Nba

Today, after receiving a pair of free tickets to the Pistons/Nuggets game at the Palace, I had a few reactions. 

My first one was, “Hell Yeah! Free Pistons Tickets!” 

The second one was, “Have I seen Carmelo Anthony in person?” I had to think about it, but nope, I’ve never seen ‘Melo play. 

Continue reading "Three Year Bucket List"

Tim Donaghy, the referee who spent 15 months in a federal prison for his role in a betting scandal that rocked the NBA, is out of prison and looking to make a splash once again. 

The NBA did a phenomenal job sweeping the whole Donaghy scandal under the rug as best they could when the revelations were made public that he had ties to organized crime and that he may or may not have affected the outcomes of NBA games. 

Continue reading "An End to the Tim Donaghy Scandal (Hopefully)"

www.sporcle.com is awesome. It’s a great place to waste time.

If you’ve never heard of it, basically it is a website that gives you the topic to a list of people, places, or things, and you have a certain amount on time to guess all the answers in the list. 

Continue reading "Sporcle.com is awesome"

Officially, attendance was listed for the Los Angeles Clippers at Memphis Grizzlies game last night at 10,012.

The only way that number was over 10,000 is if you took every person in the arena, counted every person whose number was stored in their cell phone, and multiplied it by two.

Continue reading "The End of the Grizzlies? Let's Hope So."

Have you looked at the league leaders yet this season?

There are some familiar faces atop some of the big categories. Kobe leads the league in scoring. Nash leads the league in assists. Rondo leads the league in steals. 

Continue reading "New Era of NBA Bigs?"

I wrote a short blog last week about Allen Iverson being unhappy with his role in Memphis, and I predicted that by March 1st the Grizzlies would send him home.

I mean, it was obvious that it was a marriage that was doomed from the start.

Continue reading "Who is Allen Iverson?"

Last week in “Fun With Box Scores” I took a look at about ten different things that jumped out from the previous week’s box scores. 

It was the initial plan to roll out ten more fun little facts that I discovered while rummaging through the box scores this week, but I came across one box score that was so unique that I don’t feel like any other stat line from the week is worthy of being in the same post as this one. 

Continue reading "Fun With Box Scores"

LeBron James makes his only trip to Madison Square Garden tonight. 

For the past two seasons there has been plenty of talk about LeBron bolting his hometown of Cleveland for the bright lights of New York City. 

Continue reading "LeBron Makes His Only Trip to "The Garden" Tonight"

He fooled me yet again.

We’ve seen this act before. Andrew Bynum, through the first five games, is averaging over 20-10, yet again. 

It’s nothing new. For the third straight season, the young, potential stud, center for the Los Angeles Lakers has hit the ground running and has shown flashes of being an all-star caliber center in the NBA. 

Continue reading "Andrew Bynum: The Oldest 22-Year-Old in the NBA"

The NBA season is officially underway (unless you live in Chicago or Milwaukee). 

After several hours parked in front of the NBA League Pass for the past two days, it’s time for some first impressions. 

Continue reading "First Impressions"

Happy New Year!

With the new NBA season set to tip off with four games tonight, here are some of the things I’ll be watching for in tonight’s action.

Boston @ Cleveland, 7:30pm

I can’t wait to see LeBron again this season. Last year, coming off the Olympics, you could see that his focus was on improving defensively. Now, without a summer in the spotlight, I’m curious to see if he’s made any improvements to his already unreal game. Is this the year we finally see LeBron use his Karl Malone-like body to beast on people inside?

Continue reading "NBA Opening Night Quick Thoughts"

Disappointing news for NBA fans everywhere, courtesy of yahoo: 

"LOS ANGELES (AP)—Blake Griffin’s (notes) NBA debut has been pushed back indefinitely after the Los Angeles Clippers revealed late Monday night that their No. 1 overall draft pick has a broken left kneecap.

Continue reading "Disappointing First Impression of Blake Griffin"

Welcome to the Diary of an NBA Junkie.

My Name is Scott Shepherd, and I’m addicted to the NBA. 

After a few years of covering the NBA for a great website, www.sports-central.org, I’ve decided to branch out and start my own blog. 

