Ahh, the All-Star selections. It’s this time of year where a collective groan lets out from basketball nerds across the internet. This year’s ASG rosters has some good picks, but they leave much to be desired as usual. More importantly, there isn’t much leeway for replacement picks so far. All the players involved are either healthy or expected to heal from injuries, outside of the dubious fan vote for Yao Ming. That means there’s a bunch of “maybe next year” denial letters to hand out when the break rolls around. 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 »
MJ might be gracing the cover of 2K11, but you had to figure he wasn’t actually going to do much else to promote this game. If he’s not saving the world from bacon necks one white tee at a time, then he’s taking the check and recovering from the night before. Which explains why we got Rondo, D. Rose, Josh Smith, Igoudala & Russell Westbrook taking a trip down memory lane recounting some Jordan’s most memorable moments via the Jordan Moments mode. I can’t say that anyone of them are natural pitchmen, but together they do a pretty good job and create memorable clip.
And speaking of Jordan moments, here’s one that probably won’t be included in the game, but worthy of inclusion since most people probably haven’t even seen this.
Michael Jordan is, of course, remembered for his six Championship Titles and the countless game winners, but somewhere far down that list of “Stuff MJ Did” is the time he swooped into the paint and dunked mercilessly against a professional Italian basketball team during an exhibition game in Italy. The game was played on August 25th, 1986, and was never televised but later surfaced during a sports highlight show on a Spanish television station, an odd coincidence which only adds to the mystique, so continue reading for the rare footage of Jordan shattering the backboard and let us know if you’ve seen any better from Shaq, Darryl Dawkins, Darvin Ham, or anyone else who has victimized the rim. [SN]
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 »
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 »
I think I hate adidas right now. They’ve got Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose, Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups, Tracy McGrady, Tim Duncan, Michael Beasley and Josh Smith, all in one commercial. I don’t think I hate adidas as much as I’m looking @ Nike, wondering who let all these top tier names (okay, decent names @ least) slide past them. 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):
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):
Well, the games are underway and our first round picks are locked in for posterity & scrutiny. So before things get too far along, here are how we see things playing out in the later rounds. Not much to get into, as the picks speak for themselves. Needless to say, when we came to the fork in the road: some went right, some went straight, some went left and some went to have themselves checked in.
Eastern Conference
Conference Semifinals
#1 Cleveland Cavaliers Vs. #4 Atlanta Hawks
MZ — Cavs In 5 | Patrick M. — Cavs In 6: What is it going to take to beat the Cavs? You need a go-to-scorer who can create his own shot (Joe Johnson,) a bevy of athletic guys you can used to Read the rest of this entry »
There’s no season like the post season and this rings especially true come time for the NBA Playoffs. Around this time of year basketball heads nationwide crowd around TV’s to witness the best players in the world go at it. The Associations Spring classic has yielded some memorable moments: most of them being at Patrick Ewing’s expense in the 90’s. But in all seriousness, the Playoffs provide drama, suspense and possible conspiracy theories worthy of a best selling novel.
The playoffs also call for self proclaimed basketball experts to foretell who’ll take the chip along with proposed sweeps, dark horses, and flops in between. The Crew’s resident basketball heads decided to throw in their 2¢ in on how the rounds will play out.
So read up and don’t get mad when you find out we’re right.
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