2009 NBA draft Summary

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Dino Gomez

Blake Griffin was drafted one and Hasheem Thabeet second as predicted, but James Harden was drafted third which was a slight surprise. As soon as his first name rang into the microphone from the voice of David Stern, Harden bumped his chest. He’s off to Oklahoma City to play for one of the worst  franchises so he knows he will get playing time and as a direct result a larger contract. Here are some other notes from the first round:2009draftheader

  • Stephen Curry was the best pick in the draft besides Ricky Rubio and James Harden ( not including the consensus first overall pick Blake Griffin). Curry played on a mediocre Davidson team and put up huge numbers. It seems people forget how tough it is to play with terrible teammates. They rarely create easy opportunities for you and if you pass them the ball they rarely hook you up with an assist because they don’t finish.
  • Jordan Hill was booed when his name was called to become a New York Knick? How do you boo Hill who is the first player in the last 30 years from Arizona to average a double double?
  • Terance Williams– One of the most under-rated players in this draft, will kill it in the NBA. Williams has an amazing handle, a step back jumper, and an arsenal of moves in the lane that make him impossible to guard. Watch for him to dominate in New Jersey.
  • Jrue Holiday– Biggest gamble in the draft, picked at 17. Holiday only average 8.5 points a game and 3.5 rebounds as a freshman this past season at UCLA. Now he is young and could have potential but that is exactly why he is a gamble. His numbers don’t suggest he is currently a star so it seems Philly is chancing that he will become one?
  • Minnesota Timberwolves– draft 3 guards with three first round picks, two of which are six foot? They better have a trade lined up.
  • Jeff Teague– will be like a Michael Redd in the league, under the radar but extremely good. Teague is a thug and can score at will. He didn’t get any media the second half of this past season since Wake Forest dropped a series of games in a short period of time; which is why he is an amazing choice for the Atlanta Hawks as the 19th overall pick. He averaged 18 points a game this past season as a soph0more!
  • Eric Maynor– made a name for himself with impressive  play this year in the NCAA tourney. Set a school record for assists. Has a ton of upside and should have been drafted before Ty Lawson.

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Lebron James and Shaquille O’neal are Teammates

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Dino Gomez

It was discussed a ton last night and has become official today, Shaquille O’neal is now a Cavalier alongside Lebron James. This deal happens just hours before this year’s NBA draft and mainly because Shaq wanted it to happen.  Really though as forementioned in an earlier post, most hall of fame players tend to just chill when a trade takes place but this trade marks O’neal’s fifth team in his career. That is a lot of moving around for the caliber of such a player. Its obvious  O’neal can’t stand to sit still for a moment if his team is not winning and the Phoenix Suns are definately not winning, so he’s gone. The details of the trade are as follows: the Cleveland Cavaliers recieve the Big Diesel with his $21 million a year contract and give the Phoenix Suns Ben Wallace, Sasha Pablovic, the 46th pick in the NBA draft tonight, and $500,000. As a Phoenix fan I’m bummed with Shaq’s departure but I recognize Wallace and Pablovic give us a better chance at completing the puzzle. A parting gift for Big Shaq comes in the form of a highlight reel when he was at LSU.

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Trade News

Posted on June 24, 2009 by stone86

Here’s a quick update on some developing trade news.  The Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to send Mike Miller and Randy Foye to the Washington Wizards.  In return the Timberwolves receive Etan Thomas, Darius SoBangngaila, Oleksiy Pecherov (who?) and the fifth overall pick in tomorrow’s draft.  This means that Minnesota now has both the 5th and 6th picks in the NBA draft.  Will Minnesota continue to wheel and deal?  With time running out, we are bound to find out soon.  In any case, unless something happens, Thabeet, Rubio and Griffin will likely be off the board.  On another note, the Wizards are now stacked with scorers.

In Oakland, it looks like the Warriors are close to moving Jamal Crawford.  According to ESPN, the possible deal has the Atlanta Hawks sending Acie Law and Speedy Claxton to the Warriors for Crawford.  It’s not much of a surprise considering the Glut of scoring guards and forwards on the Warriors already.  More interesting however, is the possible significance that this deal would have on the Mike Bibby contract negotiations.

The next few days are bound to be fun as teams continue to scramble.  We’ll keep you updated.  Also look for a Pac10 basketball preview in the near future.

