Basketball Names Show Originality

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Dino Gomez

nba_logo_2_z-thumbRecently I realized that the NBA in comparison with other professional sports leagues, easily has the greatest variety of player “names”. There is Dwight, where now his name is easily recognized by many people, but when you first heard it you thought of Kanye West saying “ight”. Then we have Kobe and Lebron. We have Yao Ming who knows his first name is cool, so he chooses to put it on the back of his jersey where your last name normally goes. There is Carmelo, where a noun and a verb combine. The Lakers have Pao Gasol and Sasha Vujacic which makes me wonder if I spelled those names correctly. What about the Cleveland Cavaliers’ players Mo Williams, Zydrunas Ilgaskas, and Delonte West? Zydunas Ilgaskas sounds like a curse word or better yet should become one. And if you noticed I’m really just pulling names from teams that are still involved in this year’s playoffs. Just a side note.

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NBA Salaries Unproportional to Skill Level?

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Dino Gomez

AAGZ202_8x10-2006Logo~Denver-Nuggets-PostersIt’s always fun to know how much money professional athletes pull in every year. After all they have their dream job as well as mine and earn a ton of money for it. It’s interesting to note that by comparison of their peers, not all professional athletes make what they should. For example some players earn more or less money than their teammates that are better or worse than them. Let me further explain by using the salaries of the Denver Nugget players. Chris Anderson A.K.A  the Birdman, earns exactly the same amount as Anthony Carter A.K.A. the “oldest player in the league.” They both have a 2008-2009 season salary of $797,581 and they both are crucial to the team’s success. Then there’s Steven Hunter who to most fans might as well be an imaginary friend of mine, who earned $3,862,600 for the season. Now how can or more importantly why would the Nuggets pay Hunter that kind of money when they should be paying the fan-favorite of Denver, the Birdman, those millions? Another great example: Kenyon Martin earns more than Carmelo Anthony. It seems team owners need to consider long term contracts more carefully in the future…

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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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