Saturday, January 28, 2012

POTD 1/26/12: Blake Griffin of the Stars on Marc Gasol of the Tams

by Stephen Coston on January 27, 2012

I’m all about throwback jerseys, but the Los Angeles Stars and the Memphis Tams were both bad ideas.  It seems that the only ABA team ever to be located in LA was the Stars, so I guess the NBA wasn’t left with much of a choice there, but Memphis had the Sounds and the Pros in addition to the Tams.  Both the Sounds and the Pros wore normal-looking jerseys with matching tops and bottoms in  color schemes that wouldn’t have made spectators’ eyes bleed, yet the league went with the Tams.  I don’t get that.  In the day of the HDTV… I think I speak for all basketball fans when I say I’d rather not see Marc Gasol play in a yellow shirt and green shorts.  He looks goofy enough as it is and watching him run around in a jersey that looked like a pinnie brought back bad memories of fat kids and gym class.  For this reason I’m glad Blake put him on a poster, although his own uniform didn’t look much better.

The dunk… I dunno.  It wasn’t as bad as the jerseys, but it was only okay.  It would’ve been better had it been finished more powerfully.  Blake took off from an impressive distance but failed to make it all the way to the rim.  Anyway, decent slam.  David West on Joakim Noah has been added to the list from Wednesday’s games.  I didn’t bother to post it because it was only worth 6.5 faces.

Dunk rating on the Starbury Nastiness Scale:

7/10 Starbury Nasty Faces

2011/12 Daily Poster Stats

Throwback Poster of the Day: A young Michael Finley throws down on David Robinson…

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Chris Paul Doesn’t Like Getting Patted On the Head

by Josh Dhani on January 26, 2012

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Clearly, Chris Paul isn’t very happy with Pau Gasol. And clearly, the Los Angeles rivalry has begun between the Clippers and Lakers, as both teams are at the top of the Western Conference. After the Lakers’ 96-91 victory, it’s going to be exciting seeing these two play again.

And as for Pau Gasol and Chris Paul, it’ll be interesting when they meet again, as the two got into a scuffle last night with 1.1 seconds remaining, and the Lakers leading with a 95-91 advantage.

Here’s what happened, via ESPN Los Angeles:

…Clippers guard Chris Paul tried to grab the ball from Gasol’s hands as the two began jawing at one another. Gasol and Paul continued to talk while Lakers guard Kobe Bryant got in front of the two as Gasol walked to the free throw line.

Before Gasol stepped to the line, he smiled and put his hand on top of Paul’s head. Paul immediately shoved Gasol’s hand away and tapped Gasol on his head.

“He tried to touch the top of my head. I don’t like that,” Paul said after the game. “I got a son of my own. I don’t know if Pau got kids, but don’t touch the top of my head like I’m one of your kids. I don’t know what his intentions were, and it doesn’t matter. I don’t know if he’s got kids, but I’m not one of them.”

When Paul was asked why he tried to touch Gasol on his head, he said, “I went back and I tried to treat him like little Chris.”

“You’re a grown man,” Paul said. “I’m not going to put my hand on top of your head. They beat us, and that’s the story of the game.”

Gasol, when he was told of Paul’s reaction, said he didn’t intend to disrespect Paul by touching his head.

“I’m sorry he felt that way,” Gasol said. “I do that all the time with my teammates. It’s OK. It’s like if I touch your shoulder or your back. There’s nothing mean about it, but it is what it is.”

Bryant simply chalked up the incident to Paul’s competitiveness, which mirrors his, after a tough loss.

“Chris is chippy,” Bryant said. “I’m extremely chippy, and that DNA spreads to the rest of the team. That’s how it is.”

NBA players, don’t ever pat Chris Paul’s head.

He’s not a kid.

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Derrick Rose Will Never Forget What the Pacers Did Last Night

by Josh Dhani on January 26, 2012

http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/p/sp/ap/98/fullj.02d41ea0d1b614c36f1cf0ca268738cd/ap-201201252202793343413.jpgThe Indiana Pacers became the first time to knock off Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls on the road this season, bouncing back from an Orlando loss the other night in a 95-90 win in Chi-Town.

Rose never really talks, as he is a soft-spoken man, but came out with some intimidating words after the Bulls’ loss.

“I’ll never forget how they celebrated just from winning this game,” Rose told reporters. “I can’t wait to play them again.”

The Pacers were able to get revenge after a first-round playoff loss in five games to Chicago last season. With the win, Indiana is now two-and-a-half games back from the Central Division behind Chicago, as they stand with a 12-5 record, while the Bulls are 16-4.

The Pacers had a bit of an over-celebration in the United Center, but it is a big win for such a young team over one of the NBA’s elites.

“They are just thrilled to get the win here,” Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. “They were crushed that we didn’t beat them last year in the playoffs.”

Ronnie Brewer said he could hear the Pacers celebrate still as they went on into their locker room.