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Best draft picks from second round in past 10 years

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Dino Gomez

With the NBA draft another day closer, we have decided to recall the best draft picks from the second round in the past 10 years. These players were selected at positions where a career normally doesn’t exist for them  in the NBA after a matter of 3 or 4 years. We will start with the top pick and work down to the fifth best pick.redd

2000 – Bucks selected Michael Redd 43rd- That is just crazy. Michael Redd the guy with the sweet left hand jumper that seems to never miss was passed up 42 times before his name was called in the 2001 NBA draft. Redd is an NBA all-star now and franchise player for the Bucks. He also was chosen to represent the Dream Team in the Olympics in 2008 in which he contributed to a U.S. gold medal.

2001- Warriors selected Gilbert Arenas 31st- One of the league’s premier players was selected in the second round. Agent zero a.k.a. Gilbert Arenas, the franchise player for the Washington Wizards was offered the league maximum $127 million for seven years back in 2008. Instead he opted to receive $111 million so that his team had more money to spend elsewhere. Arenas has worn the number zero since high school when he was never given a chance to flourish on the court. He wore that number at Arizona and now in the NBA in order to remind himself what he has to prove.

1998 – Supersonics selected Rashard Lewis 32nd- Rashard Lewis who was just featured in the NBA finals as a member of the Orlando Magic is obviously talented. He is a 6’10 forward who can knock down long distance shots like he was a guard. He represents everything the NBA wants in a player. He is humble and extremely talented. He chose to take less money and play for the Magic because he understood that the majority of teams that win a championship do so with a dominant player at the center position. Lewis felt Dwight Howard was his best chance.

2003 – Mavs selected Josh Howard 29th- Josh Howard is still growing as a player but is already un-stoppable on the offensive end. He has a solid jump shot and is athletic enough to drive the lane. If the Mavericks or his team ever pushes far into the playoffs look for him to step up and take over big game situations.eva_longoria

2001 – Spurs selected Tony Parker 28th- Alright I know the 28th pick falls as the last pick of the first round but for matters here that is close enough. How amazing that Tony Parker was drafted so late. He is dominant at the point and has one of the quickest first steps in the league. He is an NBA allstar and three time NBA champion. He is also a pimp. He was approached after a playoff game in L.A. by Eva Longoria’s father and was congradulated on an impressive performance. Parker responded by explaining how hungry he was after his performance and invited Eva’s father and Eva herself to a late dinner. Parker treated the two to a late night Denny’s meal while playing everything casual. Before long he had his own date with Eva and now as you all may know she goes by Eva Longoria Parker. What a player.

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Richard Jefferson Traded to Spurs!

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Dino Gomez

Richard Jefferson was traded from the Milwaukee Bucks to the San Antonio Spurs today in what I will immediately call a Blockbuster trade. With Jefferson at the small forward position on a previously contending Spurs team, all of a sudden they are youthful again. Well they are more youthful because they recieved Jefferson and dished out Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, and Fabricio Oberto. Jefferson was the only other player in the league besides Kobe Bryant to play in every game the last two seasons and average over 20 points a game. He is not only good but durable. The addition of Jefferson makes the Spurs the best team on paper positions 1-4. The starting line up next year will have Tony Parker at Point Guard. Manu Ginobli or rising star Rodger Mason at shooting guard. Richard Jefferson at small forward and Tim Duncan at Power forward. The only whole in the starting lineup will come at the center postion where Drew Gooden and Matt Bonner will have to do work.  Just imagine how amazing the NBA playoffs will be next year with the Nuggets, Lakers, and Spurs choosing dominance in the Western Conference and possibly Shaquille O’neal and Lebron representing the East.

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Kid does front flip then hits 3/4 court shot

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Dino Gomez

Almost everybody has made one miraculous shot on the basketball court at least once in their life. When you do make an amazing shot, a few things almost always certainly happen. The first is that normally nobody is around to see it. The second is if people are there to see it they almost always miss it or fail to record it. Well in the following video a middle school student made this shot with his entire gym class watching and with the film rolling. Somebody get the kid a juice box.

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James Harden and Gilbert Arenas Twins?

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Dino Gomez

The NBA draft is only three days out and the only thing that is certain is that everything is uncertain. Teams ing202266_u52637_Gilbert_ArenasPHP4919E61073EB0 the past years at three days out almost always knew which players were going to be available when their turn to pick was up and they knew which players they’ll most likely decide to draft. This year is completely different. There are potentially 50 different combinations of how players could be drafted positions 2 thru 10 or something close to 50 (not going to do the math right now better to spend the time studying the players), which is crazy.

