Parade Day in L.A. Brings Christmas Cheer!

Today, in downtown L.A., it is a glorious day. Where in the city of angels every creature in purple and yellow will be stirring, including those who hardly get any play time. Kobe Bryant will not have to live with the ghost of Christmas Shaq, and Santa Jackson gets spoiled like a baby with a tenth ring in his stocking.

Rudolph the red-nosed Ariza will get accepted by his fellow deer and Santa Jackson after pulling the slay against the Magic, and the worker elf, little Derek Fisher proves his reliability. I don’t know if the same can be said for “Don’ter the Blitzen” (aka the inconsistent Lamar Odom) as he seems to be doing a lot more prancing than he does playing. He may not be allowed back in Santa’s shop come next Christmas season.

And even little Luke Walton, the token white elf, can be seen setting up trees with the worker bee Jordan Farmar, but not like the trees his father once grasped. And even in this time of merrious cheer, Zen is practiced, but perhaps not this coming year in L.A.

If you look closely you can see a Gasol standing tall, and a Bynum who is about to fall as they both stand underneath the mistletoe in The L.A. Day Parade!

Game 1 Road Victories Huge – Who has the Edge? Orlando or Houston?

Last night presented us with a pair of game ones on TNT that just about went down to the wire, but most importantly, had the road teams winning. The first game featured the three seeded Magic and two seeded Celtics in Boston with Orlando getting the W. The second game was the five seeded Houston Rockets at the one seeded Lakers in Los Angeles. with the road team pulling out a crucially upsetting victory. This is a great position for any team to be in, and especially a considerable underdog like the Houston Rockets. With that being said, who has the greatest advantage?

 

One advantage both teams earned with their victories is home court. Aside from that there are other mental factors that can provide advantages as well as some disadvantages.

 

The Orlando Magic looked solid and efficient as they worked their way building a huge lead which at one point was as high as 28 points midway through the third quarter. Their big four scorers of Dwight Howard, Raefer Alston, Hedo Turkoglu, and Rashard Lewis all posted 10+ points and they also received a boost from Mickael Pietrus who stepped it up adding 10+ points of his own. All in all it definitely looked like the fatigue from Boston’s seven game, multiple overtime series with Chicago was beginning to show.

 

That was until they began a spurt which saw them outscore the Magic 54-41 in the second half, and even close the gap to four points when there were less than two minutes left in the game. Now it’s one thing to win on the road and pull off a game one victory. But when you cannot keep the clamps down after building a 28 point lead in the third quarter against a team who is supposed to be tired and is playing without Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe, that should do more good for they psyche of the Celtics than it does for the Magic.

 

As for the Rockets, they managed to stay within their game the entire contest versus the Lakers. Even when L.A. converted a nine point deficit in the second half into a one point lead, Houston never waivered and stuck with their game plan a got back to holding onto comfortable leads of five to nine points. Much of that had to do with the careful and mistake-free ball handling of point guard Aaron Brooks.

 

On top of that, they received en emotional lift when Yao Ming was hurt after Kobe Bryant’s right knee banged into his own right knee. Yao was favoring the knee very heavily and he even walked off the court before pleading with his team trainer that he was fine and able to go back. All he did in his return was hit a big jumper and sink six free throws to keep LA at bay in the waning moments of the game. Now if that isn’t good for a fifth seeded team’s confidence faced with task of taking down the daunting L.A. Lakers then I don’t know what is.

 

Because of the Rockets consistent game play in their victory coupled by the determination of Yao Ming, I would give them the edge on the advantage end over Orlando. As for the Magic, it is great that they won on the road, but they were basically hanging by a thread as the game was expiring, and perhaps they have yet to face a fully alert and enthused Celtics team.

NBA Playoffs: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Utah Jazz

The settling of the up and down western conference standings has finally come. The matchups are set, and the playoffs begin this Saturday April 18th. The first bout features the number one seeded Lakers going against the number eight seeded Utah Jazz. Time to discuss.

 

The Utah Jazz have all season long been noted as a team who can be dangerous come playoff time, and especially for the Lakers since they were able to take their series last season to six games. But that was back earlier this year when the Jazz were in contention for a playoff seed as high as number two. Now the only recognition they are getting is that they can pose problems for the Lakers. Too bad they won’t pose enough problems four times.

