so maybe this experiment will continue.
That pass probably defined the night for Kobe as the point guard. Some passes turned into awesome assists like on this play, but there were still too many plays that turned into turnovers.
Duos:
The Pair of Piston big guys, Greg and Andre, had 20 and 10 games as Detroit beat the Nets
Pretty sweet night by the starting guards for the Phoenix Suns. Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe shot 21 for 30 from the field, 6 for 9 from three for a total of 57 points. Speaking of Bledsoe:
Eric Bledsoe and Demarcus Cousins played a season together (09-10) at the University Kentucky along with a lot of current NBA players. I imagine all the NBA-guys on that team ( John Wall, Josh Harrellson, Patrick Patterson, DeAndre Liggins and Daniel Orton (he still counts right?), having a good laugh on their Kentuck-cats group ichat about how Boogie got his shot swatted by teeny Eric.
Another instance of Demarcus Cousins getting blocked. This time the Plumlee that plays for the Suns punched Cousin's lazy layup attempt basically to the half court circle. Very Volleyball of that Miles P.
Unexpected
Probably not a good reflection of what kind of offense Houston is running that James Harden kicks it out to Howard at the end of the shot clock.
Last Monday, the Spurs beat the Hawks with a fallaway game winner off an inbounds play. The Hawkies got one of their own tonight against the Wiz.
Definitely not a smoothly executed play. Actually quite the opposite, a failed lob attempt, but still worth getting rowdy over.
Old Guys Flying
Feels like Manu Ginobili gets one or two of these a season. Feels good to have caught sight of this rare dunk so early in the season.
Kinda forgot that the Celtics had Gerald Wallace. Really forgot that Gerald Wallace has pogo calves even at his age.
Dang, you guys.
Third night in a row mentioning Kevin Love in these noteworthy posts, but the man was dialed in with 42 points, making his first seven threes of the game (ended up 8 for 9). Too bad Manu and Tony Parker played quite good themselves and helped the Spurs come out with 7 point win.
After 4 consecutive games of gobbling up 18+ rebounds, Dwight was a little more modest tonight, grabbing 11 and scoring 18 in the Rocket win against the Warriors.
Gordon Hayward had 30 and 13 which is cool but the bigger deal is that the Jazz retain the belt for another day.
Friday, December 13, 2013
Video: "You Can't Stop Thabeet" - A Hasheem Thabeet Highlight Reel
So last year i posted an Andre Drummond x Coldplay highlight video and commented that i thought it was pretty powerful stuff.
Thanks to the fellas over on reddit now i know highlights of an nba big man also go pretty well with musicals, namely Hairspray. The highlights in the vid are from last year as 'Sheem hasn't played much this season. Things might change if coach Scott Brooks gets a hold of this clip. Or maybe they won't, but I think he'll at least start tapping his feet to thabeet (hehehe).
Bless your heart, youtube user SahDu. This is your only uploaded video, but i've watched/listened to this all friday morning.
Bless your heart, youtube user SahDu. This is your only uploaded video, but i've watched/listened to this all friday morning.
Video: Andray Blatch Makin' Just About Everything Against Deandre Jordan
I know Doc Rivers has been lavishing praise on Deandre Jordan since training camp about how impactful DJ would be/could be this season for the Clipps. To a certain extent, Deandre's been doin' that, averaging almost 13 rebounds per game and leading the league in total and defensive rebounds. Plus, he's in the top 5 for blocks, and been a big reason why the Clippers have started off the season so well.
On the other hand, Andray Blatche scored 75% of the time he decided to shoot it in the last 2 minutes of the 3rd quarter while being guarded by DJ.
Then again, no matter how solid your defense there, there are games where the guy or gal (i'm not hating on the lady ballers), you're sticking just seems to make everything. Basing this theory out of personal experience, as I have been scored by many a "Andray Blatch"-y kind of ballplayer while playing pickup. Its awful because although I didn't have an arena of people cheering when I got scored on, I know how it feels when the other team's old dudes (pierce, kg, joe johnson and deron williams) just keep giving the ball to the guy I'm guarding and then celebrating like they just won an NBA game. In the case of the Nets, they did, so good day for Dray; feel your pain Deandre.