“When you’re walking off the court, you’re in the same corridor,” Brewer said on “The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “And we were walking into our locker room, and you could hear those guys celebrating, cheering, screaming, and that kind of hit home with a lot of guys on our team.

“We’re all competitors. They’re in our division. Every time we play them it’s a tough matchup. And especially in front of our fans, you don’t want to have a letdown and lose at home. To hear them do like that adds a little fuel to the fire. We talked about it after the game.”

We’ll see what happens next time, but Rose is going to have to wait a while to get revenge as the next time these two play will be on March 5th!

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Pacers Bounce Back, Beat Bulls On The Road, 95-90

by Josh Dhani on January 26, 2012

After a tough loss against the Orlando Magic, questions were surrounding if the Indiana Pacers can even bounce back or make it a contest against the returning-Derrick-Rose and the 16-3 Chicago Bulls, who have not lost at home. Just like what the Magic did to Indy, the Pacers gave the Bulls their first home loss, defeating Chi-Town 95-90.

Since their first round loss in five games in the playoffs, it’s been a while since we have seen these two rivals play. Looking to get revenge, they did just that.

“They are just thrilled to get the win here,” coach Frank Vogel said. “They were crushed that we didn’t beat them last year in the playoffs.”

Danny Granger played a solid game with 22 points and nine rebounds. Roy Hibbert also performed well in match-up, with 20 points and eight rebounds. David West also contributed, adding 14 points.

“The difference between this year’s team and last year’s team, we have confidence that we’ll score at crunch time,” Vogel said. “We’ll score in the fourth quarter. We didn’t have that last year.”

Indiana trailed 54-44 at halftime, but quickly bounced back in the second half, cruising towards the intense victory late in the game. Danny Granger took advantage of Deng not being there due to injury, as he has always struggled against him, as he made some key shots and big rebounds in the game.

Down by two points with less than two minutes to go, Derrick Rose drove down the lane but was halted. Rose then made a pass that probably blew Twitter up: he found Brian Scalabrine wide open in the corner. Sadly, Scal missed the open shot as it bounced off the back of the rim.

“Trusting my teammate,” Rose said. “I think it was a good shot. At the time I thought I didn’t have the shot and I think I made the right play. … That’s usually his shot. I’d give it to him again.”

After Scal’s miss, the ball almost went out of bounds before Joakim Noah saved it. However it, ended in Darren Collision’s hands. It just got weird here, as Collision tried wasting the time but the ball went away. Granger ended up getting it, and got a huge assist on a pass to a wide-open Hibbert that led to game-winning dunk.

“This was a big win for us,” Granger said. “Right now we expect to win. We gave them a lot of easy buckets and they kind of blew the led open in the last two minute of the first half. In the third quarter we knew we were going to make a run and we did. We turned up the defense.”

Indiana now improves to 12-5 and make the Bulls fall to 16-4, making both pretty neck-and-neck in the Central Division.

The Pacers will face the Boston Celtics next tomorrow night. Indiana has had a strong advantage over the Celtics lately, beating them pretty nicely in their past few meetings. However, Boston looks stronger now after destroying Orlando 87-56, and it doesn’t look good when the next day the Magic beat Indiana 102-83.

We’ll see what happens, but I’m hoping for another as Indiana faces off with the C’s in the Garden tomorrow.

Good win overall by the Pacers!

While you’re at it, check this insane video out with Paul George from last night’s victory.

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Pacers vs. Bulls Preview

by Josh Dhani on January 25, 2012

The Indiana Pacers are recently coming off a terrible loss to the Orlando Magic, getting bullied with a 102-83 loss, bringing the team’s first loss at home in Conseco Fieldhouse. Tonight, they are in for a tough one as they head over to Chicago to face Derrick Rose and the Bulls.

As we all know, the Bulls will be in fact without Luol Deng after he suffered an injury in the ligament of his right wrist.

After missing four games, Rose is back with a vengeance, and he showed it off in his first game back on Monday night when he tallied 22 points and eight assists in a 110-95 victory over the New Jersey Nets.

“All the games I missed I wanted to play,” Rose said. “I hate to sit out. I wanted to play knowing we’re winning and playing against all these great guards. I missed that.”

The Pacers need to watch out for Rose, as obvious. They couldn’t contain the Magic, and Howard wasn’t a huge factor as he only put up 14 points and nine rebounds, including getting blocked by Indy’s very own Lou Amundson (however, D12 did become the Magic’s all-time leading scorer that night).

The Bulls have been playing strong as a team, and they showed that off quite well when Rose was out, going 3-1 without him. With D-Rose back in the line-up, what can Indy do? Can they stop him? They are getting some help, without Deng, as mentioned, who was averaging around 20 points during Rose’s absence.

“I know it’s a bad injury and it sounds terrible, but really, I think it will fine. We’ve got a good team, and I think I’m going to be fine,” said Deng, who is hoping to avoid surgery.

“I’m just trying to get it down to a certain level where I can play again. I’m really confident in the fact that I’ll be out there, hopefully soon.”

