LeBron in the Dunk Contest?

8.03.09 2:13 pm by Matt

During All-Star 2009, LeBron threatened to “clean up” the Dunk Contest. He hinted that if the rules were tightened up and he talked some fellow superstars into it, he’d participate.

Here’s the thing: sure, LeBron can jump high. REALLY high. But there’s just a limit to how high people can jump. Through the legs and a variant thereof is the go-to move in the finals every year, which leads to boredom, which led to a push toward creativity, costumes, and chicanery of all sorts.

Since LeBron and his superstar competitors can only repeat the through-the-legs so many times, I’m here to bring some ideas to the table for an All-Star filled Dunk Contest.
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The Bummer of 2010

7.26.09 10:02 am by Matt

NBA analysis seems to consist of relating every move to the Summer of 2010, dreaming of players for teams to get during the Summer of 2010, or just talking about the Summer of 2010 for no other reason. The Summer of 2010 probably has a player card on ESPN.com. “The Knicks are smart to pick up those contracts that will expire in the Summer of 2010 so they can make a run at LeBron James.” “That’s a great trade for the Pistons, clearing that cap space aimed at Dwyane Wade in the Summer of 2010.”

Well I say PHOOEY. Here’s why we’re in for a big, massive, giant, huge BUMMER of 2010:

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Does Artest Make Sense for LA?

7.11.09 11:37 am by Pat

I’ve been following the NBA trades and free-agent signings as closely as I can and, needless to say, there have been some interesting moves.  I said that during this year’s playoffss there were a few legit teams against a handful of pseudo-contenders.  This upcoming season promises to be the opposite of that as several teams have made roster changes that put them in contention for the crown.  The teams everyone seems to be talking about are the Lakers, Celtics, Magic, Spurs, Cavaliers, Nuggets, and now Mavericks with the Shawn Marion acquisition.

The defending champions made the most publicized move of the offseason so far by acquiring Ron Artest and bringing some toughness and defensive tenacity to LA, while providing a scoring threat as well.  In the process, the Lakers lost Trevor Ariza in what essentially turned out to be an LA-Houston swap as these two players just traded teams.  Laker players are eager to sing the praises of the move and are declarining that another three peat is on the way.  Others, including most of the sports writers outside of Los Angeles, don’t know if it was the best option.  I tend to agree with the latter.  Artest is undoubtedly a better scorer and more physically intimidating player than Ariza.  He will help bring some much needed toughness to the Lakers and has years of relatively consistent production/performance in comparison to Ariza.  Ariza was heralded as a great three point shooter in the playoffs, which he was at 47%.  But he shot just 32% from deep during the regular season.  Which number is a better representation of where he will shoot this year?  I don’t know, but I’m leaning towards going with Artest on the offensive end.

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A Rant of Sorts

7.06.09 12:37 pm by Pat

Despite being on vacation for a week at a rather remote lake in northern Minnesota, I was able to stay in touch with the sports world while away.  The following post is going to cover a variety of topics that I wanted to touch on.  There are lots of things that get on my nerves, and sporting events are no exception.  If I may go back a week or so in the sports world, I’d like to discuss the Ricky Rubio situation that has arisen.  After being drafted 5th by the Minnesota Timberwolves, the same guy who said he’d play in the NBA “for free” and that getting out of his current contract wouldn’t be a problem, now is talking about remaining in Spain for one or two more years.  Couple that with him saying that Minnesota is “too cold” and skipping the Timberwolves post-draft press conference, it looks as though Rubio has no intention of putting on a Wolves jersey anytime soon, if at all.  While this situation bothers me in part because I am a Timberwolves fan, I would dislike this situation regardless of the team.  I still hold a grudge against Eli Manning for refusing to play for the Chargers and think that Yi Jianlian and his agents were wrong in how they scoffed at the idea of playing in Milwaukee.  The point of the draft is that the best players go to the worst teams.  Demanding a trade or refusing to play defeats the purpose of the draft and, in my opinion, lowers the integrity of the sport in question.

Looking at the Rubio situation, it is obvious that he would not balk if he were to play in New York (which can be cold as well, Ricky).  All I heard about from Rubio was that the NBA was his dream and he was excited to play, but once he found out he was headed to Minnesota, he changed his song.  This is nothing more than a desire to make as much money as possible.  New York is not a better team than Minnesota, but endorsements may come quicker for him there.  There are some who believe that the big name players belong in the big markets because it “helps the NBA”.  My question in return is that if a big name player refuses to play in a small market in favor of a New York or Los Angeles, how does the small franchise survive and thrive?  If every college/foreign star heads right for a large market, how does the NBA expect to make money from the small market teams?  Do they just bank on a sellout when the Knicks or Lakers come to town?  Or should the NBA allow the small market teams to become glorified junior varsity teams who are perenially whipping posts for the big teams on their run to the playoffs?  The draft is one of the few things that instills hope in a franchise and its fanbase, and landing a big name player brings some excitement which, in turn, sells tickets and merchandise.
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The Laker Hater’s Toolkit

6.16.09 10:28 pm by Pat

Editor’s Note: We’re introducing another new writer with this post. This is Pat. Pat is not a Lakers fan.