On the other hand, Andray Blatche scored 75% of the time he decided to shoot it in the last 2 minutes of the 3rd quarter while being guarded by DJ.
Then again, no matter how solid your defense there, there are games where the guy or gal (i'm not hating on the lady ballers), you're sticking just seems to make everything. Basing this theory out of personal experience, as I have been scored by many a "Andray Blatch"-y kind of ballplayer while playing pickup. Its awful because although I didn't have an arena of people cheering when I got scored on, I know how it feels when the other team's old dudes (pierce, kg, joe johnson and deron williams) just keep giving the ball to the guy I'm guarding and then celebrating like they just won an NBA game. In the case of the Nets, they did, so good day for Dray; feel your pain Deandre.
Noteworthy: 12/12/2013
Nice: Career high for Lamarcus Aldridge in rebounds, 25, to go with 31 points as his team won despite Dwight Howard's 32 and 17 effort.
Also, not a bad night for the Lopez brothers as both of their teams won and if Brook Lopez hadn't gotten hurt, he probably would have matched brother, Robin Lopez' 16-10 game.
Not so much: Chris Paul only had 2 assists last night, which was the same amount as teammate, Willie Green, and less than the amount that Andray Blatch had. As a team, the Clippers only had one more assist than they had turnovers.
No Look Reverse Alley Oop Dunk
No big deal if you're really tall and can really jump like DeAndre Jordan
Battle of 2005 NBA Draft Point Guards
Dwill and his team win this battle as he got the better of CP3 on these two plays and the Nets ended up winning by 9.
Teamwork
For all those non-believers in the Blazers, check out their unselfish passing as exhibited on this possession
Other: David Stern struggling to drink some water at the Clippers/Nets game...More pictures of Justin Timberlake with Pacers (with Rasual Butler and looking tiny next to Roy Hibbert)...since this post was dominated by Lamarcus Aldridge and Robin Lopez, it only makes sense that I close with a local car commercial featuring these two tall guys.
Also, not a bad night for the Lopez brothers as both of their teams won and if Brook Lopez hadn't gotten hurt, he probably would have matched brother, Robin Lopez' 16-10 game.
Not so much: Chris Paul only had 2 assists last night, which was the same amount as teammate, Willie Green, and less than the amount that Andray Blatch had. As a team, the Clippers only had one more assist than they had turnovers.
No Look Reverse Alley Oop Dunk
No big deal if you're really tall and can really jump like DeAndre Jordan
Battle of 2005 NBA Draft Point Guards
Dwill and his team win this battle as he got the better of CP3 on these two plays and the Nets ended up winning by 9.
Teamwork
For all those non-believers in the Blazers, check out their unselfish passing as exhibited on this possession
Other: David Stern struggling to drink some water at the Clippers/Nets game...More pictures of Justin Timberlake with Pacers (with Rasual Butler and looking tiny next to Roy Hibbert)...since this post was dominated by Lamarcus Aldridge and Robin Lopez, it only makes sense that I close with a local car commercial featuring these two tall guys.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Video: "I Believe in Masai", A R.Kelly Parody
I'm a bit late on this one, but thanks to the Trey Kerby, I just saw this song dedicated to the Toronto Raptor's GM, Masai Ujiri. As you can tell from watching the video, the folks north of the border are pretty fond of what the Raptor's GM is doing for the team.
In clearing a whole lot of cap space with the most recent trade of Rudy Gay and friends to the Kings, Ujiri is setting the Raptors up to have a chance of snagging one of the those superstar free agents available the summer of 2014.
If the Raps keep losing this season like they have done the last 5 years, they'll probably have a good chance of drafting one of those NBA-ready 19-year olds currently playing ball for Duke, Kansas, or Kentucky. Also, if things go as Masai has them planned, I'm sure we'll get more of these remixes of 90's classics dedicated to him.
