Around the League
August 30, 2008
With the Olympics ending and the major free agent signing period over with, it’s a boring time of year for NBA fans as we await training camp, but there were a few stories that caught my eye this week:
- Ginobili To Have Surgery - The Spurs did not want Manu to play in the Olympics. He played. He hurt himself. He’s going to be out six weeks after getting surgery done. So should Manu have sat? I don’t think so. If you consider he got hurt on such minimal contact, he was bound to get hurt in the pre-season or early in the regular season so the timing actually works in the Spurs favor. Manu’s not going to miss much game action and the Spurs don’t seem to mind that Tim Duncan doesn’t wake up until March anyways so Manu should be no different. Don’t be surprised to see the Spurs hovering around .500 for a while though.
- Monta Ellis Out 3 Months - Sorry, Warriors, fans. Not a good summer for you. First, Baron Davis bolts for the Clippers of all teams and now your most exciting player is out. At least you got Corey Maggette, though. If he can carry the load for a while and you get some guys to step up, you could still be in playoff contention when Ellis returns.
- Grizzlies Sign Hamed Haddadi - Haddadi will be the first Iranian player in the NBA. He did well in Beijing, but some scouts don’t think he’s ready. The competition in the Iranian league is, well, softer than a marshmallow so we’ll take a wait-and-see approach on this guy. Just don’t expect the next Yao Ming.
Don’t hold your breath, September won’t be much more exciting.
By the way, it’s never to early to sign up for fantasy basketball. Click here to sign up.
The 5 People Happiest About Team USA Winning Gold
August 24, 2008
After the Disaster in Athens in 2004, Team USA has pretty much hit rock bottom, but now they’ve gotten the gold medal back and everyone surrounding the team is ecstatic. But, we thought it would be interesting to single out the 5 people who are the happiest about getting the gold back. Here’s the list.
5. Doug Collins - Doug’s son, Chris, is one of Coach K’s assistants on the Team USA staff and has said he’d be giving his gold medal to Doug who was cheated out of his own gold medal in the disputed 1972 Olympics. Doug, you finally got your gold medal, now stop talking about a game that happened 36 years ago!
4. Coach K - Just before Team USA went down in Athens in 2004, Coach K had turned down the Lakers, opting to continue coaching in the college ranks. Now, with a gold medal in hand, Coach K has quieted at least some of his doubters that he couldn’t coach a bunch of superstar millionaires.
3. Lebron James - All the players are happy about winning gold, but it’s extra important to Lebron as he won’t have to hear “Lebronze” anymore. That’s one nickname you’d rather not have.
2. Jerry Colangelo - Jerry assembled the team and it was always his goal to be seen as some sort of evil basketball genius. Well, you got your wish, Jerry.
1. Kobe Bryant - This one unfolded perfectly for Kobe. He didn’t play in 2004 or even in the 2006 World Championships, and he was the star of the gold medal game. The way it looks is that Kobe is the secret ingredient, like he’s Mr. Miyagi in his prime or something, the master of basketball excellence.
Who would you add to the list?
Get NBA Rumors Via RSS
August 24, 2008
HoopsAvenue is proud to introduce RSS feeds for our NBA Rumors page. These actually went live about a week ago, but, in case you haven’t noticed, you can now subscribe via RSS to NBA Rumors for the league, an individual team, or even an individual player. It’s up to you which teams and players you want to read rumors on. If you’re not familiar with RSS, it is a new technology that allows you to read online content without actually visiting a website. Here’s how to get set up:
- Download an RSS reader such as FeedDemon (this is what I use) or you can just use a Google Reader account, MyYahoo, or something like that (they all read RSS).
- Look for RSS icons on website or on the Location toolbar of your browser.
- When you see this icon and want to subscribe, click it and you will be presented with subscription options.
- Choose a subscription option such as subscribing with FeedDemon or Google Reader and follow the instructions.
That’s it!
You’ll see one of these RSS icons on every single rumors page we have here on HoopsAvenue so feel free to subscribe to any of them and you’ll receive just those rumors related to that team or player.
Does NBC Even Care About Olympic Basketball?
