Better yet, which college team lost the most in the 2009 NBA draft?

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Dino Gomez

It’s fun to discuss the NBA draft in terms of which NBA team will benefit the most from their picks as well as which players were drafted too soon or too late. However it is rare that a rookie comes into the league and dominates right away. They may snatch a starting position and put up impressive numbers in their first year, but they almost never make a huge impact right away. They have to develop first. That is why after the NBA draft it is more fun to discuss the NCAA. Imagine losing an NBA quality player at the college level? Now that makes an impact on your team. So instead of further dissecting where the draft picks are headed, were taking you back to where these players came from to see which programs have gaping holes to fill next season. The rules of this evaluation are simple: Two NBA players that leave the NCAA affect the college they attended more than if just one player left. So below are all the colleges that lost 2 or more players this year to the 2009 NBA draft.Louisville Media Day Basketball

  • Arizona – Jordan Hill (8) and Chase Budinger (44)
  • Arizona State- James Harden (3) and Jeff Pendergraph (31)
  • Uconn- Hasheem Thabeet (2) and A.J. Price (52)
  • Louisville- Terrance Williams (11) and Earl Clark (14)
  • Memphis- Tyreke Evans (4) and Robert Dozier (60)
  • North Carolina- Tyler Hansbrough (13)/ Ty Lawson (18)/ Wayne Ellington (28)/ Danny Green (46)
  • Oklahoma- Blake Griffin (1) and Taylor Griffin (48)
  • Pittsburgh- Sam Young (36) and Dejuan Blair (37)
  • UCLA- Jrue Holiday (17) and Darren Collison (21)
  • USC- DeMar DeRozan (9) and Taj Gibson (26)
  • Wake Forest– James Johnson (16) and Jeff Teague (19)
  1. North Carolina wins or technically loses this contest. Four players from their team left the Baby Blue behind. They have by far the most work to do if they are to match the caliber of their championship team this past year.
  2. Louisville loses the second most.  Terrance Willams and Earl Clark closed business deals for them on the court and losing them hurts.
  3. Arizona State and Wake Forest tie for third. ASU will have a tough time in the Pac-10 without Harden’s scoring and Pendergraph rebounding and blocking shots. Wake Forest finished poorly this last season but will be hard to recognize without James Johnson and Jeff Teague.

Filed under: Dino Gomez, General, NCAA News | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

What is Vince Carter going to do for the Magic?

Posted on June 27, 2009 by Dino Gomez

Vince Carter was recently traded from the New Jersey Nets to the Orlando Magic along with Ryan AndersoNets Magic Trade Basketballn for Rafer Alston, Tony Battie, and Courtney Lee. This is a brilliant move on the part of Orlando. Phil Jackson and the Lakers exploited the weakness of Orlando a few weeks ago in the NBA finals by showing the world that 1) Dwight Howard can’t make free throws and 2) that the team is still lacking a court leader (and maybe a head coach). The first problem Dwight will figure out. He just needs to sing Soulja Boy in his head to relax himself at the line but the second problem needed to be solved with a trade.

Vince Carter works as an answer to the second issue. He is a fiery individual on the court and he will make his voice heard when it counts at the end of playoff games. He might say something to his teammates along the lines of, “Remember, contest all three point shots or foul them while they are on the floor. We got this game by three right now and can’t afford them an open trey.”

Best of all the Magic didn’t have to give up much to acquire Vince. I love Skip to my Lou, a.k.a. Rafer Alston but  he still hasn’t figured out his three point shot with all that practice and free rebounding from coaches and for some reason still refuses to bench the bar in the weight room. I can’t figure that out. Jameer Nelson will come back in as starting point guard this next season for the Magic with his shot on que and with enough bulk to gain a loose ball rebound at least. In regards to losing Courtney Lee, that is definately good for both the Magic and Courtney. I heard the Magic owners and committee members were so upset that Lee missed that lay up tip-in from an out of bounds pass in game 2 of the NBA finals that they went down to the court after the game and after the arena cleared out to try that move themselves. Once a committee member with grey hair and tux on made that play that Courtney couldn’t, they decided they just had to let him go… so out with Alston and Courtney and welcome home Vince.

Filed under: Dino Gomez, General, NBA | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Shaq sings Akon’s Over the Edge…

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Dino Gomez

This is awesome. Shaq is just hilarious. Here’s a guy who truly embraces life and has fun with everything he does. No wonder he has a $21 million a year contract. How can you hate him? Kobe?

Just a side note, BasketballwithDinoGomez is proud to be one of the first blogs if not the first blog to post this video. Thanks to Andrew Slavec for the shout.

Filed under: General, NBA | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

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.

Filed under: General, NBA | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Ricky Rubio Vs. Brandon Jennings

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Dino Gomez

Brandon Jennings made it clear to the media recently that he thinks Ricky Rubio is overrated. Jennings said Rubio was all hype and that he had no potential to grow as a player. Jennings based his comments around the fact that Rubio has played  international professional basketball for many years now and therefore has reached his maximum talent level. Jennings says he is a better shooter than Rubio and that he still has room to grow as a player where Rubio doesn’t. Obviously Jennings also needs to mature and grow off the court as well since he is already making enemies before playing a single minute in the NBA. Perhaps Jennings will jump on a motorcycle, crash, and end his basketball career like  Jason Williams of Duke did early in his professional career? I’m not hoping for it but even Lebron James isn’t this full of himself after dominating the league for a few years.  Watch yourself Jennings, Karma is no joke.

