NBA Blogs

(VIDEO) Kevin Durant takes Derozan to school with a crossover

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 18:09:04 -0500

(Youtube Video Courtesy of Daily Thunder)

Demar Derozan is the latest victim of Kevin Durant’s lethal ball handling skills. If I was a coach, there probably isn’t one player on my team who had the size and quickness to guard Durant so I’d double him on pretty much every possession. This play is exactly why I’d do that. Sucks the momentum right out of a team.

How many 6’11 players in NBA history can put together a highlight reel of crossovers? Not only that, but the players that he has shifting are all shorter than him. Impressive is an understatement.

Amir Johnson Gets Raptor Claw in Hair Line-Up

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:18:43 -0500

(Photo Credit: Amir Johnson’s twitter)

Amir Johnson is a crazy dude off-the-court. He’s known to attend parties, dress up whenever necissary, and basically not go with the flow. He is a grinder that is on the floor about three times a game, diving for a loose ball. At 6’11, Johnson is very similar to players like Dennis Rodman and Ron Artest but hasn’t done anything too crazy to be put into that category What I think is that Amir is slowly adapting the “nutty guy on the roster” character and this definitely adds up.

Kris Humphries Tormented With Kanye Songs

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 11:55:00 -0500

Kris Humphries has been having the worst luck as of late. Other than the two year, 24 million dollar contract the big man received to begin the season (which isn’t the length that he probably wanted), Humps luck is going downhill as everybody seems to be out to get him. Referees, in-laws, and now DJ’s.

At a club in New York (W.I.P), Humphries (according to NY Daily News) had to endure continuous Kanye West songs as the DJ’s were trying to irritate Humphries. It worked as Humphries was furious according to the source. Humphries didn’t just leave as he was at the club until around 4:00am. By the end of the night, he would end up stealing a bottle of Patron, dumping it out (in a drunk way, by pretending he was peeing but just pouring Patron out), and demanding to stay at the club when it was closing time.

That’s pretty much the whole story so if you were expecting Humphries to make a few drunk calls to Kim and go on a rampage than I’m really sorry because that does not happen. As far as I know at least. Maybe if he was followed by someone home they could’ve found a few more details but this is it. Hump gets tormented all night with Kanye West songs and Hump gets mad and steals a bottle of liquor.

As Reggie Evans has been stealing all of Humphries minutes as of late, Hump is going to have to find a way to rebound off-the court. He rebounded very well from the Kardashian marriage and he rebounds very well on the court. Now he just needs to find some consistancy and rebound everyday from everybody because he seems to get put in some of the worst situations he can ask for.

Hump recently was reinserted into Brooklyn’s starting lineup so at least he got his job back from Reggie Evans. Hump has his court date coming up to settle his marriage with Kim Kardashian in mid-February so this trend on up-and-down luck may be coming to a close for the 6’11 forward real soon.

Tyler Hansbrough Has His Brother's Back

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:27:24 -0500

In case you didn’t know, Tyler Hansbrough’s little brother Ben plays on the Pacers. He recently got promoted to back-up point guard over D.J Augustin after Augustin struggled for the first month in limited minutes. Bens getting an opportunity to show the Pacers that he can co-exist not only with this second unit but his brother as well.

Ben is lucky that out of all people, Tyler is his older brother. Tyler is a scrapper that on most nights will scratch, rip, pull, bite, and do whatever he can just to get a rebound. Out of all the brother combinations in the league, the one that you shouldn’t mess with is probably the Hansbroughs. (Video Below)

Ref Fouls Kris Humphries on Block Attempt

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:02:00 -0500

I’ve never seen a official do anything like this. Kris Humphries may have pissed off a few people in the past year but I don’t think he thought even the refs had it out for him.

I’d understand attacking the Raptors, but Kris Humphries? The other night, Amir Johnson on the Raptors threw his mouthpiece at the referee and nailed the ref in the back so I’d expect it against the Raptors. Blow the whistle, wave your arms, or even just let him shoot a practice free throw. Just looking at Humphries reaction is really how I look at Hump. Just a good guy, yet the guy can’t catch a break sometimes.

Kobe Hits 30,000 Point Plateau

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 23:50:43 -0500

Kobe Bryant on Wednesday became the youngest player to reach 30,000 points in NBA history. Bryant now trails Wilt Chamberlain (31,419), Michael Jordan (32, 292), Karl Malone (36,928), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) for the top spots on the all-time scoring list.

Bryant was also the youngest player to reach the 10,000 point mark and the 20,000 point mark. LeBron James now holds the milestone of youngest player to reach 10,000 while being under 600 points away from taking Bryant’s other milestone away at 20,000.

It almost seems like Bryant tries to hit these landmarks with style. Here’s clips of Bryant reaching the 10000 point, 20000 point, and Wednesday’s 30000 point mark.