 

The Jazz are led by one of the league’s top point guards in Deron Williams with his 19.4ppg and 10.7apg. They are also spurred by the much improved play of Ronnie Brewer, Paul Millsap, and even C.J. Miles. If you throw in the scrappy play by international stars Mehmet Okur and Andrei Kirilenko, as well as the three point baller in Kyle Korver, you most certainly have a solid unit. However, the Jazz’s bad side is not too promising.

 

Guys like Okur, Kirilenko, Brewer, etc do not have the ability to take over a game and can barely create their own shots. When you throw in the fact that the one other guy on the team who could have done that besides Williams, Carlos Boozer, has struggled to get back into the swing of things since his recent return from injury, then the Jazz are nothing more than a team that may be running on fumes by games four and five of the series.

 

The Lakers on the other hand, now there’s a squad! No one on the Jazz (and much less the entire NBA) is the equivalent or on par with Kobe Bryant. No one on the Jazz is as consistent and solid as Pau Gasol, and the one guy who was close, Boozer, is still catching up. Another thing L.A. has going for them is that there big man who recently returned from injury, Andrew Bynum, has actually transitioned a lot smoother than Boozer.

 

But the most telling characteristic about each team is this; the roles of the Utah Jazz players are mostly defined by what Deron Williams can do each night on the court whereas for the Lakers… everybody on the team knows their role.

 

I believe that the high dependence for success resting on the shoulders of one player in Utah (Williams) against the unit on a mission to absolve last season’s failures in L.A. will undoubtedly prevail in five games. See ya Jazzies.

Is there any Test in the West this Year for the Lakers?

The Los Angeles Lakers seem to be miles ahead of their other western conference counterparts. They are currently 9.5 games ahead of the second place Denver Nuggets. That’s pretty good distance even for a season like this, wouldn’t you say? I would say, sir. On top of virtually securing home field advantage until they get to the finals (Cleveland currently owns the league’s best record), they’ve also got some favorable potential opponents.

 

The eighth seeded Dallas Mavericks are clearly not at the top of anyone’s playoff brackets. Number six New Orleans has not found as much success as last year, and has been injury riddled, and has also suffered from the loss of Janeiro Pargo from last year. Number five, Portland, is pretty spunky, but they’re still young. The number four Houston Rockets look promising, but they suffer from a lack of scoring, although they are great at defense.

 

I’d say the ‘scariest’ teams for the Lakers are the number seven Jazz, who took them to six games in last year’s second round of the western conference playoffs. They are one year older and their other players are almost doubling their career ppg from last season. Then of course, at number three, are the experienced San Antonio Spurs. They know the Lakers well and have always been master executers in crunch time. Finally, the number two Denver Nuggets. They’re gaining a lot of confidence behind their calm new leader, Chauncey Billups, and players are getting their work done in a much more efficient basketball manner.

 

But the Lakers have Kobe Bryant surrounded by immense talent, and will not fail to make it to at least the NBA Finals this season.

NBA Fights Video

Come one, come all and see some of the few fights we have from classic NBA matchups. To be honest this video is not just all fights but also includes hard fouls as well. Watch and enjoy as Vince Carter makes a fool of himself at the Olympics while representing America. He must have lost his attitude when he lost his hair, hahaha. Be sure not to miss Ron Artest involving himself in drama on this tape as well. Enjoy! oh yeah Reggie and Kobe go at it! Sweet!

Are the Cleveland Cavaliers Ready to Come Out of the East?

Kobe breaks MSG record of most points scored at MSG

Kobe has already started 2009 with a bang. This week Kobe played the way legends do. Kobe put in 61 points against the New York Knicks in their home arena, breaking Bernard King’s long time record of 60 points. The funny thing is when you think about it this point total is 20 points less then his personal best…my lord, Kobe is the #1 player in the NBA…Nuff said!

5 Contenders

At this point there are five title contenders in the NBA; in the west, the Los Angeles Lakers (31-8) and the San Antonio Spurs 26-13, and in the east, the Cleveland Cavaliers (31-7), Orlando Magic (33-8), and Boston Celtics (33-9).