Continue reading "Welcome to the Diary of an NBA Junkie"

What's up everybody this is Dave BruiseDude lifelong Cavaliers fan and full-time BruiseDude.  I got no problem with alot of you wanna-bees jumping on the bandwagon because of Lebron and now Sh

Continue reading "Cavs Looking good for next year..."

1.  Julius Erving:  Dr. J

2.  Dominique Wilkins:  The Human Highlight Reel

3.  George Gervin:  The Iceman

4.  Ervin Johnson:  Magic

5.  Michael Jordan:  Air Jordan

Continue reading "The 50 Best NBA Nicknames Ever"

1.  LeBron James:  Analysts and writers seem to be 50/50 on the LeBron/Kobe debate.  I pick LeBron.

2.  Kobe Bryant:  Probably one of the 10 greatest players ever.  And counting.

Continue reading "The 35 Best Basketball Players in ..."

I'm going to ignore the whole "Cavaliers not winning the Eastern Conference" thing and move on to something I find much more important.

The NBA has been using old memorable footage for their "Where will amazing happen this year?" commercials. Admittedly, these are really cool. They've taken Magic hitting the baby-hook over the Celtics, Kobe alley-ooping to Shaq, Bird with the steal and passing to DJ for the layup; memorable moments. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go here: 

Continue reading "Where Amazing Happened"

Steroids has officially gone postal.

The list of all-star players who have been revealed to be using steroids: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Andy Pettitte, Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, Alex Rodriguez, now.......MANNY RAMIREZ.

Continue reading "Manny being Manny: The Latest twist ..."

If Kobe Bryant expects to win a championship this June, he needs to trust his teammates more. If he doesn't, the Lakers will not only struggle to win the Finals, they may have trouble even getting there. Last night's loss to the Houston Rockets, putting them down 1-0 in the series, is to me, enough cause for concern. Phil Jackson needs to sit down Kobe and tell him the same thing he told Jordan: trust your teammates more.

Continue reading "Memo to Kobe: Be like Mike"

Say Swine Flu keeps spreading. Say it gets worse, like "Outbreak" worse, and the majority of people in the US get it, including LeBron James. I still don't think I could beat him one-on-one. Even if it was first to score. Or if we played "PIG." Remember when Jordan had the flu in the '88 playoffs, and he dropped 47 against the Knicks, AT the Garden??? We spectators/bloggers/sports fans seriously over-estimate the flu. If LeBron had swine flu, not only would he stuff me like a Quizno's Torpedo, he would still be able to beat the following athletes/teams:

Continue reading "LeBron could beat me with Swine Flu"

The Bulls are showing signs of their great days once again..

They have very talented guards in Rose and Gordon, They also have a veteran center finally who compliments his teammates well in Brad Miller.

Continue reading "THE BULLS!!"

I'm not a fan of the nuggets but i'm not a hater either. I call it how i see it.. Chauncey Billups has shown how important he is to a team, Detroit imploded the moment he left and the nuggets thrived.. They are all Healthy and can play fast and slow ball and have good defense.. Chris "Birdman" Anderson is a force of the bench as well..

Continue reading "Denver Nuggets look good??!!?!?"

"There's no analysis here...what happened?!" - ESPN's Steve Levy, 4/27/09

The New Orleans hornets suffered the all-time-tying worst playoff loss in NBA history yesterday, getting stomped on 121-63 by the Denver Nuggets. Don't wet yourselves, Nuggets fans. The Hornets just played THAT BAD. Here are the Top 10 Reasons why they shouldn't bother showing up for Game 5:

Continue reading "Top 10 Reasons the New Orleans Hornets ..."

The lakers knew what they had to do the moment the stepped foot on the court monday night. Knowing the CAVS already are set for round 2 the Lakers didnt want to extend their first round series cause all season it has been all about the Cavs and Lakers, Lebron vs Kobe!!! even recently there are commercials putting them up against one another for their sports drink ad. It's like it must be Cavs vs Lakers....

Continue reading "Lakers Eliminate the Jazz in 5!!! ..."

I'm a Kobe fan. Huge Kobe fan. He's practically my generation's MJ. Nothing against MJ, I just never saw him play much. I went to the United Center once, when I was seven, and all I remember is Scottie Pippen's crew-cut and cotton candy. Also, I'm from D.C., so the fact that MJ ruined the entire development and chemistry of an up-and-coming Washington Wizards team, just so he could milk a little more limelight, doesn't really sit well.