10,000 point plateau

20,000 point plateau

30,000 point plateau

Former CFL Player Reflects Upon Career

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 00:04:00 -0500

(Photo Credit: Karen Toor, Facebook)

With the passing of the 100^th Grey Cup, I got the chance to chat with a former teacher of mine at Pickering High School, who just happened to be a five year veteran in the CFL. Martini played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for two and a half years, and finished the second half of the season with Winnipeg before getting his last two years in for the Argos in Toronto. Not a stranger to the game, Martini brought a tremendous I.Q on the field as he does on the sidelines for Pickering High School.

John Martini is Pickering High’s face of football, yet he would never say it. A very humble man, Martini always got the best out of his students and it was because of the example that he set. The former line-backer has coached Pickering High School’s football team for decades and the teams that he coaches often are powerhouses.

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At Pickering High during school hours, I got the opportunity to sit down with coach Martini. He let me in on how his career steered, his fond memories as a player in the CFL, and how the CFL can be helpful to football players today that are trying to make that next step.

Q: What’s your fondest memory playing in the CFL?

Martini: It was on the Argo’s. We were facing Hamilton, my former team. I had a nice interception and I got called for roughing. The individual trying to tackle me, I hit him a little too hard, according to the referee. So that was pretty fond. Also being nominated for Rookie of the Year in 77’ so that was a big highlight as well.

Q: What’s the farthest you and your team have reached in the CFL?

Martini: We never made it to the Grey Cup. We made it to the playoffs and all that but never to the Grey Cup. Not quite as bad as the quarterback for Calgary (Kevin Glenn) that’s in the league for twelve years and never made it to the Grey Cup but yeah, it was only that one time which is kind of unfortunate.

Q: I was thinking about it and I see NFL quarterbacks all the time get signed as back-ups, triple back-ups, things like that. I’ve always thought that the CFL would be a good opportunity for those players to prove themselves and even show NFL scouts that they have the chops to play in the NFL. Thoughts?

Martini: Well, a prime example is Doug Flutie. Look at Warren Moon. So they’ve (CFL) had excellent quarterbacks and when they put their time in and if they don’t get a break down there in the states, they come down here (Canada, CFL), tryout, and stay for a year or two as long as their stats are good. So that’s a really good route rather than being a 3^rd or 4^th back-up and never seeing the field.

Q: Where did you play before the CFL?

Martini: I attended the University of Toronto back in the day when they were really strong. There were a lot of excellent players on that team and we as a team were fantastic. We always had a winning record, made it to a couple Vanier Cups, College Bowl once.

Q: Wow, sounds like a very strong team.

Martini: Yeah, we used to dominate until we played Western (university). It was always between Western and us in the end.

Q: The team (Pickering High School) has always been towards the top and some say that a coach makes a good team.

Martini: I wouldn’t take credit for that. At the high school level, I’d say it’s more of the players. At the university or college level, it’s more of the coaching that makes a great team.

Q: How have you enjoyed your post-career at Pickering High School?

Martini: I have such great fellow workers that make things so easy for me. I pretty much don’t have to do anything. I just come in and everything is ready for me (laughs). But yes, it’s very enjoyable or else I’d be retired. I should be retired but I enjoy it so much that I come in everyday with a smile on my face.

I’d like to thank Mr. Martini for his time as he will always be in my books as a legend at Pickering High School.

Wasting Pastries With No Remorse

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 23:57:00 -0500

With world hunger being a massive issue in the past decade, many would be appalled by the amount of pastries that a local Sobeys has been throwing in the garbage every night. The Westney Plaza in Ajax is home of one of three Sobeys grocery stores in the town. Many workers are students that close shop each night and they acknowledged the wasted products that Sobeys currently attributes to.

When a part-time worker who worked in the bakery was asked approximately how many pastries does she throw out when closing shop, she said around three shopping carts full of pastries are wasted. That’s twenty-one carts a week and eighty-four carts a month.

(Photographer: Mitch McClure)

Yet, they haven’t always been so wasteful. The part-time student worker (who requested to remain anonymous) claimed that it’s only been going on for about a month. Before, Sobeys would mark down the products to lower prices and sell them throughout the night and the next morning. They stopped doing this because they wanted customers to have the freshest product.

Other workers are completely oblivious of this. When asking people in different departments if they were aware of this wastefulness and if they wanted to comment on it, they were unaware that it was even happening. Most said that only managers and bakers know what happens in that department as they never knew it was even an issue.

This is something that needs awareness, as there are so many people that would cherish that food. The pastries being thrown out could feed the homeless or any other person that is in hunger. This is only one Sobeys, as there are over 1300 across Canada that could be throwing out the same amount of eatable baked goods.