Right now, I would put the Spurs over the Lakers. I know the records are five games different, but lately I’ve been seeing Kobe take a lot of shots in the fourth quarter in games against Orlando and San Antonio that just haven’t been going down. Pau Gasol is having a great season, but now the Spurs have four guys who can be counted on to hit big shots, and not in any particular order; Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, and now Roger Mason Jr.

Furthermore, the Spurs show no signs of getting older, and they even seem like they are playing “younger” than last year.

In the east, the one team with the overall best consistency has been the Cavaliers. The Celtics seem like their big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen are getting older (More-so Garnett and Pierce), and their role players have not stepped up much in their recent strings of losses. I would have to say that right now Pierce and Garnett seem to be taking a step back, but I know they can turn that around. However, until that happens, I have to keep them under Orlando and Cleveland, even if they are the defending champs.

The Orlando Magic just seem like they play within themselves every game, and that has been just enough to pull out some big road wins this season. But with their ever-growing regularity of settling on huge three pointers down the stretch to win games may not be so hot come playoff time… “You live by the three, you die by the three.”

Finally, it is the Cleveland Cavaliers who are my top pick in the east. LeBron James seems to be coming into his own, as if what he had been doing already wasn’t enough. He is really hitting his peak now, and is relying on his teammates much longer in games than Kobe Bryant.

What’s even more is that they (Cleveland) aren’t even letting any of the non-contenders come close to beating them at home. If they can hold on to the number one seed come playoff time, and have homecourt advantage in the Finals, I will pick them to win it all.

NBA Live 09: Kobe Bryant Busts a chump and scores 96 points (Highlight Video)

I made this highlight video only using footage from one of my online games. I decided I was going to Kobe ball him to death, and I shattered the record of 81 points in a game for Kobe Bryant…The big reason I made this vid, was to let everyone know how bad this kid is. I can’t stand how many quit in NBA live 09 online and I am starting to make videos to hopefully mock and deter people from quitting…Too bad this kid was a chump and quit because I was definitely going to score over 100 points…Enjoy the show..

Kobe Explodes for 96 points on chump

Kobe Bryant New Hyperdunks!

I was just surfing the Net and I found a video that I thought was really interesting, from a production standpoint. This video was pitching the Kobe Bryant’s new shoe from Nike, which are the “Hyperdunks”. I haven’t been a big shoe guy since Jordan exited the league, but I’ll tell you what those shoes are hot. If I get back into playing ball on the weekends, expect to see me at the cash register picking those boys up. I really liked the commerical. Let me know what you guys think? I just thought it was a great idea for a video and I wanted to know if anyone else thinks so!

so here it is

NBA First Quarter MVP?

Who is the Man whose momma spells the name “Dwayne” as “Dwyane?” Who is the Man who leads his team to victory by being the league’s top scorer at 28.7 points per game, almost a full point over the one they call “King” with 27.8 in Cleveland? Who is the former Marquette Master that let his team sit back and watch as he carried them to four straight victories once upon an NBA Finals ago? Who is this Man you say? D-Wade?

 

Yea… that and Dwyane Wade.

 

For those of you who it isn’t too early to be talking MVP yet, Dwyane Wade ought to be your man. He has no Shaq, and at 9-9, has his team just four wins shy of the 13 total they had all of last season. To say he has gotten much help would be a bit of a stretch.

 

Sure, Michael Beasley has been turning in a pretty fine rookie season at 14.7 points per game with a 45% field goal percentage. Other than, they have no big men and their pick up from last season, Shawn Marion has not presented himself as much of a scoring threat with just 12.3 points per game (coupled by a big 9.3 rebounds per contest), but at 6ft 7in, he is shorter than rookie Michael Beasley at 6ft 9in!

 

Thus far, Dwyane Wade has played like a man who wants no part of the shame and deplorable play his city and fans suffered through last season, and definitely does not want to be watching most of the playoffs as opposed to playing in at least part of them.

 

As long as Dwyane Wade can keep carrying his team to victory, especially in the fourth quarter, he has my vote for MVP right now… D-Wade! All the other usual and potential names, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Brandon Roy, Chris Paul, or Chauncey Billups have an at least decent supporting cast around them.  

NBA Quarter-Mark Outlook

So far in the NBA a few teams are back up to their old tricks, a few have been somewhat disappointing, and a good number of upstarts from last year as well as some surprising newcomers have begun to surface.

