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The 10-man rotation, starring the strangest and most wonderful Dikembe Mutombo video game yet (Ball Don’t Lie)

Nov 232012

A look around the league and the web that covers it. It’s also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren’t always listed in order of importance. That’s for you, dear reader, to figure out.
C : Old Spice Saves the World . Not sure if this Dikembe Mutombo video game is the best thing in the world or the third-best thing in the world, but it is a thing in the world that Dikembe Mutombo is trying to save. If you are at work, music will play when you click the link, heads-up.
PF : SB Nation . A year later, the 2011 NBA lockout stands as an economy-draining waste of time.
SF : NBA.com . The Charlotte Bobcats could match and surpass their 2011-12 win totals this weekend.
SG : The Brooklyn Game . The Nets experiment, after 10 games. Fine read. Hurry back Joe Johnson.
PG : Everything and Nothing . ‘George Karl Has Never Been a Good Coach.’ OK.

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The digital democracy of NBA All-Star voting

Rumors No Responses »

Nov 132012

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images
Voting by Twitter, Facebook, SMS, web and more, oh my!
OK, maybe it has been a decade since my hairline receded so much I started shaving my head as a defense mechanism. Maybe the term “arthritis” does get thrown around now and again when I show my doctor a sports injury.

But darn it, I’m not that old. I mean, I still have both original hips!

And yet I can still remember clearly a time when voting for All-Stars was like voting for your government: Limited to very select times and places and riddled with hanging chads.

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Russell Westbrook throws ball off Brandon Knight, collects and scores in Thunder win over Pistons (VIDEO) (Ball Don’t Lie)

Oklahoma City No Responses »

Nov 132012

“Second game of a back-to-back, fourth game in five nights, and we’re tied on the road with 4 1/2 minutes left in the fourth. OK. We just need to be smart. We just need to take care of the ball. We’ve got a chance to re-take the lead. We just need —”
/watches Russell Westbrook leap into the air from the elbow with 12 seconds left on the shot clock, Brandon Knight defending him, no teammates nearby or open, and no discernible plan
“OH RUSSELL NO”
/watches this unfurl

“Great work, Russell. Up by two.”
/fin
As CBSSports.com’s Royce Young noted , this fourth-quarter moment was perhaps the quintessential Westbrook play — a braindead, basketball-doctrine-be-damned moment redeemed by instinct and athleticism at a pivotal spot in the game; from heart attack to hilarity to high-fiving, all in an instant. Like Kobe Bryant, he’s probably bummed that he didn’t get an assist off the “intentional pass to oneself,” but the bucket and the late-fourth lead probably helped a bit.
The fact that it came in the midst of a 14-point fourth quarter in which Westbrook didn’t miss a shot — 4-for-4 from the floor, 6-for-6 from the line — to team with favored running buddy Kevin Durant (11 points, four rebounds, four blocks in the final frame) to drag the largely dead and mostly outplayed Oklahoma City Thunder to a 92-90 win over the lowly but game Detroit Pistons on Monday night makes it all the more appropriate. He’s occasionally maddening, typically unorthodox and rarely what you expect, but he also tends to provide stretches like the one Durant described to Paul Harris of the Associated Press :

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Carlos Boozer is working with his kids’ trainer (Ball Don’t Lie)

Chicago No Responses »

Oct 122012

Professional athletes typically do whatever necessary to keep themselves in great shape, and they’re willing to pay top dollar to do it. In many cases, that means spending time in hyperbaric chambers, or eating very healthy diets, or taking multi-hour naps. At bare minimum, they hire excellent trainers to design intense workouts and keep them at an elite level of fitness. (OK, in truth, the bare minimum is taking naps.)
These players usually don’t like to take a chance with their bodies, or to hire trainers who don’t have sterling reputations working with their peers. Chicago Bulls forward Carlos Boozer has taken that chance. And he’s doing so with an unlikely partner: his kids’ trainer. From Scott Powers for ESPNChicago.com (via Blog a Bull ):

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Clippers-Nuggets notes from Vegas

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Oct 072012

LAS VEGAS — You’re liable to see or hear anything during a weekend in Las Vegas. For example, the random guy in the taxi line who declared, “I smell like awesome.” Um, OK. The sights and sounds during the Clippers-Nuggets preseason game Saturday night — the first basketball game ever played at the Mandalay Bay Events Center — were far more standard. Here’s a few that stood out:
The Clippers leave for China on Sunday and Chris Paul said he hopes to begin full practices while they are there.