Strange Ways To Sideline Yourself

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 11:56:24 -0500

For some players, it’s not producing consistently that’s their problem. It’s staying healthy consistently. So many injuries happen every week in the NBA that some of these injuries fly by the heads of NBA fans. They know who is injured, but how did it happen is something that can sometimes define a player and how clumsy they are.

Lately, there is more and more ways that these players hurt themselves and surprisingly, an abundance of these ways that they are sidelining themselves is off the court. I’m going over my five oddball injuries and you can add to it by throwing yours in the comment section or simply by tagging me on twitter and letting me know.

Honourable Mention: Amare Stoudemire loses boxing match to fire extinguisher

I’d like to see you beat a fire extinguisher in a boxing match.

5. Derrick Rose cutting an apple in bed

Don’t get confused now. It wasn’t an injury whilecutting the apple, but when he left the knife on the bed and forgot it was there; lying on it and slicing himself. Rose’s defence wasn’t always his strong suit but I still expected a little more awareness from the former MVP.

4. Gary Neal zipping a zipper

This happened less than a week ago, and I still can’t get over it. Those zippers can be tricky sometimes, I understand, but what kind of zipper was this? It must of been a nasty cut since it made the wiretap. It’s very strange because I never knew zippers could do such a thing.

3. Tony Allen showboating after the whistle

Luckily he wasn’t in the dunk contest. It’s also ironic that Jermaine O’neal is on the court and he’s not the one getting injured.

2. Greg Oden vs his couch

In case you didn’t know, Greg Oden injured himself getting off the couch.

1. Andrew Bynum gutter-ball

Bynum re-injuring himself earlier this season after bowling is number one on my odd injury list. Bowling is a sport that requires very little movement and is probably near the top of injury-free sports. Injury-prone Bynum had to change that.

Jack Taylor's 138 Point Historic Box-Score Looks Funny

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 01:22:00 -0500

Did Jack Taylor make himself a legend in college basketball? 138 points in 36 minutes is a very impressive feat. It’s the most points any collegiate player has ever scored; demolishing a record that was set 62 years ago by 25 points.

The box-score on this game looks crazy. If somebody disagrees with me, yell at me on twitter and tell me why you think this box-score is normal. I’m not going to make my readers pick through a picture of a box-score or anything, but give you the facts of it and a link for you to see for yourself. (I also skimmed through the play-by-play)

My Top Five Favorites

5. Jack Taylor missed his first five 3-point shots of game, en route to missing 44 overall. He went 27-71 from the three point line.

4. Twenty players saw the floor for Grinnell College, with Jack playing 36 minutes. Faith Baptist Bible only had 10 players suited up.

3. Tyler Betz and Eric Young of Faith Baptist Bible combined for 31 turnovers.

2. David Larson, on Faith Baptist Bible, scored a team high 70 points in the loss, on an extremely efficient 34-44 shooting from the field. He had no three’s, only two free throws made, and played all 40 minutes in this game.

1. Even with a combined 283 points for both teams, only three players were in double digits in scoring. Jack Taylor with 138, his teammate off the bench Aaron Levin with 13, and David Larson of Faith Baptist with 70.

Honorable mention: Jack Taylor dropped 58 points by half-time, which means he had 80 second half points.

You can dig through it yourself and find a lot more randomness in there if you like.

Spoelstra on Bosh: “He is our most important player"

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:32:00 -0500

Chris Bosh has taken the back seat to Lebron and Wade no doubt but that may only be for a matter of time. Bosh has been clicking from all cylinders as of late and he’s really looking like he’s playing his best basketball in a Heat uniform. Eleven games into the season, Bosh has lead the Heat in scoring four times in the first eleven games while shooting a career high 55% from the field. His efficiency has complemented the Heat as Lebron was quoted (by NBC’s probasketballtalk) showing his appreciation for the big man.

“He’s such an impact to our team, so efficient,” James said. “He gets his points so quietly, makes jumpshots, gets to the free throw line, makes things happen for our team and we all feed off of that.

Bosh is second on the Heat in scoring at 19.6 points per game which is his highest average since joining the team. Coach Erik Spoelstra also didn’t hold back his appreciation either, as he labeled Bosh as the Heats most important player.

“He is our most important player, and he’s as steady and consistent as he always has been for the last two and a half years,” Spoelstra said. “He makes it look easy and he makes it look quiet, and yet he’s so impactful in the game

Chris Bosh is on pace to making his eighth straight All-Star game. Bosh’s efficiency has been a bonus for the Heat as they’re averaging a league high 103.5 points per game. In three games with no days rest, Bosh is averaging 26 points per game on 65% shooting. In the Miami Heat’s eight wins, Bosh averages 21.4 points per game on 60% shooting while in three losses, only 15 points per game on 42% shooting.