In clearing a whole lot of cap space with the most recent trade of Rudy Gay and friends to the Kings, Ujiri is setting the Raptors up to have a chance of snagging one of the those superstar free agents available the summer of 2014.
If the Raps keep losing this season like they have done the last 5 years, they'll probably have a good chance of drafting one of those NBA-ready 19-year olds currently playing ball for Duke, Kansas, or Kentucky. Also, if things go as Masai has them planned, I'm sure we'll get more of these remixes of 90's classics dedicated to him.
The Battle for the Belt: the Last Place Jazz Have Got it Now
Thanks to the Sacramento Kings, the team with the worst record in the league now is holding the championship belt. This isn't entirely the worse thing because the whole point of this belt idea was that any team, no matter their record, could hold the belt as long as they win the game in which they play a belt-holding team.
So make your predictions on whether the Jazz defend the belt against the Nuggets below or whether the Nuggets will become the 10th team to hold the belt this season.
For other posts about the Belt, you can check out the label "Battle for the Belt" on the right side of the page or click here.
*kudos to Timothy Lee for the "Keep or Weep" Slogan
So make your predictions on whether the Jazz defend the belt against the Nuggets below or whether the Nuggets will become the 10th team to hold the belt this season.
For other posts about the Belt, you can check out the label "Battle for the Belt" on the right side of the page or click here.
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| image via Reddit |
NEXT BATTLE FOR THE BELT
UTA @ 
DEN
Friday, 2013-12-13
UTA @ DEN*kudos to Timothy Lee for the "Keep or Weep" Slogan
Video: Nate Robinson Expressing Lots of Confidence in Danilo Gallinari
Always heard that Nate was a great teammate, but this confirms it. If I haven't touched a ball all day and coach asks me to hit a free throw, all i wanna hear is the swoosh of the net and Nate Robinson repeating "eeeeeeazyyyy".
Noteworthy: 12/11/2012
Not a happy day for Kirk Hinrich and the Bulls
The Bulls shot 33% for the game and really needed help on offense as they could only put up 15 points in both the first and fourth quarters. Plus, watch the clip again and see how slouchy Kirk gets
Welcome Back, You Guys
Nikola Vucecic was back after a week off with his hurt ankle and had 17 points and 14 boards in the Magic's win over the Bobcats.
Stephen Jackson played his first game as a Clipper after being out of the league since last Spring. The Clippers won on the road against the Celtics and Boston gave Doc Rivers a neat standing ovation to welcome him back.
Lobs for Clippers as expected, except there was this failed one by Deandre Jordan.
Avery Bradley also caught this nice one handed oop.
These two teams met int he conference semi's last year, but tonight only one team really looked like a playoff team.
Hmmm
The Bulls shot 33% for the game and really needed help on offense as they could only put up 15 points in both the first and fourth quarters. Plus, watch the clip again and see how slouchy Kirk gets
Welcome Back, You Guys
Nikola Vucecic was back after a week off with his hurt ankle and had 17 points and 14 boards in the Magic's win over the Bobcats.
Stephen Jackson played his first game as a Clipper after being out of the league since last Spring. The Clippers won on the road against the Celtics and Boston gave Doc Rivers a neat standing ovation to welcome him back.
Lobs for Clippers as expected, except there was this failed one by Deandre Jordan.
Avery Bradley also caught this nice one handed oop.
These two teams met int he conference semi's last year, but tonight only one team really looked like a playoff team.
Hmmm
Greg Monroe had 28 and 10 but missed 5 free throws. The Pistons lost by 5, so you could irrationally put the blame on him for this one.
Spurs whooped on the Bucks with Tim Dnucan continuing to show that he might be a vampire cause based on his rebounding and shooting efficiency, he's not a day over 23.
This Sounds Really Rare
Spurs' Center, Jeff Ayres aka the man formerly known as Jeff Pendergraph started his second game in a row and grabbed 10 rebounds, 0 turnovers and 0 points. In fact, Ayres didn't even take a shot or a free throw the whole game. He played 25 minutes near the basket (obviously, cause he grabbed a lot of rebounds) but didn't shoot it even once.