 

The newcomers that need to be involved in this discussion are as follows; in the east it’s Miami, New York, and New Jersey and in the west all of the other teams with playoff aspirations are of no surprise at this point in the season. Miami, led by top scorer in points per game, Dwyane Wade, are currently 9^th in the eastern conference standings. Last year, everyone remembers how atrocious they were. New York seems to be hitting its stride under the tutelage of former Phoenix head coach, Mike D’Antoni as they are 8-8 and 8^th in the standings. Finally, the previous season’s trade between the Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey Nets has finally begun to payoff, as the Devin Harris led Nets are 8-7, 6-4 in their last ten, and 7^th in the east.

 

The Upstarts from last year that are proving their worth are as follows; in the east it’s the Orlando Magic, the Atlanta Hawks, while in the west we have Portland and Denver. The Magic currently sit at 3^rd and atop the eastern conference standings at 13-4 going 9-1 in their last ten. Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, and Hedo Turkoglu and company are really hitting their stride. The continued and improved production of guard/forward Keith Bogans and the extra lift provided by off season veteran pick up Anthony Johnson as point guard have been stalwart.

 

The Hawks slid a bit after starting off 5-0 mainly because of losing Josh Smith for the next few months, but have regained form and are now 10-6 and 5^th in the eastern conference.

 

In the west the Portland Trailblazers, continue to look like a team of the future with stars Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, and the potential of first-year NBA players like Rudy Fernandez, and Greg Oden. They are now tied with Phoenix, Denver, and Houston at 11-6 while going 7-3 in their last ten games.

 

Denver’s success can be attributed to the trade of Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson. The Nuggets are 11-6 and 7-3 in their last ten while holding 3^rd place in the west. They have had many impressive victories and performances as they beat Boston in Boston, and took the Lakers to the brink of a loss in L.A.

 

Now come the disappointments. The Detroit Pistons are hovering somewhere between average and above average. Although they are 10-5 and in 4^th place in the east, they are suffering some inexcusable losses, most recently a 10+ point loss to Minnesota, do not yet seem to have their act together with Allen Iverson skipping the thanksgiving day practice (however, I do give huge props to Michael Curry for taking charge by suspending him for one game), and are not nearly as consistent as they were when they had Chauncey Billups in the lineup. 

 

The other eastern disappointments for the eastern conference are the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Washington Wizards.

The Raptors just 8-7 and are barely holding a spot in the eastern conference as the 7^th seeded team. With capable point guard Jose Calderon, and former all-start Jermaine O’Neal, they should be doing better.

 

The Sixers were a team last year that without Elton Brand finished 6^th in the east and took Detroit to six games in the playoffs. Now with virtually the same team and Elton Brand, they are struggling to find their rhythm and are 7-9 and 5-5 in their last ten. As for the “Wiz Kids,” although without injured star Gilbert Arenas they may not have been a playoff contender anyway, they are still abysmal with their 2-12 record which is good for worst in the east. Last season they played without Arenas for the most part, but still managed to finish above .500 and make the playoffs. They have now fired their coach Eddie Jordan and are in a state of disarray.

 

The disappointments in the west are the New Orleans Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, and L.A. Clippers. The Hornets finished second last year and were one game away from the western conference finals. They are now 9-6 and 7^th in the standings in the west. The Mavericks are 8-8 and look like they are ready to get their act together one game, and then go back to mediocrity the next. As for the Clippers, you would think they could be more competitive than their 3-13 record would suggest with the pickup of marquee point guard Baron Davis. Oh well.

 

As for the Spurs, I’m sure a lot of people would like to put them in as a disappointment, but they have been playing without Manu Ginobli for the entire season (who is set to return soon), and Tony Parker has just returned from his injury earlier in the season. To further their defense, they are now 9-7 and 7-3 in their last ten while being 8^th in the west.

 

Finally we come to the top dogs in the league.

 

In the east you have the Cleveland Cavaliers with their 14-3 records, 9-1 in the last ten games, and 2^nd place spot in the standings. They have put together a bevy of blowouts on their opponents this season, and the addition of a scoring point guard in Mo Williams has been absolutely huge for them.