Raptors Case Studies, Demar Derozan's Contract and Social Media

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 00:10:00 -0400

(Photo Source: Jack Boland, Toronto Sun)

Case Study 1: Derozan attacking Hollinger through twitter necissary?

Year after year, expectations have always been low for the Raptors yet the team has high hopes this season after adding some young, talented guys. Playoffs have been their goal lately as the team seems pretty confident that they can get there. Someone who doesn’t think the Raptors will make the playoffs this year is ESPN writer John Hollinger. Hollinger recently did a team-by-team preview and predicted the Raptors as the fourth worst team in the 15-man Eastern Conference with a win total of 33 wins.

This rattled a few people’s cages as Dwane Casey brought it up in a practice according to Raptorshq.com which led Demar Derozan to take his frustration with the prediction to social media.

Derozan took that 33-win prediction to heart. Being in his fourth season, Derozan has never made the playoffs and is clearly pushing for the Raptors to squeeze their way in there by any means necessary. But was this tweet necessary? The Raptors are coming off a 23 win season where they ended up in the NBA’s draft lottery for the fourth straight season which means Demar’s first year continued the dry spell and hasn’t ever snapped out of the lottery-coma. Since Chris Bosh’s departure two seasons ago, the Raptors have won a total of 44 wins and lost 104 games which is a terrible win percentage of 29%.

The Raptors aquiring some good pieces this off-season is the main reason why some are placing the Raptors in their early playoff brackets as a low seed. Aquiring Kyle Lowry for a draft pick while adding two lottery pick rookies and Landry Fields are clear upgrades over what the Raptors were using in their previous season. So does that give Demar any reasoning to become overconfident with where the Raptors are going next season to a point where he takes his frustrations to social media? As I mentioned, he has never made enough impact on this team in his three seasons to push them to the playoffs so why not just let your game do the talking.

He was also in the final year of his contract and I say was for a reason.

After a ton of talk,

Case Study 2: Demar’s untimely contract extension stuns fans and media

Demar Derozan and the Toronto Raptors have finally come to an agreement on a four year, 38 million dollar contract extention according to Eric Koreen of the National Post. He can earn up to 42 million in incentives.

Derozan’s coming off a season where his improvements were difficult to see on the stat sheet. His points and shooting percentage both dropped even with him as the primary scorer as the team’s leading scorer Andrea Bargnani was sidelined.

Fans on twitter weren’t too thrilled with this. Not only Raptors fans, but fans around the NBA were all confused at the deal.

Fans:

Media:

(Tim Chisholm- TSN)

Demar last season improved off the stat sheet and that’s something players have always had trouble getting credit for. His percentages going down can be blamed on the extra jump-shots he was taking and the fact that teams focused heavy on the 3rd year guard when Andrea Bargnani went down. Bargnani’s injury made Derozan was the main target to stop as he saw many more double teams, strong defenders, and different match-ups thrown his way.

A stat that he improved drastically since he entered the league is his free throw attempts and makes. He ranked 18th in free throw makes and 21st in attempts per game in the league last season which is an impressive stat for the 3rd year swingman. In attempts, he ranked 4th out of shooting guards behind some big names in Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, and James Harden. So even with his extra shot taking, he managed to get to the line 5.3 times per game making an extremely solid 81% of them.

A lot more criticism then compliments for the Raptors front office as now Derozans going to have to play up to his contract now that he’s in the double digits in millions. The contract will begin next season as he will finish out his contract he has going.

Sources: http://www.raptorshq.com/2012/10/25/3554400/espns-john-hollinger-predicts-33-wins-for-raptors-casey-derozan
http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/10/31/raptors-demar-derozan-agree-to-four-year-contract-extension/

Waiters Making First Start Since High School

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:51:00 -0400

Dion Waiters (left): “Screw College, when I make the big leagues, I’ll be starting on opening day.”

Scoop Jardine: “Good one bud.”

Scoop better believe it.

According to Rick Noland of the Chronicle Telegram, Dion Waiters will be in the Cavaliers starting line-up in the Cleveland Cavaliers season opener tonight against Washington, giving Waiters his first taste of being a starter since high school. Throughout the two years Waiters was in Syracuse, he did not start a single game.

Dion was drafted forth overall by Cleveland in June’s draft and it surprised most that he was picked so high. There were so many large names on the board in Thomas Robinson, Harrison Barnes, and Andre Drummond yet the Cavaliers decided grab Waiters with their high pick. He was NBA ready and could fill a hole in the shooting guard position that they needed.Taking a player who was a sixth man for two straight college years is not your typical top five pick, but it’s a little late to rant about that now.

Joining Waiters in the young starting line-up will be Irving, Alonzo Gee, Tristan Thompson, and Anderson Varejao. Waiters started four out of seven preseason games, and in all of them averaged 8.6 points, 2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists on 34% shooting.