Filed under: General, NBA | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Charles Barkely Calls Himself a Dumbass?

Posted on June 14, 2009 by Dino Gomez

The reason Charles Barkely is such a funny NBA analyst starts with the fact that he says what ever is on his mind. Some basketball fans I’ve spoken with insist that he has been drinking before or during his segments on TNT’s pre-game, half-time, and post game show and sometimes I consider this a possibility. Either way, Barkely adds so much as a spokes person for the NBA because one way or the other he makes things interesting. Below I found some footage where he simply calls himself a “dumbass” on the air. Perhaps that coffee cup that he sips from so often isn’t what it appears to be…

Filed under: General | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

Do you Remember Earl Boykins?

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Dino Gomez

Were you lucky enough to have watched a game in which Earl Boykins played? If you were then your probably smirking right now while saying to yourself, “Boykins was the man.” Yes he was. When he played in the NBA he represented everything that doesn’t make sense in the world. He defyed gravity. He was David battling Goliath. He was awesome and better to watch on television from an overhead perspective than courtside where you probably couldn’t see him half the time hiding behind a giant. He was faster and stronger than anybody expected. He was only 5’5″ and believe it or not he would out bench most of his team.

Boykins had a good career in the NBA. He played a total of 10 seasons for a few different teams. He almost always came off the bench and provided instant offense. To summarize he was a great role player. Well in August of 2008 he officially became Italy’s highest paid player for this 2008-2009 season signing a one year contract for $3.5 million. He no longer is just a role player and is earning a salary and a starting position that is finally showing him the respect he has always deserved. I just thought I would keep you all informed. Oh and to those European teammates of his: next time Boykins hits a game winning shot, don’t pick him up off the ground and don’t pat him on the top of his head. Maybe let him chest bump the towel boy instead or something?

Filed under: General, NBA | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Shaq, Lebron, and Dwight Howard Dance up the Jam!

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Dino Gomez

A few years back Shaquille O’neal, Lebron James, and Dwight Howard met at half court during the 2007 All-Star weekend Eastern Conference practice  to determine who had the best moves without a basketball in hand. It’s true they had a dance off. I’m guessing based on personality that either Shaq or Dwight requested this moment. Either way, hands down Shaq showed the youngsters what was good for them. Imagine trying to move swiftly and fluently as a seven foot 300 pound dude with a size 23 shoe. After watching this video you will know that your not the only one who dances in front of the mirror to make sure you’ll look good in the club that Saturday night.

Filed under: NBA | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Lil Wayne raps about Kobe Bryant

Posted on June 7, 2009 by Dino Gomez

One of this year’s biggest emerging rap stars is a fan of Kobe Bryant. Lil Wayne, the son of Bird Man, wrote a song very recently in tribute to Kobe Bryant’s dominance on the court. Now as much as I dislike Bryant for threatening Michael Jordan’s brilliance when he played, Bryant is one of the best in the league and deserves a song about his efforts.

Stephen A. Smith, an NBA analyst for ESPN, starts the track by explaining why Bryant is in many opinions, the best there is in the league. This is truly a great song and as always Lil Wayne will make you laugh with an impressive array of rhymes and lines. As Wayne sings in the song, ” Don’t worry Lebron, get’em next year.”

Filed under: General, NBA | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Magic vow to give better effort in game 2?

Posted on June 6, 2009 by Dino Gomez

nba finals 2009 schedule lakers vs magicThe NBA Fastbreak crew on ESPN is awesome. Jalen Rose always knows exaclty what the game plan is for both teams before the game and gives accurate analysis after as well as he stirs up interesting conversation. The other day Rose and his crew were speaking about the poor effort that the Orlando Magic gave in game one of the NBA Finals. Dwight Howard, the starting center and rising superstar for the Magic, said that his team will give a much better effort in game 2 of the finals series on Sunday. Rose reacted to this comment by asking the NBA Fastbreak crew why in the world wouldn’t the Magic be giving complete effort in the first game of the series in which they got hammered by the Los Angles Lakers. What a great question. What was Orlando thinking in Game 1? Why as Howard admitted are they having to put forth more effort in game 2? Shouldn’t they be matching the effort put forth in game one and hopefully the ball will bounce better for them and they make escape with a win? After all it is the NBA finals. As professional basketball players where your job is to play this game, when your teams makes it to the NBA Finals you better be going full steam after the ball all the time! How ridiculous that the captain of this team feels that his teammates weren’t giving full effort. Either way the NBA and all their fans want to see a closer game 2 on Sunday and an exciting series from here on out which means the Magic guards better hit a jump shot and Dwight Howard needs to average 20 points a game.

Filed under: General, NBA | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »