NBA Big-Timmers’ Schedule

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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Richard Jefferson Traded to Spurs!

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.

Tribute to Chauncey

The addition of Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets has been the best off-season acquisition for the 2008-2009 NBA season. No team has gained more from the addition of a single player. The Denver Nuggets have never made it to an NBA final but this year could be different. This year they have their home town hero running the point and what a perfect story it would be to have him hoisting that championship trophy for the city for the first time!

NBA Salaries Unproportional to Skill Level?

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…

The Two strangest Game Winners

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.