On opening day in the Cavaliers previous season, thirty-six year old Anthony Parker was starting at the shooting guard.

Source: http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2012/10/30/cavs-dion-waiters-excited-to-open-season-in-starting-lineup/

Photo Credit: Frank Ordonez / The Post-Standard

Lin: "I wanted to play in front of MSG fans for rest of my career"

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:20:00 -0400

Jeremy Lin’s time in New York felt very short or what some would call it, “A New York Minute”. After about a two month run with the Knicks, time was up for Lin as general manager, James Dolan, decided not to match the offer sheet Houston signed Jeremy to.

Recently, Jeremy Lin spoke with GQ about his new and old teams, contract, style, life, and they basically carved his brain like a pumpkin. One interesting thing that Jeremy said was about his passion for his old team.

”I know it’s kind of silly to talk about it with only two years under my belt in the league, but going in before free agency, I was like, ‘I want to play in front of these fans for the rest of my career.’ I really did. I really wanted to play in front of the Madison Square Garden fans for the rest of my career, because they’re just unbelievable.”

With just two weeks prior to the season, there’s a time to call it a day with the old and start thinking about the new so this isn’t something Rockets fans wanted to hear. Jeremy so far during preseason is averaging 5.3 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.3 turnovers per game on just over 21% shooting.

(Source: http://www.gq.com)

Photo Credit: Bob Levey/Getty Images

Garnett no longer in contact with Ray Allen

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 18:08:00 -0400

When Ray Allen left the Celtics, there was some mixed feelings on how well Ray Allen got along with Kevin Garnett. When Ray, KG, and Pierce were brought together in 2007, the relationship between the three seemed like it was almost a perfect balance of professionalism, passion, dedication and talent.

Today is the first day of media day and four teams are taking part of it with one being the Celtics. Kevin Garnett is always a great guy to get a sound bite out of, so why not shove a microphone in his face and mention Ray Allen and see what he says. Quote from the Boston Globe:

Kevin Garnett said he has not talked to Ray Allen since signing with Heat and has no plans to.

“I don’t have Ray’s number anymore.”

So unless Ray changed his number to find a cheaper phone plan (which I doubt NBA players do very often), that almost sounds like KG hinted that he deleted Allen’s number from his contact list. This comes as a surprise to a few people while others saw the difference of personalities between Allen and KG. An example being in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals when Garnett walked to the locker-room immediately after the buzzer sounded while Ray stayed to congratulate Lebron and the Heat before heading off the court.

Ray may have found a new home but he may need to find new friends aswell.

(Photo Credit: AP Photo)

Highest paid NBA players with no All-Star appearances

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 02:27:00 -0400

There are twenty-five players in the NBA getting paid 8.7 million or more next season (contracts according to www.hoopshype.com) that have never made an All-Star game in the NBA. Some of these players are worthy of getting All-Star money and are considered to be on the borderline to making the game. Many players get paid not for their past production but their potential.

This list may not look too bad but it’s bound to get worse. Back-loaded contracts are being dished out more often so there will be players like Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin getting paid 14+ million in their final year of their contract.

Derrick Rose doesn’t even think making an All-Star game is even worthy of dancing…

ESPN Chicago took the time to ask him why Rose didn’t join his fellow Eastern Conference All-Stars in showing off a few dance moves.

“I can dance,” he said. “But there’s a time and place for that and I don’t think it was right, then and there…”

The All-Star game isn’t easy to make yet it’s not the most difficult feat in the NBA. Some players will get the nod for having a good first half of the season and some get lucky and become injury replacements. Yet these are the guys that have either gotten left out or haven’t lived up to their contract that was based on potential.

25. Ryan Anderson- $8,700,000

Ryan was just signed by the Hornets after having a great season playing off of Dwight Howard. Like Eric Gordon, he is going to have Anthony Davis to compete with for an invitation to represent their team in February so good luck to him for not only February but years to come.

24. Andris Biedrins- $9,000,000

Centers got it good in the NBA, especially Andris Beidrins. Andris earns 9 million dollars next year according to hoopshype.com, yet he shot 11% from the free throw line last year. He’s made 15 out of 65 free throws in his last three seasons.

23. Danilo Gallinari- $9,439,000

Danilo has a sweet stroke that’s a shoe-in for the three point shootout yet he’s getting paid borderline All-Star money. Danilo, who’s 6 feet & 10 inches, needs to find more efficient ways to score and raise his career FG% from 42% if he ever wants a look.

22. Andrea Bargnani- $10,000,000

Andrea has an offensive game that is borderline All-Star worthy and a defensive game that is borderline D-League worthy. With Jonas Valanciunas coming to Toronto, a help defender could take some of the heat off Bargnani whose help defence is often criticized as one of the worst in the league.