Really Obscure Fact
I guess there hasn't been a guy in the NBA to wear #57 until Hilton Armstrong did for the Warriors last night. Way to go and do something semi-basketball related that gets you in the news, Hilton.
Goood
Jazz won their second road game of the season against the Kings who still haven't gotten their newest players yet. This feels like a extraordinarily long time for a traded player to suit up for his new team. This kind of dissapointment kinda makes sense when you consider that the player we are talking about is Rudy Gay.
I've been calling Spencer Hawes the mini-Kevin Love this season, but KLove outplayed Hawes tonight with 26 and 15 and this really excited celebration for Robbie Hummel's swooshed three.
Game of the Night
Monta Ellis and Steph Curry used to be backcourt mates at the beginning of Curry's career and both teams make slick passes and swish a lot of jumpers so I was super excited to watch this game. Bet you weren't expecting a blocked three and layup all on one possesion in this game though.
And of course there would be a Steph Curry game winner.
Other: JJ Barea getting a noogie from Pekovic (hehehe)...Glenn Davis is a really good interviewee
Spurs whooped on the Bucks with Tim Dnucan continuing to show that he might be a vampire cause based on his rebounding and shooting efficiency, he's not a day over 23.
This Sounds Really Rare
Spurs' Center, Jeff Ayres aka the man formerly known as Jeff Pendergraph started his second game in a row and grabbed 10 rebounds, 0 turnovers and 0 points. In fact, Ayres didn't even take a shot or a free throw the whole game. He played 25 minutes near the basket (obviously, cause he grabbed a lot of rebounds) but didn't shoot it even once.
Really Obscure Fact
I guess there hasn't been a guy in the NBA to wear #57 until Hilton Armstrong did for the Warriors last night. Way to go and do something semi-basketball related that gets you in the news, Hilton.
Goood
Jazz won their second road game of the season against the Kings who still haven't gotten their newest players yet. This feels like a extraordinarily long time for a traded player to suit up for his new team. This kind of dissapointment kinda makes sense when you consider that the player we are talking about is Rudy Gay.
I've been calling Spencer Hawes the mini-Kevin Love this season, but KLove outplayed Hawes tonight with 26 and 15 and this really excited celebration for Robbie Hummel's swooshed three.
Game of the Night
Monta Ellis and Steph Curry used to be backcourt mates at the beginning of Curry's career and both teams make slick passes and swish a lot of jumpers so I was super excited to watch this game. Bet you weren't expecting a blocked three and layup all on one possesion in this game though.
And of course there would be a Steph Curry game winner.
Other: JJ Barea getting a noogie from Pekovic (hehehe)...Glenn Davis is a really good interviewee
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Justin Timberlake and A Summary of His NBA Fanhood
It's pretty confusing to figure out Mr Timberlake's allegiances when it comes to nba teams, so I figure I'd do an outline for all of our education.
2) Then again, I remembered he was on team Sixers squad that made it to the finals of the NBA "Hoop-it-up" competition at the 2002 All-Star weekend.
3) He also seems to be a Lakers fan. Or at least a very enthusiastic Kobe hand-shaker.
4) Then last night, Rasual Butler showed off a picture of Justin Timberlake chilling with some Pacers and their coaches before their game against the Miami Heat.
Sidenote, I cannot believe that Paul George is wearing socks and sandals like I do when I go to fresh-and-easy on the weekend to pick up a snack or that Rasual Butler still wears cargo pants.
1) Being from Memphis and also a part owner, I was pretty sure he'd only beeen repping the Grizz.
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| Harry How - Getty Images |
3) He also seems to be a Lakers fan. Or at least a very enthusiastic Kobe hand-shaker.
4) Then last night, Rasual Butler showed off a picture of Justin Timberlake chilling with some Pacers and their coaches before their game against the Miami Heat.
