New Atlanta Hawks owner Alex Meruelo recently said he intended to bring a chip to Atlanta under his reign. He didn’t give an ETA on his claim what with the lockout on top of the team’s current makeup. At any rate, his statement isn’t off the norm. Lofty goals are often championed by new owners impassioned with their brand new club. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this week, Derrick Rose was named the NBA MVP for the 2010-11 season. Last night, he put on a show worthy of the honor. He dominated the opposing Hawks, dropping a career-high 44 points on and swinging the home Atlanta crowd, which chanted “MVP, MVP” all night for the man from the Windy City. Read the rest of this entry »

Until Paid In Full is properly recognized for the classic film it is, the Oscars will never really pique my interest. Sports provide more than enough drama anyway. The NBA, night and night out, has its far share. There was Carmelo-gate. Then came the trade deadline frenzy. Between those two, we had the “superstar team” debate and whether it was good for the league or not. And keep in mind this was all within the past month. Read the rest of this entry »

Last night in Miami, the stage was set that pitted two streaks going in completely different directions against one another – the Heat’s three game skid and the Hawks’ four wins in a row on the road. Those not in support of the team in South Beach will be happy to know both streaks are still alive today. Thanks to impressive overtimes from both Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford, the Hawks walked away with a 93-89 victory. Read the rest of this entry »

It took him 88 games, but Rasheed Wallace finally came to play for the Boston Celtics. Throughout the season ‘Sheed’s been somewhere between a running joke & major disappointment. The Boston Three Party thought they would be getting the Rasheed from a few years back, the one who could stretch the defense with his timely outside shooting & vast array of post moves. Instead, they got an out of shape, aging player who could’ve been charged for committing fraud… for impersonating a basketball player (I see you Biggga).

Shoot, if it wasn’t for this basket he scored for the Bulls late in the season, half of the country wouldn’t have even known he was still in the league. So you can imagine the pleasant surprise Wallace provided his teammates last night: seven of eight from the field, three from four on three’s for 17 points and two rebounds thrown in for good measure. As a NBA fan nomad & fan of Rasheed since his days in Carolina blue, it was good to see the mercurial forward have a good showing. Mainly because who knows how many outings like this he has left in him. Perhaps Doc needs to call him out more often… or maybe they told him it was time to earn his paycheck.

On another note, isn’t it funny that LeBron’s elbow hurt much more after missed jumpers than when he makes his now nightly chase down block? I’m just sayin’…

On to other matters, let’s welcome the Atlanta Hawks to the second round. For a moment it was looking like Orlando was going to get a bye or something.

Orlando Magic Vs. Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta can be one of the more entertaining teams in the league – especially when they don’t have to play on the road. But few (if any) outside of Milwaukee thought they’d get pushed to seven against a undermanned Bucks squad running on nothing but heart. The Hawks can (& should) play up to their competition, but they’ve yet to prove they can hang with the true class of the league. If they want this to be the start of that, they’ll need to steal one on the road & hold home court.

They’re 2-10 in their last 12 playoff road games, which doesn’t bode well for them coming into this series. Stranger things have happened & if they want to change that stat, they’ll have to get Dwight Howard in early foul trouble  & get to the hole.  The first part of that shouldn’t be too hard, with fouls being the only thing Dwight gets faster than blocks. Stopping the rest of the team will be a bit harder.  The Hawks are moving in the right direction, but they’ve still got some work to do.

MZ — Magic in 5 Patrick M. | S. Cadet | Jason H. — Magic in 6 J. Tinsley — Magic in 7

It’s time for the NBA playoffs and it couldn’t have come at a better time.  Baseball’s just warming up & a few months from warranting paying attention to it.  Only thing popping off with football is the draft & spring practices in college.  Hockey’s playoffs have begun, but you can’t even find those games on TV if you wanted to.  The Lakers appear to be in prime position to repeat, but there are capable teams in both conferences standing in the wings & waiting to take it off their hands.  Which makes the NBA playoffs the hot ticket, the intensity picks as the O’Brien trophy is the ultimate prize. Read the rest of this entry »

Kobe’s still the man you want to have the ball in his hand with the game on the line.  But what about if the ball is coming off the rim & up for grabs?  After last night’s game against the Magic, Atlanta’s Josh Smith gets my vote.  Swooping in out of nowhere, he effortlessly cleans up Joe Johnson’s missed jumper &  almost gave Stan Van Gundy a heart attack in the process.  The way SVG yells at his team for every little thing, I’d bet you a date with LC if he doesn’t have his team working on box outs today in practice. Read the rest of this entry »

It seems like we’re seeing this quite often, doesn’t it? In tonight’s game versus the Hawks, D.Rose catches a alley-oop from teammate John Salmons. And the announcers sound like they might buy him a hooker after the game, just off that one play.

