NBA Big-Timmers’ Schedule

Posted on August 4, 2009 by Dino Gomez

As ESPN reports, the schedule for the 2009-2010 NBA season is out and there are a few surprises, but lots of good bait for betting online. There are a some changes from last year however. The Houston Rockets were broadcast plenty in the 2008-2009 season because they were stacked and a force to be reckon with. They pushed the Lakers to a seventh game in the playoffs and all. Amazing how quickly things can change. With Yao Ming and T-Mac injured and sulking on the bench and with Artest NBA-main_Fullhaving left to the defending champions lineup, the Rockets will not receive one nationally televised regular season game this year. Of course they aren’t the only team that is expected to produce boring and lackluster performances. New Jersey, Sacramento, Charlotte, and Milwaukee will also not have a game televised anywhere but on NBA television this year.

That leaves us with the teams that we want to watch and which will receive plenty of  camera time. On October 27th on TNT, the season opener will boast the new look Cavaliers against Eastern Conference rivals, the Boston Celtics. Later that evening the defending champs will play their ugly shadow, the Clippers. October 29th will be your best opportunity to see Richard Jefferson dressed in Oakland Raiders attire for his first game as a San Antonio Spur playing against a Chicago Bulls team.  And most importantly we all want to know what we will be unwrapping presents to on Christmas day. We will unwrap gifts to a second consecutive year in which the NBA broadcasts a quintupleheader. For those of you who like me had no idea what that word means; a 5 game match up. That’s right, this year on December 25th we will see the Heat vs. Knicks, Celtics vs. Magic, Cavs. vs. Lakers, Clippers vs. Suns, and the Nuggets vs. Trailblazers. It will surely be an amazing day.

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Rasheed Wallace chooses Boston Celtics

Posted on July 5, 2009 by Dino Gomez

Rasheed Wallace was one of the leagues best available free agents until this evening when reports surfaced that he has officially chosen Boston as his next location to play. Wallace was considering San Antonio, the Orlando Magic, and the Dallas Mavericks as other possibilities but in the end it looks like he chose Boston in order play alongside Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce. Immediately the discussion on ESPN is whether Wallace will provide the lift the Celtics need to return to an NBA final. My answer is contingent upon whether Cleveland adds any more pieces to their team.Rasheed_Wallpaper_NBA

Right now I would imagine an Eastern Conference final featuring Boston and Cleveland with Boston slightly edging out Lebron and the big Diesel. However if the Cavaliers add anything more, I mean anything more like a better towel boy that keeps the players better hydrated, then it would seem the duo of Shaq and Lebron with solid complimentary players would still be too much for Boston to handle. Lets face it those Boston stars are getting up there in age. Not to say that Shaq isn’t but that is only one player compared to the core starting 4 of Boston. On paper Boston does looks better, on the court Cleveland does. This Celtics line up can be compared to that of the Los Angeles Lakers a few years back when they had 4 future hall of fame players in the starting line up: Kobe, Shaq, Malone, and Payton. That line up also looked amazing on paper but did not on the court. The NBA championship teams of the most recent years tend to be built around a perfect mesh of young talent and clutch veteran play. Big news that Wallace has chosen Boston but still no upgrade for the Celetics. Trevor Ariza would have been a better fit there with the defense that he brings, his youth, and his low-key profile.

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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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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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Luke Walton Calls Out Bill

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Dino Gomez

In the words of Coolio and to summarize what Luke Walton said at the Los Angeles Lakers celebration parade yesterday, “Ain’t no party like a West coast party cuz a West coast party don’t stop.” That’s right Luke spoke into the microphone at USC ‘s coliseum football stadium and said that his father Bill, can no longer brag about his championship ring with the Boston Celtics from when he played professional ball. Luke even went on to say his ring with the Lakers beats out Bill’s ring since Bill’s ring came as a result of playing on an East coast team; hints the line from Coolio. Well be sure to find footage of Bill’s response to his son’s comments once it surfaces. Bill is just too great of a personality, not to include in the future on this site. Just look at the faces of the commentators sitting next to him in this following photo. You can tell that he never wonders off topic…Bill-Walton-R

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The Two strangest Game Winners

Posted on May 10, 2009 by Dino Gomez

It’s hard to say which game winning play was more awkward, Carmelo Anthony’s game winning three pointer last night against the Dallas Mavericks or Glen Davis’ game winning jump shot tonight against the Orlando Magic? 51357575No matter which play you found more exciting or enjoyable, you have to admit, they were both strange.

Last night towards the end of the game between the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks, Carmelo Anthony had the ball close to the top of the key with his team down two points. As the clock showed under 5 seconds remaining, Antoine Wright of the Dallas Mavericks intentionally bumped Anthony multiple times in order to draw a foul and stop the clock. Wright obviously fouled Anthony but no whistle from the officials ensued. What happened next was hilarious. Wright having thought he fouled Anthony stopped defending him but Anthony never stopped playing and instead turned a corner and hit a game winning three-pointer. In the replay during live action the announcer even comments that Anthony was fouled and then fumbles over a few words to explain that the play had continued and that Anthony had just hit a game winning three pointer.

Then tonight  Boston faced Orlando in a crucial game 4 of their series. With the Celtics down a point and with possession of the ball, Paul Pierce received an in-bounds pass in the remaining seconds of the game. Pierce’s teammate Glen Davis, who must be the most overweight player in the league, came towards Pierce to set him an on the ball screen. As Pierce came around the screen, Glen Davis A.K.A “Big Baby” slipped outward toward the baseline un-guarded. Pierce passed “Big Baby” the ball and as time expired, “Big Baby” hit the game winning jump shot. Now if this is the first time hearing about this play then you may wonder how it is strange. You must keep in mind however that Glen Davis is huge and looks more like a sumo-wrestler on the court than a forward. Watching him jump in the air and hit a game winning shot is the equivalent of watching a 350 pound linebacker run 50 yards for a touch down in the NFL. It just looks ugly and it seems like it shouldn’t count.

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