Sidenote, I cannot believe that Paul George is wearing socks and sandals like I do when I go to fresh-and-easy on the weekend to pick up a snack or that Rasual Butler still wears cargo pants.
4) Then found out via Dwyane Wade's Instagram that he, Mario Chalmers and Lebron James also took really chummy-lookin' photos with Timberlake.
Justin Timberlake must have made his way over to the Heat guys after the game, cause he was busy hanging out with the Pacers before the game (as you can see from the previous picture).
Really tight line that Timberlake is teetering on of being a big fat band wagoner. No one likes a one-man bandwagon of random NBA teams; I won't mention names but I will offer up this link.
Justin Timberlake must have made his way over to the Heat guys after the game, cause he was busy hanging out with the Pacers before the game (as you can see from the previous picture).
Really tight line that Timberlake is teetering on of being a big fat band wagoner. No one likes a one-man bandwagon of random NBA teams; I won't mention names but I will offer up this link.
Overall, it looks like Mr. Timberlake is just a really big fan of the NBA and taking photos with his thumbs in his pocket. Which, I suppose, you could say is something I could have surmised just by seeing that generic NBA logo cap he was wearing last night.
Really political cap choice by the way. It's basically what used to happen to me when I was little and I would be wearing my 'in-n-out' shirt to get a burger with my moms. Oftentimes, the nice server lady would come over and compliment me on my shirt and then give me a free pack of stickers after delivering my double-double.
Jay Timberlake and that hat must have the same effect as his cap basically says,"hey you guys I really appreciate the company you work for. Would you mind posing with me for some instagram pictures."
Really political cap choice by the way. It's basically what used to happen to me when I was little and I would be wearing my 'in-n-out' shirt to get a burger with my moms. Oftentimes, the nice server lady would come over and compliment me on my shirt and then give me a free pack of stickers after delivering my double-double.
Jay Timberlake and that hat must have the same effect as his cap basically says,"hey you guys I really appreciate the company you work for. Would you mind posing with me for some instagram pictures."
Video: Someone is Not Pleased With Carlos Boozer's Bank Shot
These ESPN microphones are getting so good that I'm almost convinced I can distinguish whose voice that is. In fact, I replayed the clip over 15 times just to do further analysis.
I wouldn't bet on this one, but I think I got this one you guys. I'm almost positive that is the same voice of someone asking Rasheed Wallace if he wants to get in the game.
Demarcus Cousins Wearing Red Jordans With His Santa Outfit
Looks like those J's are probably from the "Toro Bravo" pack from back when I was still in college. Doesn't say much except that Demarcus Cousins is like every other NBA player that owns Jordans that the rest of us wish we had.
Really respecting Demarcus' commitment to the role in even wearing the spectacles that St. Nick probably wore as well. Cousins' could complete the rest of the costume if he enlists a certain tiny point guard on his team to dress up as one of santa's little helper elves. Just an idea, feel free to pass it on to him.
14 more days until Christmas, everybody!
Noteworthy: 12/10/2013
Two Eastern Conference Teams That Are Pretty Good:
The Heat started off hot but then the Pacers took the lead in the 3rd quarter and never let the Heat get the lead again.
Real physical game with Roy Hibbert hittinf Lebron in the face area and David West setting his usual really scary picks.
The Heat started off hot but then the Pacers took the lead in the 3rd quarter and never let the Heat get the lead again.
Real physical game with Roy Hibbert hittinf Lebron in the face area and David West setting his usual really scary picks.
These two meet again next Wednesday, so that should be fun. Also, Dwade looked good with a pair of dunks despite those achy knees
Two Eastern Conference Teams That Are Not Very Good:
Deron Williams was back after missing a bunch of games with a hurt ankle. He had his way with 25 points. Paul Pierce came off the bench and really didn't play like he should have been starting missing all three of his field goals but he had 4 made free throws and the slowest change of direction move you'll probably ever see on the fast break.
Kyrie Irving with a really efficient game of 37 points 11 assists, and only 1 turnover. Plus, he yo-yoed Pablo Prigioni pretty nasty-like
Despite scoring 15 in the second quarter, the Bucks managed to beat the Bulls in Chicago 78-74, behind the most lanky of lankys, John Henson, putting up 25 and 14.
That kind of night for Henson who couldn't hit a jumper to save those skinny arms of his in college but made a reverse pivot fadeaway. Lots has changed for HenHen since college i guess.
Best Highlight that Didn't Count
Jonas Jerebko had a nasty tip dunk that was called off for "offensive interference". Tryin' to find the video of the play but I guess no one else thought it was worth capturing so just take my word for it.
hahahaha
This JR Smith turnover
Typical
Kevin Love with a nice night of 26 points 16 rebounds and 7 assists including this dish to a full-speed Cory Brewer.
Can't forget these:
Kobe threw down his first dunk of the season. Some borderline carry-over dribbles by KD made Paul Millsap look sill. My personal favorite of the night involved three Spurs bench players getting a three pointer to fall after a ridiculous over the head save followed by a no-look kick out.
Other: Brian Shaw isnt letting the Nuggets eat pizza and nachos before games...Derrick Williams is enjoying his new team enough to photoshop a family portrait with them...
Two Eastern Conference Teams That Are Not Very Good:
Deron Williams was back after missing a bunch of games with a hurt ankle. He had his way with 25 points. Paul Pierce came off the bench and really didn't play like he should have been starting missing all three of his field goals but he had 4 made free throws and the slowest change of direction move you'll probably ever see on the fast break.
Kyrie Irving with a really efficient game of 37 points 11 assists, and only 1 turnover. Plus, he yo-yoed Pablo Prigioni pretty nasty-like
Despite scoring 15 in the second quarter, the Bucks managed to beat the Bulls in Chicago 78-74, behind the most lanky of lankys, John Henson, putting up 25 and 14.
That kind of night for Henson who couldn't hit a jumper to save those skinny arms of his in college but made a reverse pivot fadeaway. Lots has changed for HenHen since college i guess.
Best Highlight that Didn't Count
Jonas Jerebko had a nasty tip dunk that was called off for "offensive interference". Tryin' to find the video of the play but I guess no one else thought it was worth capturing so just take my word for it.
hahahaha
This JR Smith turnover
Typical
Kevin Love with a nice night of 26 points 16 rebounds and 7 assists including this dish to a full-speed Cory Brewer.
Can't forget these:
Kobe threw down his first dunk of the season. Some borderline carry-over dribbles by KD made Paul Millsap look sill. My personal favorite of the night involved three Spurs bench players getting a three pointer to fall after a ridiculous over the head save followed by a no-look kick out.
Other: Brian Shaw isnt letting the Nuggets eat pizza and nachos before games...Derrick Williams is enjoying his new team enough to photoshop a family portrait with them...
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Video: Kevin Durant Dunk In Slow Mo with Commentary and Man-Made Sound Effects
Pretty much the title. badum tssssshh.
untz untz untz *adds a period* .
untz untz untz *adds a period* .
Video: Blake Grffin At it Again with a New Gamefly Commercial
Blake really taking this awkward humor thing to the next level with this gamefly ad. I'm not hating as long as he keeps doing his thang on the hardwood.
Plus, I'm a fan of that yelling voice he does, asking to use the restroom but not actually using it, seeing daps that get left hanging, the metaphor that you can read into of Blake Griffin not being able to control his 'jet-pack', and of course the self zinger of "never getting burned by a bad game".
Lets Start the Tony Mitchell Hype For This Year's Dunk Contest
It's that time of the year when people start clamoring for what relatively no name guy should get entered into the slam dunk contest in this year's all-star game festivities in New Orleans.
For the unknown part, Tony Mitchell fits the bill as last year's 2nd round, 37th overall pick from North Texas. A quick look at his bballreference.com confirms this further as T-Mitch (trying this out, feel free to borrow it), has only played a grand total of 25 minutes this season.