August 20, 2008
I’ve got no problem with NBC promoting Michael Phelps and Shawn Johnson as the best thing since sliced bread…they’ve had an amazing Olympics, but what’s with the treatment of Olympic basketball? Not televising any of the pool play in primetime is understandable, but now they aren’t going to show the medal round live at a reasonable time? If you want to catch tomorrow’s USA-Argentina semi-final showdown and you have a full-time job, you’re going to have to make up an excuse to get out of work. The game starts at 10:15 AM ET. This is single elimination against a team the USA has lost to the last two times they’ve faced each other! Want to watch the gold medal game? If you’re on the east coast, have fun staying up to 4:30 AM to watch the entire game.
It’s almost bizarre how little coverage the Redeem Team is getting. You’ll have no problem seeing Lebron James and Kobe Bryant watch some beach volleyball or watch Michael Phelps in the pool, but to watch them actually play basketball? No, how horrible! At least, that’s what NBC seems to think. They don’t even bother to show any of the day’s basketball highlights or give any scores in primetime. Have you seen a basketball score during their primetime coverage? Let me know if you have because I haven’t, nor have I seen a highlight. Sure, a hoops game takes two hours so you don’t have to show the whole thing, but could you spare us a few minutes? Come to think of it, you showed an entire marathon a few nights ago!
Of course, whoever made the Olympic schedule deserves a great deal of the blame as well (though, I’m sure NBC had a hand in that). It’s not like the schedule is completely booked either. Swimming, gymnastics, and to some extent track are compelling events and deserve their coverage, but diving, distance track events, and all the filler tear-jerker clips? No offense to any of those athletes, but I’m just asking for a little hoops coverage!
Shawn Kemp to Italy?!?
August 17, 2008
Yes, this is happening. I swear I’m not making this up. ESPN just flashed the news and it is official. Shawn Kemp is going to play in Italy. I don’t even know where to begin. Here, we’ve got an overweight 40-year old “former” crackhead and he’s going to be playing professional basketball. Is Italy that desperate for talent? Well, they are probably just marketing the league with this crazy move. Will Kemp even be able to get up and down the floor? Maybe we’ll have the first halfcourt player in Italian basketball history.
What are your thoughts on the Reign Man’s return to pro basketball?
Update: USA Today link
4 NBA Players Obama Should Consider for VP
August 15, 2008
Pretty soon Barack Obama will be announcing his running mate and, from what we hear, he hasn’t made up his mind yet so HoopsAvenue wanted to toss a few NBA names in Obama’s direction. Ball Don’t Lie ran down Obama’s ‘NBA Dream Team’ cabinet 2 months ago and suggested Tim Duncan as Vice President, but we’ve got some other names to throw in the hat:
- Dikembe Mutombo - Mutombo brings a boatload of experience to Obama, which would be a big boost for the senator. Additionally, Mutombo is known to be strong on defense which would appeal to a lot of voters, but his connection with President Bush could be a detriment to the campaign.
- Bruce Bowen - Bowen’s reputation for strong defense makes him a natural choice to be Obama’s VP, but he’s also a very polarizing figure, unpopular in LA, Phoenix, and many other cities around the country, which could cost Obama votes.
- Antawn Jamison - Jamison is experienced, professional, and well-liked. He looks like a perfect choice to be VP, but Obama’s message of change might not resonate if he chooses a Washington-insider like Jamison.
- Dwight Howard - He’s from the southeast, a region where Obama struggles, and is now very popular in the swing-state of Florida, but does Dwight Howard have the experience to be VP? Howard would be a risky pick so maybe he should wait until 2012.
Players Not to Consider
- Gilbert Arenas - His recent blog post where he said, “There’s another reason I don’t vote – I don’t want jury duty. If you’re not registered to vote, you can’t get jury duty. I know that campaign Diddy had a couple years ago, “Vote or Die,” yeah if the alternative is jury duty, I’m going to die. I’m not going to get in one of these cases where they blow the jury members’ houses up to get out of the trial, I’m cool. I’ve seen too many movies,” kinda makes it difficult for him to enter into politics. Plus, he’s busy building a really cool pool.
- Rasheed Wallace - Wallace would definitely resonate with Obama’s message of change, but he’s a bit too outspoken. When his Pistons won the 2004 NBA championship and had to meet President Bush the next year, he said, “”I’m not going to say (expletive) to him. I didn’t vote for him. This is just something we have to do.”