What would be funny in my book and what is probable is that James Harden from Arizona State will be drafted fifth overall to the Washington Wizards. He would play opposite Gilbert Arenas on the wing and would confuse the hell out of me if I were a defender. Think about playing transition defense against the Wizards when they have numbers on the break. Everyone knows Harden is going to his left because he is like Lamar Odom and can only go left, so as I defender you want to make him use his right hand. However at the speed a fastbreak happens would you be able to tell if the guy with the ball is James Harden or Gilbert Arenas? I mean they look really similar, are close enough in stature, and yeahh look similar. I’m thinking they are twins, were separated at birth, that one of them lost a birth certificate, and are about to be united on the court in Washington. Want more proof that they are twins? Twins think alike. Gilbert Arenas played college ball at Arizona while James Harden played at Arizona State.

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Happy Fathers Day

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Dino Gomez

As promised a few articles ago, we are bringing you more Bill Walton. Whether it be the best impersonation of Bill ever or a story about how he bought a new Tie-die t-shirt, we will continue to cover him.

This time we bring you footage from exactly a year ago today on Fathers Day during the 2008 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. Good ole Bill sat down with his son Luke at the time and recalled ever lasting childhood memories of Basketball. As always Bill might as well be a cartoon character with his massive white teeth, silly grin, and exceptional comments.

The last time I had seen this video was truly a year ago today. What I picked up this time that I failed to recognize last year is that Bill Walton had Chick hearns (the greatest sports announcer maybe ever) edit and create an audio tape in which he enthustiastically congratulated Luke Walton on becoming an NBA champion for the Los Angeles Lakers. Chick hearns made this tape and gave it to Luke before he reached age 10. For over 16 years now Luke has been listening to that tape and manifesting his destiny to not only play for the Lakers but to win a championship with them. It’s funny how that came true. After all not too many players that are drafted 32nd are still seen in the league more than 5 years later, let alone in their choice city playing for a contending organization like the Lakers.

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Nike Connects Ballers on Facebook to Street Games

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Dino Gomez

If you haven’t heard about what Nike has been doing on Facebook then your stoked I’m sharing this with you. For over a year now Nike has had a program on the 200 million people plus social networking site, Facebook, called “Ballers Network”. This program is an application for basketball players to add to their profile which allows them the ability to ultimately connect with other players and set up a time to meet at the local court. Ballers Network is your chance to find a pick up game anywhere. You can find a court and location to ball, add your home court to the map, find a scheduled pick up game, enter your team into a tournment, or plan your own pick up game and invite your crew out. This application is amazing and is a must for you to check out if you got game. BN3_lg

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What does this Lakers Championship really mean?

Posted on June 20, 2009 by Dino Gomez

An article by David Peterson.

I have heard it over a hundred times…”Kobe can’t win a championship without Shaq“. ESPN made sure to tagline this past finals series between the Lakers and Magic as Kobe’s quest for a ring of his own. But can the Lake87746142AB051_LAKERS_NUGGETSrs recent title be watered down to simply acknowledging that Kobe led the re-built Lakers back to the top of the NBA world? I would like to argue otherwise.

There is no doubt that Kobe Bryant was dominating in the playoffs and deserved finals MVP honors. However, without the addition of Trevor Ariza, the stronger play of Lamar Odom, and a healthy Andrew Bynum, the Lakers would have been in the same spot as last year, when they walked out of TD Banknorth Garden with green and white confetti falling to the court. The fact is this: Kobe is Kobe, a dominant, consistent, top 5 player in NBA history. However, he alone cannot win an NBA title. Jordan had Pippen, Rodman, Harper, and Kukoc. Kobe now has Pau Gasol, whom Magic Johnson calls “the second best skinny big man in the NBA behind Kevin Garnett“, as well as Trevor Ariza, who is the most athletic player on the team and who came up with some of the biggest steals in playoff history. Throw in strong play from Lamar Odom and an emerging star in Andrew Bynum, and you have a team with no visible weakness or flaws.

This Lakers team, and this championship season, is much more than Kobe getting the Shaq monkey off his back, it’s the beginning of another Lakers dynasty. This team is built to win two more titles within the next three years. Now it’s just up to Mitch Kupchak to keep the team together and Phil Jackson to somehow find another finger for his next ring. Parting words of wisdom: WARNING-don’t ever leave Fisher open for a crucial 3, you will get burned!

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