Not the best camerawork on these dunks, but a quick peak at youtube returns some dandies including a karate chop block, and this compilation of ridiculous dunks form last year's rookie combine. I'll give you a second to check out those links and then agree with me when i say, "please book his flight to N'awlins, NBA decision makers".
For the unknown part, Tony Mitchell fits the bill as last year's 2nd round, 37th overall pick from North Texas. A quick look at his bballreference.com confirms this further as T-Mitch (trying this out, feel free to borrow it), has only played a grand total of 25 minutes this season.
Not the best camerawork on these dunks, but a quick peak at youtube returns some dandies including a karate chop block, and this compilation of ridiculous dunks form last year's rookie combine. I'll give you a second to check out those links and then agree with me when i say, "please book his flight to N'awlins, NBA decision makers".
Noteworthy: 12/9/2013
Aww, keep your marChin up, Gortat.
Lookin' Good, Sacramento:
They added Rudy Gay, Q-Acy and AGray via trade and last night their previously newest addition, Derrick Williams, had a career high 31 points and that off backboard reverse dunk.
Also, the Kings have the championship belt now, so nows not a bad time to be a fan, bandwagoners.
Birthday boy:
First, a really good effort in chasing down Harrison Barnes
Then a ridiculous shot to confirm it must be his birthday if those shots are banking in. Give the man his birthday cake.
Low Scoring
75-74, with John Wall leading all scorers with the not-so-good stat of having the same amount of shots as points (20)
Then a ridiculous shot to confirm it must be his birthday if those shots are banking in. Give the man his birthday cake.
Low Scoring
75-74, with John Wall leading all scorers with the not-so-good stat of having the same amount of shots as points (20)
Reaaaaal Nice
Steph Curry with 43 points in the loss to the Bobcats and Deandre Jordan with 21 boards in the win against the Sixers and Demarcus Cousins with a ridiculous 32 points and 19 boards in leading his team to victory against the Mavericks.
Steph Curry with 43 points in the loss to the Bobcats and Deandre Jordan with 21 boards in the win against the Sixers and Demarcus Cousins with a ridiculous 32 points and 19 boards in leading his team to victory against the Mavericks.
Other: So looks like captain jack is back in the league....
Sunday, December 8, 2013
About Kobe's Return
Kobe is back, you guys.
As a Laker fan growing up, the last 25 games have been hard to watch; not because the Lakers are bad (they've been playing .500 ball, so at the very least, you'd have to say they are decent), or because Kobe would push them over the top if he was playing (the Lakers have been a mix and match of guys playing well together but they would still need more than a healthy Kobe to even be a playoff team). What has been hard is that for the first time I've had to not only consider what my favorite team would look like without Kobe Bryant but I've also gotten a preview of it.
I mean I always knew that the Lakers would be without Kobe someday. That even before he retired, sooner or later, Kobe's skills would have to adjust with his age and the mileage he had put on himself all these years. I knew and have been prepared emotionally that Kobe would not be the "Black Mamba" forever.
Even as he transitioned from the bald-headed-oober-athletic Slam Dunk contest winner to the afro-wearing-more-refined running mate of Shaq on those early 2000 championship teams, Kobe never seemed to stay the same ball player from season to season. For example, some seasons he'd beef up (2004), other times add some serious post moves (2006) or sip from the fountain of youth and dunk like he had his teenage legs again (2012).
The unofficial moment in which I was prepared for the Black Mamba to transform once again was when Lebron outdueled Kobe on Christmas Day in 2010. It was clear Lebron was going to take his current place as the undisputed best player in the NBA, but as the cliche goes, "Kobe is so competitive" and the expectation that followed was that what Kobe lacked in matching up with Lebron, he would gain by once again evolving as a ballplayer.
Personally, I was hoping that as Kobe advanced in age and the Lakers added younger players or top-flight free agents, Kobe would become more of a playmaker rather than a shotmaker. That perhaps he would become the "David Robinson" to a "Tim Duncan" that the Lakeshow would draft or somehow add to their roster. I was especially expectant that this would happen this past season because the Lakers had added former-MVP, Steve Nash, and man-child, Dwight Howard, but Kobe threw me for a loop in not yet smoothly morphing into the next phase as a basketball player.