21. JaVale McGee- $10,000,000

JaVale makes a few too many questionable moves to ever be considered by fans or coaches into the All-Star game but this contract is good for a shot-blocking rebounder.

20. Richard Jefferson- $10,164,000

Surprisingly, Jefferson never made an All-Star game. He’s had some really good years with the Nets and a few solid years after but was never lucky enough to get an invitation.

19. DeAndre Jordan- $10,532,977

Jordan’s shot blocking and size got him this contract and it’s going to be a work in progress to make Jordan an All-Star anytime soon. He may need to improve his offensive skills a bit if he wants to renew the contract in the future.

18. Jose Calderon- $10,561,985

Jose is a top notch facilitator and an above average shooter yet his poor perimeter defence and average scoring skills can make him seem overpaid.

17. Corey Maggette- $10,924,138

Corey doesn’t have an All-Star appearance and I don’t expect him to make one. His best years are behind him. He has once been a 20+ point per game scorer but now isn’t as athletic as he used to be. He still uses his size and IQ to get efficient shots from both the line and the field.

16. Monta Ellis- $11,000,000

Surprisingly, Monte has never made an All-Star game even with his devastating scoring skill-set. It’s not hard to see Monte doing what he’s always done for the Warriors for the Bucks this upcoming season. He’s played small ball his whole career either beside Baron Davis or Stephen Curry so Ellis rolling with Jennings shouldn’t be any different.

15. Joakim Noah- $11,050,000

Joakim is All-Star bound just because of his hustle. Dennis Rodman is a player that is very similar to Noah in my eyes. Passionate, aggressive, smart, he’s worthy of this contract whether or not if he’s an All-Star.

14. Hedo Turkoglu- $11,815,850

Turk’s contract is pretty funny when you think about it. He had that unbelievable playoff run with the Magic helping Dwight lead them to the Finals. The Magic decided to trade for Vince Carter instead of attempting to re-sign Turk at the end of the season. Hedo would go to Toronto on a 50 million dollar deal, get fat, and go to nightclubs. The next season he was shipped to Phoenix for Leandro Barbosa. Played for half a season on Phoenix where he would end up being traded BACK to the Magic for Vince Carter.

13. Nicolas Batum- $11,950,000

Batum cashed in this summer but wasn’t just satisfied with a contract. He was also hoping to medal in the Olympics but ended up losing to Spain. At the end of the game, he was frustrated and swung straight for Juan Carlos Navarro’s Reece’s Pieces and connected.

12. Kris Humphries- $12,000,000

Humphries had a spark in his eye last year and we all know it was because Kim Kardashian broke his heart. Every player should date Kim K and get their heart crushed right before their contract year so they pull a Hump and take their anger out on the court.

11. Ben Gordon- $12,400,000

Ben was a borderline All-Star for years with the Bulls but his style of play just never fit the Pistons. He was traded to Charlotte this off-season for Corey Maggette so maybe we see similar production from Gordon that we saw in his Bulls days.

10. Kevin Martin- $12,939,675

Kevin Martin is in the West so I don’t blame any coaches or fans for not picking him. Kobe, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobli, the list goes on of great guards in his conference. Still seems like a bigger contract then you’d expect.

9. Josh Smith- $13,200,000

Josh is a guy who gets invited to more dunk competitions then he does All-Star games and it’s probably because at times he seems to treat season games like dunk contests and All-Star games. Smith was snubbed the last few seasons and will have his chance next year as Joe Johnson heads to Brooklyn leaving Smith and Horford to carry the load.

8. Nene- $13,000,000

If Nene grabbed double digit rebounds consistently then he’d be considered every year for the game. This season may be his best chance as Dwight Howard heads West leaving Bynum as his strongest match-up for the spot.

7. Andrew Bogut- $13,150,000

Bogut would probably make an All-Star game if he could stay healthy through the first half of a season. Let’s hope he will for Golden State this season or Joe Lacob will hear it again from those poor fans.

6. Emeka Okafor- $13,543,250

Centers don’t need All-Star appearances to get max contracts. Clearly that’s how GMs feel seeing that six of the top ten on this list can be considered as centers. Emeka almost looks awkward this high on this list as the talent around him is much more polished.

5. Tyson Chandler- $13,604,188

If New York has money and you’re a free agent that fits their team, you’re getting an abundance of coinage.

4. Brook Lopez- $13,668,000

Brook already plays with three former All-Stars in the same line-up as him in Gerald Wallace, Deron Williams, and Joe Johnson. With Humphries hogging all the boards, Lopez will need to get tougher in the lumberyard if he wants an invite.