 

The second team that has picked up right where they left off from last year is the Lakers. They are 13-1 and making mince meat out of would be superpower teams and have the best record in the NBA.

 

But the pinnacle of all teams continues to be the Boston Celtics. They’re 16-2 and are still dominating defensively and continue to get great production from their supporting cast members. And although the Lakers get much help from their bench and up and coming players, let’s face it… the Celtics are still the champs.

 

The last three teams I must mention are the Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, and Utah Jazz. To me, these three teams are in a state of limbo. Houston would look to be an upstart, but they can’t seem to keep their stars, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, healthy. The Suns seem like the same team as last year, which wasn’t a contender anyway, and the Jazz keep being a team with potential that can’t seem to build on it.

 

That would about sum up the NBA season at or around its quarter mark. We’ll look to see who shifts from wherever they were in this discussion and who remains where they are in the coming weeks. As for those that I did not include in this article… you really just aren’t worth mentioning (Chicago, Indiana, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Golden State, Minnesota, Sacramento, Memphis and Oklahoma City).

Andrew Bynum may play a Key Role in putting the Lakers over the Top

Last season, the L.A. Lakers took care of business in the first three rounds of the playoffs. They swept the Nuggets in the first round, eliminated the Jazz in six games in the second round, and defeated the Spurs in just five games in the Western Conference finals. It wasn’t until the NBA Finals that they hit a wall when they lost to Boston in six games.

This year, they’ll welcome back a healthy Andrew Bynum. And if you witnessed his performance in last night’s pre-season game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, then you too may see why Andrew Bynum could place the Lakers back in the Finals with a much better shot at winning it all.

Bynum was dominant going 10-15 for a 66% scoring percentage, with 23 points. Bynum also added eight rebounds and three blocks. What was most promising was his poise under the basket. He didn’t just get easy dunks all night. He was laying it up and taking short jumpers. The scary thing is he is only 20 years old.

The return of Bynum will give the Lakers two superstar caliber players on the inside with Pau Gasol being the other. The Celtics beat the Lakers last year with their trademark stingy interior defense. If the Lakers can match that this season, then seemingly, their main threat from last season may meet a more formidable Los Angeles team in this years Finals. 

Tim Duncan the best player in the NBA…. Anyone?

TIMMY!!!

 

For the past 5 years I have been saying that Tim Duncan is the best player in the NBA why?  Because he is.   No really, look at his body of work over the past 5 years 3 rings “come on man you can’t argue with that.”  To be honest many people will say Kobe is the best player or Lebron, but isn’t the best player the guy who can get his team to the championship and win, and score points, and play defense, and rebound, and be a leader  Tim Duncan does all of this.  I am bringing this up because the NBA season will be starting soon and again Tim looks to be the best player in the league.  I am not going to list his career statistics, but look at them they are very good.  Also very rarely is guard the best player in the league. A guard is not going to bring a team a championship by himself he needs a great big man (not including Jordan), on the other hand a Big man does not need a great guard.  Tim Duncan is not going to score 81 points in a game but he will score 25 with 20 rebounds and 10 assists, and that’s what makes a great player.  A guy who helps the team on all levels so argue if you want but look for Tim to get his 5^th ring this year, and prove me right.  “TIMMY!!!”

 

don’t agree leave a comment.

NBA League Pass should be a Prerequisite of any Diehard Pro Basketball Fan

 

 I don’t work for the NBA. I work for the SportsRoids authority of America in my spare time. But I must say that the NBA League Pass is something that diehard NBA fans should get. And I’m not talking about diehard fans of one team. I’m talking those who follow all the team’s records throughout the season, and who like to watch games because of the talent and action.

If you multiply the 82 games that each team plays each season by the 30 teams there are in the league you get a total of 2,460 games. It seems almost unbelievable! I have enjoyed watching great NBA basketball the past two years as a League Pass owner for various reasons.

The NBA likes to nationally televise the games between the contenders, but there are plenty other teams out there with start talent and superstars that aren’t being given face time. There are also a lot of young teams that have promising talent and fans cannot see them grow because they haven’t reached their potential yet and the NBA schedulers won’t “recognize” them.

I’m telling you, get NBA league pass. You get a whole lot of bang for your buck, and the games between underdogs and contenders are typically more competitive than if they met in a best of seven series. It is just a suggestion.