As much as everyone has talked about the cooler, calmer, more collected Denver Nuggets in this second Chauncey Billups era, this is still an energy-driven squad, especially at home. So throughout last night’s Game 6 loss that ended Denver’s season and sent the Lakers to the NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant was all about delivering daggers and taking the crowd out of the equation. Kobe (35 pts, 6 rebs, 10 asts) was handing out silencers like Nic Cage in Lord of War, and in turn the Nuggets were generally listless, particularly in the second half when you’d expect them to come out on fire. Read More »
Some news from this week’s Chicago pre-draft camp:
* Arizona State SG James Harden has reportedly canceled all workouts with teams picking outside of the Top-5. This comes on the heels of a widespread rumor that the OKC Thunder have targeted Harden with the No. 3 overall pick. With Harden at the two and Kevin Durant at the three, OKC could have one of the League’s top scoring wing combos for years to come. (Or at least until KD bolts the pasture as soon as possible to play in a big market.) Read More »
At the moment, Amar’e Stoudemire‘s future in Phoenix is uncertain. While it seems like the Suns are committed to STAT being their guy long-term — hence their ditching Terry Porter and going back to Stoudemire’s favored up-tempo system under coach Alvin Gentry — Amar’e is the one who will decide things. And seeing as the Suns almost traded him earlier this year, he might want to get out of town no matter how the team is catered to fit his style. Read More »
After FC Barcelona won the UEFA Champions League final, Nike created this special colorway of the classic Nike Blazer Hi. The shoe features a mostly white base with the “football” club’s crest on the heel and tongue, alongside a matching jersey material/color scheme. Read More »
Other than perhaps winning an NBA title, there is nothing better than USA Basketball (as evidenced by Team USA’s gold medal run last summer). While there’s the NBA All Star game, there really are no other events that allow the best players in the world to grace the court at the same time. That’s why I was so excited to see that USA Basketball announced the 21 top young prep talents that have been named to the 2009-10 USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team yesterday. Read More »
The first relevant phase of the NBA Draft combine is upon us. This was the moment when the world freaked out about Michael Beasley not being 6-9 last year, officially sealing Derrick Rose‘s fate as the No. 1 overall pick. From a first look at the measurements, there aren’t any real disappointing numbers. But there are a couple of pleasant surprises.
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In a slight departure from what we’ve been doing so far, today we’re matching up two of the best teams that never made it to the Finals in a hypothetical series for that elusive ring. Same rules still apply, though: This has nothing to do with the stat-driven “fantasy basketball” you play online. Assume both lineups are healthy, and the older team gets homecourt. Today it’s C-Webb and Bibby against STAT and Nash…Read More »
Against Detroit in ’07, he went 18-33 from the floor (2-3 3FG), 10-14 FT for 48 points, 9 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 2 TO’s. Last night’s point total wasn’t quite as gaudy, but he was just as unstoppable down the stretch: 11-24 FG (0-2 3FG), 15-19 FT for 37 points, 14 boards, 12 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 TO’s. Read More »
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