3. Eric Gordon- $13,668,750

Eric Gordon did what every player wishes they can do and that’s get a fat contract after an injury plagued, contract year. It’s going to be hard to look better than Anthony Davis and get an All-Star nod over him to represent their team. Davis will likely lead this team in blocks, rebounds, double-doubles, and field goal percentage for years to come.

2. Al Jefferson- $15,000,000

Al Jefferson is arguably the best player in the league without an appearance. He’s a borderline 20 and 10 big man that isn’t a slouch on defense. Surprisingly is one of the best on Dwight.

1. Rudy Gay- $16,460,532

Rudy needs to make an All-Star game already. He’s been in the league for six seasons and now’s the time that he steps up and puts himself in position to get into the game and not the dunk contest.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

NBA players that are Hall of Fame bound

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 23:45:00 -0400

The Hall of Fame is a prestigious class to join. Some say that having an NBA championship is the ultimate accomplishment in basketball yet a birth in the HOF can be considered as the hardest achievement. There are many players that have never won the title but still made an incredible impact in basketball and were awarded a spot in the Hall.

The Hall of Fame inducted some incredible names on Friday including Reggie Miller, Ralph Sampson, Jamaal Wilkes and Don Nelson. Players, coaches, referees, analysts and anybody that contributed heavily to the game of basketball gets the nod.

There are many players in the NBA who could retire today and be considered for the Hall of Fame, yet there’s only a handful of players who could retire today and automatically be in the Hall of Fame. Here are five guys that would be devastated to hear if they didn’t make the Hall once they hung up their jerseys.

5. Dirk Nowitzki

Achievements/Awards:

-19th all-time scoring, 18th all-time free throws made, 15th all-time playoff scoring, 10th most playoff free-throws made

-Twelve combined All-NBA teams, 11x time All-Star, 9x European Player of the Year, EuroBasket MVP, FIBA World Championship MVP, 50-40-90 club, NBA MVP, 3-point shootout champion, NBA Champion

Seven footers play farther away from the basket in today’s NBA than ever before and most would credit Dirk Nowitzki for that. Dirk is far from your textbook big man as he showed that power forwards can cause incredible mismatches with above average ball handling skills, quickness, and a jumpshot. Dirk’s a true winner that has lead Dallas to twelve straight playoff appearances and counting.

4. Kevin Garnett

Achievements/Awards:

-21st all-time playoff rebounds, 19th all-time blocks, 19th all-time steals, 18th all-time scoring, 12th all-time rebounds

-14x All-Star, twelve combined All-Defensive teams, ten combined All-NBA teams, 4x rebounding leader, Defensive Player of the Year, NBA MVP, NBA Champion

Kevin Garnett is going to go down as so many different things. His passion, heart, defense and athleticism are what most fans recognize Garnett for yet the fans that have followed him his whole career are fans because of his all-around game. KG plays team basketball and puts a ton of trust in everybody wearing the same jersey as him.

3. Jason Kidd

Achievements/Awards:

-3rd all-time triple doubles , 2nd all-time steals, 2nd all-time assists, 3rd all-time in 3-pointers made

-10x All-Star, nine combined NBA All-Defensive teams, six combined All-NBA teams, co-Rookie of the Year (1995), NBA Champion

Jason Kidd is the definition of a point guard. J-Kidd didn’t specialize in any single aspect, he excelled in everything. He can pass the ball with the very best, shoot with the very best, and showed that point guards didn’t have to settle with being the smallest guy on the court. Kidd often set the tone when it came to rebounding and created a post game that is very rare to see from point guards.

2. Tim Duncan

Achievements/Awards:

-9th most regular season blocks all-time, most playoff blocks of all-time, 18th most regular season rebounds, 5th most playoff rebounds, 7th most all-time playoff scoring

-Thirteen time All-Star, thirteen combined All-Defensive Teams, thirteen combined All-NBA teams, four time NBA champion, two time MVP, Rookie of the Year (1998)

Tim Duncan’s incredibly fundamental offence often overshadowed his high I.Q on the defensive end. Many know Tim Duncan as a winner and a guy who isn’t trying to get on the highlight reel, yet Tim always knew when it was necessary to gamble which made him arguably the most efficient basketball player to ever play. Not the most athletically or physically gifted but makes up for it with I.Q through the roof.

1. Kobe Bryant

Achievements/Awards:

-5th all-time scoring leader, 4th all-time free-throws made, 5th most playoff steals, 2nd highest scoring game in NBA history, scored 40+ points in 125 games

-14x All-Star, 14 combined All-NBA Teams, 12 combined All-Defensive teams, 5x NBA Champion, 4x All-Star game MVP, 2x scoring champion, Slam Dunk Contest champion, NBA MVP

Kobe is such a icon that his Hall of Fame ceremony will probably be televised on every sports network possible. Bryant has accomplished almost everything (including a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood) and every year he seems to break another record and add something else to his long list of accomplishments. The ultimate gem that every young wing player tries to pattern their game around.