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Can Knicks fans become Nets fans?

New York No Responses »

Jul 162012

Anthony Gruppuso/US PresswireIs it OK to defect from being a Knicks fan to Nets fan? Let us know your thoughts.Should Knicks fans be allowed to change allegiances and become Nets fans?

Sports Guy Bill Simmons thinks so.

“To the Knicks fans who keep asking: If you’re going to switch allegiance to Brooklyn, it has to happen this summer. But I’m fine with it,” Simmons tweeted.

Simmons’ writers at Grantland delved into the debate further.

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Free-agent frenzy alters NBA outlook, again

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Jul 112012

Steve Nash is a Laker. Jason Terry is a Celtic.

Ray Allen is a Heat, and Dwight Howard would rather be anything than a Magic.

Welcome to modern-day NBA free agency, where the money really is greener on the other side.

OK, maybe not entirely. Sometimes, players find out that joining the team of your choice isnt everything its cracked up to be. Anyone who follows the Knicks can tell you that.

Still, it doesnt stop free agents and teams from treating early July like their own personal Disneyland. This summer has been no different.

A month ago, Nash told the world he could never envision leaving the Suns to join their most-despised rival.

A month ago, Allen was doing his best to bury the Heat in the Eastern Conference finals as a member of the Celtics.

A month ago, Howard was in the same position as he still was in Wednesday morning — at the center or trade rumors fittingly referred to as a Dwightmare.

Regardless of the labels and overall player movement, theres something followers of the NBA cannot deny: The landscape has changed, again.

Nash continues to be the ultimate point guard and team player, someone who always brings teammates together and finds the open man. Even at the age of 38, he appears to be everything Kobe Bryant and the Lakers were missing and more.

Terry is actually an upgrade over the fading Allen with the Celtics, who managed to re-sign Kevin Garnett and retain Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo despite plenty of rumors to the contrary.

Allen gives the Heat another sharpshooter, the type of player who can stand around and live off the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

And Howard appears likely to join a Nets team that already features All-Stars in Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.

Its not even August, and we already know who the top three teams in the East will be.

Same probably goes for the West — although that picture isnt quite as clear. Stick three guys from the local rec league next to Nash and Bryant, and the Lakers would still be pretty darn good.

Add Jamal Crawford to the Clippers, something the Clippers have done, and theyll be up there, too.

Of course, lets not forget the Spurs and Thunder, whose summer hasnt consisted of anything more than re-signing their own guys (Spurs) or entering a team in the summer league (Thunder).

In fact, its organizations like the Spurs, Thunder and several others who give fans hope that their best players wont always bail the minute their contract expires.

Eric Gordon signed a maximum deal with the Suns — and the Hornets matched. Suddenly, one of the leagues worst teams is intriguing, with Gordon, No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Davis and Ryan Anderson, the NBAs reigning Most Improved Player who was obtained in a trade with the Magic.

Or how about Roy Hibbert and the Pacers, or Jeremy Lin and the Knicks?

Like Gordon, each received big deals from elsewhere, only to return to their original teams. And whos to say continuity doesnt count for something? After all, both the Pacers and Knicks are coming off playoff seasons and considered squads on the up-and-up.

So here we are, wrapping up another summer where most of the leagues steak-and-jet set has landed, the remaining teams scrambling for everyone elses scraps.

There could still be a major signing or trade or two, altering the course of each conference in a matter of minutes. Some teams believe thats all it will take to experience a dream of a season.

Until then, all we can do is sit back, relax, and wait for the Dwightmare to end.