Ashley Brown Could Get It

Michael Jackson & Presley Marriage Certificate Is Sold For $70,800 [Showing Out]

Ludacris Turns ‘Battle of the Sexes’ Into Compilation [RGF]

Driver’s ‘Sugar Doughnut’ Was Cocaine [Chicago Sun Times]

10 Amazing Optical Illusions [Unreality]

Nintendo Wii Classic Controller Pro [Uncrate]

Sex Causes Carpal Tunnel [F-Listed] Read the rest of this entry »

Nevermind the expected heroics of Kobe Bryant this week. Jamal Crawford can put on for his city as the clock is ticking down all the same.

Putting the cherry on his 21 points in epic fashion, the favorite for 2010′s Sixth Man of the Year Award dropped a bomb at the buzzer to put the Hawks ahead of the Phoenix Suns 102-101 to an ecstatic home crowd. The game, lived up to the premier entertainment billing the NBA is designed to offer with both teams seesawing the score the entire 2nd half, with the Suns even leading by four with six seconds left on the clock. Read the rest of this entry »

Jada Fire Tyresha Brown’s Twins

Hawks Unveil Their New “ATL” Unis [Dime]

The 7 Rules Every Sports Movie Lives By [Gunaxin]

The 6 Creepiest Places on Earth [Cracked]

The NBA Vs. the Recession [TBL]

Miley Cyrus Voted Worst Celebrity Influence Of 2009 [Reuters] Read the rest of this entry »

The NBA Season is still young and TSS is keeping the ball in play. We hit you off with the West, now it’s time to bicker about the Eastern Conference Standings. The East is has a top heavy talent pool but it’s full of compelling storylines that’ll keep you tuned in. The Celtics are back, healthy and ready for another run at the chip. Meanwhile LBJ is still climbing for the mountain top while Orlando knows what it takes to get there. But screw all that serious stuff. Gilbert Arenas is back ladies and gentlemen. Who knows what kind of off the wall antics he’s capable of pulling this year? Hold that thought and check out our picks. Read the rest of this entry »

And then there were two. Kobe vs. LeBron Dwight.  The Lakers vs. The Magic for the Larry O’Brien trophy.  Both teams won in convincing fashion to seal the deal.  You’d be hard pressed to find too many people who had this matchup a few weeks ago.  Shoot… Pat only had the Cavs not making it after consulting with Vivica, Ms. Cleo & Dionne Warwick about his beloved Celtics.  On the bright side David Stern & Phil Knight won’t have to hear conspiracy theories on the Read the rest of this entry »

David Stern has to be happy after the Conference Semifinals.  Two game 7′s and two Conference Finals match-ups with big names: Lebron Vs. Dwight and Kobe Vs. Carmelo.  So before we look ahead, we’ll take one more look back over the Conference Semifinals real quick.  S. Cadet came back like gangbusters this round,  picking all 4 series correctly.  Everyone else finished close behind with 3 correct picks.  Leaving the standings the same as last time (correct team – 1 point. correct length – 1/2 point):

Patrick M. – 13 points

MZ – 11 points

S. Cadet – 11 points

Jesse H. – 9 1/2 points

Cleveland Cavaliers in 4

S. Cadet – Cavs in 6 | Jesse H. – Cavs in 6 | Patrick M. – Cavs in 6 | MZ – Cavs in 5 Read the rest of this entry »

With the Hawks dispatching of the Heat yesterday, the first round of the NBA Playoffs came to a close.  The Rockets finally got out of the first round (so did Carmelo) and the Celtics barely made it out.  Detroit witnessed the end of an era and it may not have hit them yet; but San Antonio could have as well.  The Lakers found little trouble with Utah and Orlando prevailed in tough series.

We saw many a great games and the second round should produce even more.  But before we move ahead we’ll see how everyone did with their first round predictions.  Time to see who knew what they were talking about and who was misled by talking heads.

Patrick M. lead the way by picking all eight series’ correctly, as well as 3 series lengths.  MZ picked seven correctly.  S. Cadet picked six correctly and Jesse H. got five.

So the standings are as follows (correct team – 1 point. correct length – 1/2 point):

Patrick M. – 9 1/2 points

MZ – 7 1/2 points

S. Cadet – 7 points

Jesse H. – 6 points

Read the rest of this entry »