Mo Williams Trade Huge for the Cavs
August 14, 2008
A lot of people didn’t pay much attention to Mo Williams last season and that’s understandable since he was playing in Milwaukee and in the shadow of Michael Redd and even Andrew Bogut, but that is all going to change this season now that he’s in Cleveland. This trade is huge for Cleveland. It’s just what the doctor ordered if that doctor is Lebron James. Mo Williams, in case you had forgotten, brings an average of 17 points and 6 dimes to the Cavs, taking a whole lot of pressure off The King. No more Sasha Pavlovic at point guard, no more Damon Jones pouting on the bench. Larry Hughes couldn’t deliver as Lebron’s sidekick a few years ago, but Mo Williams will.
This puts the Cavs right in the mix in the East. They are serious contenders to the Celtics and Pistons. Given that the Celtics will be a year older and less motivated, the door is wide open for Lebron James. For the first time in his career, he’ll be able to trust that his teammates can get it done when he needs a breather. I’m not ready to call the Cavs the East champions, but I’m getting close.
Do What You Want, Yao
August 11, 2008
I saw this article on Yahoo! today and I couldn’t understand where Adrian Wojnarowski got the idea that Yao was basically being forced to play for China. As far as any of us can tell, Yao loves playing for China, maybe even more than playing in the NBA. In the 2nd paragaph of the article, Wojnarowski quotes Yao as saying, “The game was a treasure, and it will be a treasure for the rest of my life,” then he spends the rest of the article knocking China for wearing Yao down. Sure, Yao has been getting worn down as you can see from his injuries the last two seasons, but why it it playing for China that he should cut back on and not the NBA? I’d hate to see Yao play less in the NBA, but it’s his life so if China is his priority, then let it be.
Will the USA Win the Gold?
August 10, 2008
After beating China handily 101-70 in their opening game at the Beijing Olympics, its time once again to assess Team USA’s chances at getting the gold. A 31 point victory against an improved Chinese team is no doubt impressive, but Team USA also showed that it is not immune to the same problems that dogged them in the 2004 games.
Once again, dismal three point defense kept Team USA’s opponent in the game in the first half and USA failed to hit outside jump shots. China shot 10-27 from downtown, which is not overly impressive, but they shot a much higher percentage in the first half before they were worn down by Team USA. Deeper and more skilled teams will have a good chance at knocking down 40%+ of their threes against Team USA. USA did not shoot well either or, more accurately, they didn’t really try to shoot all that much, opting to dunk instead. The game showed two distinct styles…Team USA had alley-oop after alley-oop in transition while China was knocking down threes.
Despite these issues, Team USA is still much improved from 2004 and is still the favorite to win gold. This team is not selfish like the 2004 version was, has a better roster, and understands international play a bit better. One big difference from 2004 is this team understands that you cannot count on getting “in the act” fouls called so they did not try to draw fouls around the basket. Instead of creative up-and-under layups, Team USA just went up for aggressive power dunks near the basket and it paid off. They didn’t dribble into trouble as much either. One of the biggest nuances of international play compared to NBA play is that you have about 1 less dribble per move before you get into turnover trouble and Team USA is doing a much better job at not dribbling too much.
So, my prediction? I wouldn’t be surprised if the USA loses a game, but I’m going to predict they do go undefeated and win the gold again.
How do you think Team USA will fare?
2008-2009 NBA Schedule Released
August 6, 2008
The 2008-2009 NBA Schedule was released this afternoon and we’ve got it posted for you. Click here for the NBA Schedule.
Here are some games of interest:
- October 28th - The defending champion Celtics begin their title defense against Lebron James and the Cavs.
- October 29th - Not the most exciting way to start a franchise, but Oklahoma City starts their season hosting the Milwaukee Bucks.
- November 5th - Mark your calendars. Gilbert Arenas, who recently blogged, “Because every player hates Milwaukee. Nobody wants to live in Milwaukee. I’m sorry, Milwaukee, to come down hard on you, but no one in the NBA wants to play in Milwaukee,” takes his Wizards to Milwaukee to hear the boos.
- December 25th - The NBA is amping it up this season with five games on Christmas Day, highlighted by a Finals rematch between the Lakers and Celtics. The Wizards and Cavs will renew their rivalry as well.
- December 31st - Elton Brand returns to LA as the Sixers take on the Clippers.
- January 16th - Jermaine O’Neal makes his first trip back to Indiana as a member of the Raptors.
I’ll definitely be watching those games.
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