Follow Sam Amico on Twitter @SamAmicoFSO

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2012 MLB All-Star Game: The Big 4 All-Star Games, the Good and Bad of Each

Rumors No Responses »

Jul 102012

As we prepare for the 2012 installment of the Midsummer Classic, some would argue that America’s pastime provides the finest All-Star contest of all the “Big Four”. It counts, right? Yes, but you won’t have a tie in the other ones, will you? True, but everyone gives it their all and competes, don’t they? Well, you can say that for every game except for… OK, OK, OK.

There are pros and cons to every All-Star Game. Let’s look at why each of these exhibitions make us watch and make us question why we watch at the same time. This is not an evaluation of the weekend festivities. This article outlines what I believe is the good and bad about each actual All-Star “game”.

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Boston Celtics: How Ray Allen’s Choice Impacts the C’s Future

Rumors No Responses »

Jul 092012

It’s true, Celtics fans.

Ray Allen is gone. Off to join the Heat.

Whether this move was a foregone conclusion, whether Ray felt unloved or disrespected or mistreated or what have you, the fact is, he’s gone. And the Celtics need to move on.

Even though Ray was such a crucial part of one championship team, another that came within seven minutes of winning a second and still another that gave Miami its biggest scare this past season, the Celts’ future still looks OK even though he decided to leave.

Ray may be playing elsewhere next season, but the Celtics have still managed to keep the majority of their core together. They smartly got Kevin Garnett back into the fold first and with that move, the rest of the dominoes started to fall.

The Celts re-signed Brandon Bass, one of the biggest revelations of the past season, to a rumored three-year, $20 million deal.

It’s a nice little raise for Bass, who had his best season as a pro in 2011-2012 and was rewarded for it.

Next, the team agreed “in principle” to a deal with forward Jeff Green, who was the key return piece in the trade of Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma in February, 2011. Green missed the entire 2011-2012 season due to a heart condition but has been cleared to return to action.

If Green is fully healthy, he will be expected to give the C’s an athletic option on the wing, an area in which the team needs depth.

And before any of this, Boston reached an agreement with former Dallas guard Jason Terry to come in, score some points off the bench, spot Rajon Rondo at the point from time to time and provide toughness, experience and a championship pedigree.

According to ESPN, Terry’s deal is believed to be for the C’s entire mid-level exception, $5 million per year over three years.

And apparently, the Celts aren’t done wheeling and dealing. ESPN broke news Sunday that the C’s are “serious” about acquiring free-agent guard Courtney Lee in a sign-and-trade deal with the Houston Rockets. Lee shot 40 percent from three-point range for the Rockets last year and similar numbers in 2012-2013 would certainly offset the loss of Allen’s long distance skills.

In addition, this could wind up being an important move for the Celtics to make given that it appears Allen’s replacement in the starting lineup, Avery Bradley, could be out until December after undergoing a second shoulder operation this week.

After all of this, there still could be more. Veteran center Marcus Camby is apparently on the Celts’ radar. And Mickael Pietrus, who was a solid contributor to the Celts’ playoff run this spring, has said all along (and continues to say) that he’d love to return to Boston.

Of course, the Celts still have Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo, one a future Hall of Famer and the other on his way to being one, in addition to being the most dynamic player on the team. With those guys, Garnett, the other returnees, Terry and whomever else the C’s can get their hands on, it’s not far-fetched to see this team in position to potentially make another run come next year’s postseason.

For Celtics’ fans feeling hurt from losing Ray, it’s going to be OK.

It’s a bummer to be sure. But the C’s are going to be just fine.

Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com

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Odds the NBA’s Top 10 Rookie Prospects Make the All-Star Game

Rumors No Responses »

Jun 292012

The NBA draft has completed and it’s never too early to start projecting how these rookies will fare. Anthony Davis to the Hall of Fame? OK, it’s too early for that. How about the All-Star Game? What are the odds that the top 10 rookie prospects make the All-Star Game?

We’re not talking the rookie versus sophomore game here, we’re talking about the main event.

This slideshow is going to project the odds of making this year’s All-Star Game for the top 10 picks in the 2012 NBA draft.

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