It’s not as easy as it looks.

Valanciunas learning NBA lifestyle: how to avoid drugs, scandals and bankruptcy

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 00:53:00 -0400

The NBA is a massive transition for young talent and usually is an even bigger transition for international players. Not only do they have to learn the pace of the game, how to speak to the media, and getting used to travelling but they also have to adapt to things like English and the American lifestyle.

According to Lina Motužytė on www.lrytas.lt (Lithuanian website), Jonas Valanciunas and other beginning international players like Donatas Motiejunas took an NBA training course to learn the dress code, financial tips, how to deal with media, and how to stay out of the headlines by avoiding scandals involving women, drugs, and social media.

“Emphasized that we have to think of what to write in social networks, what pictures go to great lengths to avoid scandals,” said Valanciunas.

Stories were told by guest speakers about things that have happened in the past that involved NBA players sharing the wrong information through social media and such.

“We learned a lot of things. We’ve heard some good and bad examples,” claimed Jonas.

”It is always better to learn from the mistakes of others than your own. “

Jonas is showing a ton of initiative to adapt to the lifestyle of the NBA after missing out on participating in the Summer League due to playing with Lithuania in London. It’s natural for NBA rookies to feel uneasy making the transition into the league yet Jonas claims to be ready for the challenge.

“Life has changed considerably - I will be away from the native home, I will be surrounded by other team-mates, the other language.

Yes, the excitement is, but it is overshadowed by a huge desire.

I want to go to the league, to work hard and prove that I can play basketball - laughed J. Valanciunas. - I do not think it will be difficult to settle there.

Jonas is coming off a slightly disappointing outing in the Olympics after having reduced minutes throughout the tournament due to lack of experience. His standards are still though the roof to Raptors fans after dominating the Under 19 World Championships en route to grabbing the gold and MVP award, stashing it away with his other two golds and MVPs that he received in the FIBA Euro under 18 and 16 championships.

Heat turning to scrubs for front-court help

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 01:42:26 -0400

After a long, lazy offseason, the Miami Heat finally got their wake up call when Dwight Howard was traded to Los Angeles about a month after Steve Nash jumped on board.

Steve joining the Lakers didn’t seem to pose much of a threat since Miami have some of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA but once Dwight Howard joined the crew, Miami noticed that they had to just endure their championship hangover and get cracking by adding some size.Miami is extremely talented and fast but the one weakness that they pose is their front-court depth. Miami have had work-outs with a few big men in Josh Harrellson and Chris Anderson.

According to a source familiar with the situation, Harrellson is one of several big men the Heat have recently workout out.

The Heat may be just looking to fill the roster this late in the off-season, but they definitely are hoping to find a big guy that can possibly be a key player in that tight rotation when injuries occur. Josh Harrellson is big but won’t use his size as an advantage as he likes to hang out on the perimeter offensively while the “Birdman” Chris Anderson may be a great shot-blocker but would be pretty useless on a Heat team that likes to spread out and give room for Lebron and Wade to work their way inside with.

Bosh: "The Lakers, on paper, have the best team in the league"

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 17:52:00 -0400

It’s not usual for a defending champion to not call his team the best but Chris Bosh did that on Friday by “catching his Sun-Sentenial interviewer off guard” after calling the Lakers the best team in the West and probably in the NBA “on paper”.

Bosh caught his South Florida Sun-Sentinel interviewer off guard by saying, “The Lakers, I think, right now, I mean on paper, they probably have the best team in the West and probably the league right now.

You can read this anyway you want but the most hardcore fans of the Miami Heat have to take a pill before indulging that comment. For Kobe, Dwight, and the boys in Hollywood it must seem pretty far fetched that the main team on their radar and the team that L.A had labeled on the map as “team-to-beat” would say such a thing.

Bosh made sure that fans didn’t take his comment as a sign of weakness as he put an emphasis on the fact that he implied that he only meant “on paper”.

“On paper. I’m saying on paper. But it’s a lot, a lot, it’s a long season, and the best team always isn’t the one who starts out the season as the best team.”

So Bosh didn’t really do the best job of not showing his fear and it can come back to haunt the eight-time all-star. Bosh is heavily brought up when mentioning the Lakers because of the size differential. While most now notice that Los Angeles has a massive front-court, LA fans are often pointing out the size differential that they possess over Miami as Miami in the NBA Finals were only starting one legit power forward or center and that’s Chris Bosh.

So many may look at the Lakers improved roster and say that Lebron and Wade are going to have a huge hill to climb, yet it’s really Chris Bosh who has two mountains that he need’s to protect the paint from.

(Source: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ / http://www.rotoworld.com )