That's what made his achilles tear last year so devastating to watch as a fan. Kobe was having a ridiculous 17th season as a pro; having throwback Kobe games and doing throwback Kobe moves. Even though the team was struggling with chemistry as they limped to the final playoff position, it looked Kobe had paused the aging process and we would get that nasty Black Mamba for at least a couple more years. That the final evolution of Kobe as a ballplayer would not have to happen just yet.
As much as Kobe always gained a new move or skill from season to season, he never had to directly change his playing style because he physically lost something. His competitive spirit and unquenchable desire to be great always pushed him to get even better, but his previous transitions as a ballplayer always were in the pursuit of becoming even greater as a player; not to recover from a crippling injury. This fall, I didn't have any expectations of Kobe coming back with any new tricks. Simply, a hope that Kobe would have enough left in that surgically repaired left leg to play in 2013-2014 or perhaps just once more before he called it quits.
Thus when pundits and journalists talked about how unwise it was for the Laker organization to re-sign Kobe early in the season and for such a high amount considering his age and the recently ruptured achilles, I wrestled with what words I would want to write about what is perhaps the last years of Kobe's career.
I totally agree with those that are incredulous about the two-year contract that Kobe got before he was even ready to play another game. I get how much Kobe's deal will handicap the Lakers options for signing free agents.
Kobe has done it all as a basketball player and has elevated the Laker brand to heights unfathomable in the 21st century. That's probably the explanation for the huge contract he got from the Lakers; to offer Kobe such a contract so that the man who has made the Lakers the most popular franchise in the the world, never puts on the jersey of a different NBA team.
I've debated/discussed/tearfully pleaded to the plentiful Kobe-haters that the Lakers could contend in the next couple years even with Kobe's contract on the books. Yes I'm aware that teams like the Rockets, Thunder, Clippers, Pacers and their young superstars keeping getting better. Not to mention that if the Miami Heat model of assembling a team continues, the trend of creative GM's structuring their teams so that young superstars will be able to ally together, will make it really hard for the Lakers to build a team that can win another championship against such dynamic young talent and teams built with a depth of superstars.
However, to me, Kobe's value and impact as a ball player have always been much more than just statistical figures. Specifically, Kobe's consistent discipline in preparing himself year to year has become the model of excellence and perseverance which has inspired not only young ball players but also been a refreshing reminder to everyone else about what it takes to be great.
Think about the huge PR hit that the 3-time defensive player of the year took when playing with Kobe last year. Only Kobe and his almost maniacal work ethic could make one of the top centers in the league look like he was loafing around after just one season playing next to him. Kobe's greatest contribution to the Lakers, to the NBA, and to his own personal legacy has always been how he has modeled the single-minded pursuit of greatness that we now come to expect from every young talented athlete.
That is why with all the controversy that comes with how much Kobe is signed for at least the next two years, I quote my friend, Ryan, for what he said to me when I texted him about Kobe resigning with the Lakers.
"Kobe is worth it. I just wish [the Lakers] would have gotten a better discount though"
This blog has been and still exists as a way for me to express myself about the sport and the players and those involved in the NBA I enjoy so much. Seeing Kobe tonight struggle to hit a jumper and turn the ball over 8 times and look as rusty as I've ever seen him, it
Kobe's return to the hardwood is the same pursuit of greatness that you and I undertake everyday of our lives. Kobe is worth it not only because he is the greatest Laker of all time and has a list of endless achievements on the hardwood, but also because he models and inspires us in the innate human desire we each have to be the very best at whatever we do.
Whether that is on the hardwood, while working your regular 9 to 5 job or even in raising your child, the common goal we all share with Kobe is wanting to achieve a certain level of excellence in all that we do, despite what oftentimes seems like the most hopeless of situations.
Thanks Kobe, for being the face of the Lakers all these years and tonight for once more representing and reminding me of that unwavering pursuit of greatness.
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