As I sit here and watch as the Lakers and Magic come to the inevitable conclusion of the Lakers hoisting the trophy, I find myself getting angry and frustrated that Houston, Denver, and now Orlando have failed to take them out.  Then ABC flashes to an up close of Kobe Bryant sticking his bottom teeth out like his jaw is dislocated and my Kobe-hating meter is now off the charts.  I have never been a fan of Kobe or his frequent ball-hawking style of play.  I respect his talents and believe he is a top ten all time player, and getting a ring this year without playing second fiddle to Shaq cements his place in history as one of the best to play the game.  Similar to Bryant himself, Kobe fans are often smug and arrogant and for some reason insist that he is the best player ever despite there being little, if any, statistical evidence to back this up.  That being said, I decided to write some reasons/facts that fellow Kobe-haters can use as ammunition against the LA fans who undoubtedly will be signing his praises even louder this offseason.

1) Kobe is 4 for 6 in NBA Finals appearances, and he was the second best man on the team for three of his four rings.  Kobe had the luxury of playing for arguably the best coach ever during the majority of his career and he played with the most dominant physical force to ever play the game in Shaquille O’Neal.  During the 2003-2004 season, Kobe was playing with three other future Hall of Famers (Shaq, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton) and was regarded at that point as the best player on the team and rightfully so.  Shaq’s numbers had dipped and Malone and Payton were nowhere near their prime, but the team was undoubtedly stacked and Kobe failed to deliver in the finals.  In his second run as the top man on the team, he lost once again to the Celtics.  This year by defeating Orlando, Kobe earned his first ring as the go-to man for his team.  You need to give him his props for that, but he doesn’t have the other three without Shaq.

2) Kobe’s supposed legendary ability to hit the game winning shot is more hype than truth.  If you look at this site, you can see that Kobe, despite taking the most game winning shot attempts out of an extensive list of NBA players, did not hit the most game winners and shot just .250%.  Those statistics include the 2003-2004 season up to February 4th of this season.  ESPN and ABC want to make Kobe out to be the next Jordan in terms of clutch shots and have done all they can to promote this idea.  The fact of the matter is the more attempts you take, the more you will eventually hit.  You don’t see the misses replayed over and over, but the makes are made into some sort of iconic shots.

Kobe fans may point to his better record in terms of game winning shots in the playoffs, as can be seen on the same page.  However, after watching his performance in this year’s playoffs, including his game 2 game winning attempt that was blocked by Hedo Turkoglu (as Kobe was triple teamed and failed to pass to a number of wide open teammates…but that’s another story), I am confident that his shooting percentage will drop once this year’s playoffs are factored in.  Anyone who tries to deny that Kobe takes to many shots, and even more so at the end of the games, just needs to look at the numbers.

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Lakers-Magic: NBA Finals Preview

6.04.09 7:27 pm by Alex

Tonight we’ll see the first game of the 2009 NBA finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic. ESPN likes to point out that these cities both contain Disney theme parks, a form of subliminal advertising since ESPN is part of ABC, which is part of Disney.

Lets look at how these teams got here. Both teams won their conference finals series in 6 games, L.A. defeating Denver and Orlando taking care of  first-seeded Cleveland. It seems like Kobe and the Lake Show have been destined for the finals since day one but Orlando’s first finals appearance since the Shaq days is seen by most people as a surprise. There has been a lot of advertising about a possible Kobe-Lebron finals, but it was not meant to be. The Magic took care of the Cavaliers in 6 games despite an incredible performance from LeBron James.

Dwight Howard and friends were able to stop the one-man show from Akron, but this L.A. team is an entirely different animal. Kobe Bryant is one of the best - maybe the best - players in the league, and on top of that they have a talented roster that, unlike the Cavaliers, is capable of putting together a complete team effort (See Conference Finals Game 6. Five guys in double figures).

The key to this series will be the Lakers’ ability to defend Dwight Howard and the three-point shooters of Orlando. Cleveland frequently left Pietrus, Lewis, Alston and Turkoglu wide open while trying to double-team Howard, a strategy that didn’t work because the Cavaliers big men were unable to defend him, even with help. If the Lakers play up to their potential, they should be able to figure something out to slow them down. I’ll take Gasol, Bynum, and Odom over Ilgauskas and Varejao any day, and Phil Jackson’s track record as a coach is reason enough to think they’ll do a better job defending than Cleveland did.

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