Rip Hamilton will also be another tough guy to stop, who dished ten assists on Monday. It’s going to be a tough one, but let’s hope Indiana gets the win.

“We just have to take this loss and move on,” Paul George said after the Magic loss. “It’s a long season. We must continue to grow and help each other.”

We’ll see what happens tonight. Looks to be a good one.

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Kevin Love Signs Four-Year Extension with T-Wolves

by Josh Dhani on January 25, 2012

http://media.northlandsnewscenter.com/images/408*264/Kevin+Love.jpg

The Minnesota Timberwolves were able to get a deal done with star big man, Kevin Love, today as he agreed to a four-year extension worth about $62 million.

Love was looking for a five-year deal, but it never happened. For Timberwolves fans, they should be happy to have their big man stay as rumors swirled that he could leave this off-season. Minnesota will be able to keep Love for at least three years as the fourth year of the contract is non-guaranteed, as their is an option on it.

David Kahn did not want to offer Love the five-year deal.

“Did I want the five years? Of course,” Love said. “It was something I felt strongly about, but at the end of the day, a four-year deal is still great.”

Timberwolves are young, playoff-contending team now with the additions of Ricky Rubio and Derrick Williams. Along with that, they also have Wesley Johnson.

“I like the direction the team is headed,” Love said. “I like the youth. I like the pieces, like we’re knocking at the door and we’re close in a lot of games.”

Love is currently averaging around a 25-14 per game, and if he keeps it up, he could be the first player to accomplish just averages since Moses Malone did so in 1982.

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Danilo Gallinari Signs Extension with Nuggets

by Josh Dhani on January 25, 2012

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After such a solid career so far with the Denver Nuggets, Danilo Gallinari and the Nuggets have agreed to a four-year, $42 million extension.

The four-year pro is having a solid season so far with 17.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. The Nuggets are doing solid without a true superstar player, only trailing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference and their Northwest Division.

As you all remember, Gallinari was one of the key contributors for the New York Knicks for the past few seasons until the Carmelo Anthony blockbuster trade went down in the middle of the season last year.

Keep up the good work, Danilo! You’re doing great!

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Dallas Mavericks To Get Championship Rings Tonight

January 25, 2012

The Dallas Mavericks will take on the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight, which is the perfect time for the squad to receive their championship rings that they won last summer in the NBA Finals over the Miami Heat. J.J. Barea, who plays on the Timberwolves, and Peja Stojakovic, who is retired, will get their rings as well [...]

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POTD 1/24/12: Nothin’ But A Gee Thang

January 25, 2012

An Alonzo Gee thang, that is.  Watch the 7th letter of the alphabet take off baseline and explode for a two-handed hammer over Udonis Haslem, a fellow Florida native.  A pretty sick finish indeed, and he stuck the landing this … Continue reading →

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Nike Unveils New Platinum Uniforms for College Hoops

January 25, 2012

Today, Nike unveiled the new platinum uniforms for nine college basketball powerhouse teams. Basically, the uniforms get that touch of gray to their unis. “We feel we have the opportunity to create as much energy as they do on the football field,” said Tracy Teague, global creative director for Nike Basketball. Here’s more from ESPN: [...]

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Dwight Howard to the New York Knicks?! Good Idea? – NBA Basketball – JRSportBrief

January 25, 2012

The latest rumor involving star center Dwight Howard has him going to the New York Knicks for Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler! Would this be a good move for the Knicks or Orlando Magic? Share this:

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NBA History: Ranking The Greatest Point Forwards Of All Time

January 25, 2012

Welcome back to the “Greatest Ever’ series as i continue with the rankings of the game’s greatest point forwards to ever step on a NBA Hardwood. A point forward is a skilled, versatile player who’s got the body of a forward yet has a court vision, ability to run the offense and skills of a [...]

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Luol Deng Injured, Will Be Out For a While

January 24, 2012

After tearing a ligament in his right wrist, Chicago Bulls’ forward Luol Deng will be reportedly “out for a while.” Head coach Tom Thibodeau said his status is currently “week-to-week” and that surgery isn’t planned, but it could happen. “That’s always a possibility,” Thibodeau said. “The fact is it’s his left wrist. After consulting with [...]

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Washington Wizards Say Goodbye to Flip Saunders

January 24, 2012

With a young squad featuring John Wall, Jordan Crawford, Andray Blatche, and JaVale McGee; the Wizards looked like they would at least improve upon a rebuilding season from last year. Nope. After a league-worst 2-15 start to the season, the Washington Wizards have fired head coach Flip Saunders, who was on the third year of [...]

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POTD 1/23/12: JaJuan Johnson On Von Wafer

January 24, 2012

JaJuan Johnson has scored seven baskets in his young NBA career.  I’ve seen two of the seven, both of which were dunks… and fairly nasty ones at that.  One of the five that I haven’t seen was also a dunk,  … Continue reading →

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