Continue reading "Why Lakers fans should worry about ..."

Anyone who saw game 2 of the Cavs/Pistons series and didn't turn it off at the end of the 3rd quarter saw the Pistons mount a vigorous comeback. At the end of 3, Cleveland led 77-50, and the game wasn't even that close.

Continue reading "Signs of Life?"

Since I'm unbelievably clever, that title not only refers to me defending his decision to bench the stars in the possibly-record-tying game last night, but it also points to his mantra as coach; defending.

Continue reading "Defending Mike Brown"

Make it 6.

I apologize for the lame title, but this website suggests that writers use descriptive words in their titles so they show up better.

But yes, LeBron James has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the sixth time this season due to his work between Monday the 9th of March and Sunday the 15th.

Continue reading "LeBron James, Player of the Week again"

It's no secret that LeBron is known as the King, and it's no secret that he is routinely found torching the Sacramento Kings. But Friday, the 13th of March, 2009, was something different.

You may have seen the boxscore (if not, click here), and it's a ho-hum 51 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 blocked shots.

Continue reading "King vs. Kings"

I'll start it off that these are just plainly predictions. My very own gut feeling and how I assume that the season will turn out to be. My opinion is influenced by current stats and my overall impression regarding the NBA teams and players.

Continue reading "PREDICTIONS for the NBA 2008-2009 SEASON"

Continue reading "Lakers will win the Championship"

Continue reading "The Association"

Last night, we lost another star to the pre-season. Antawn Jamison went down with a knee injury after playing only 4 mins. Which begs the question why do we need a pre-season anyway. Now the Washin

Continue reading "I hate Pre season"

If this trend continues then Boston fans have nothing to worry about.  With home court advantage throughout the playoffs the Celtics have the inside track to the NBA title.  I have never seen anything like this before.  Home court advantage is obviously important, it is why teams play the whole regular season and it’s why Major League Baseball puts it up for grabs every July in the All-Star game.  But I didn’t know that playing in front of your home crowd mattered this much. 

Continue reading "Looking For A Road Win"

            Yesterday I chose the Detroit Pistons to come out of the East.  It was a very difficult call between then and the Boston Celtics and I do believe the Celtics are the better team but as I said I think their energy will run out.  The Celtics played every game like it was the NBA Finals this season and like the Mavericks last year it will cost them in the playoffs.  Today I discuss the other side of the bracket and tell you how the West will be won and who will win it.

Continue reading "NBA Playoff Preview: WEST"

They are finally here.  After months of riveting basketball and a Western Conference race that went down to the last night of the season, they are here.  Of course, I would be talking about the 2008 NBA Playoffs.  The playoffs that have a chance to be the best in a long time.  When was the last time a 50-win team is an 8 seed and has basically no chance of winning their first round season?  When was the last time 2 of the best teams in the lead and 2 of the 5 teams that have a chance at winning it all, met in the first round?  Forget all of that, when was the last time people were excited to begin the 2 month stretch for the title?  Before any of this can begin we must take a look at each series and make some (gulp!!!) predictions.

Continue reading "NBA PLayoff Preview: EAST"

Very rarely does an MVP race turn out the way last year’s American League race did.  A no-brainer.  It was obvious to see that Alex Rodriguez would win and by a large margin.  Usually there are two or three candidates and you can make a case for all of them.  This years MVP race in the National Basketball Association is no different then the AL race last season though, it’s just no one sees it.  There are seven or eight people who you could make a strong case for but picking the winner is easier then people think.  That’s only if you use my way of finding the true MVP.

Continue reading "Tight NBA MVP Race? Not In My Eyes"

Apparently the Miami Heat and the Phoenix Suns have agreed on a trade that would send Shaquille O'Neal to Phoenix in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. I believe this is simply a knee-jerk reaction to the Los Angeles Lakers' acquisition of Pau Gasol (a brilliant move by L.A., by the way) and do not see how this trade can make sense from the Suns' vantage point.

Continue reading "Shaq Headed to Phoenix?"

Okay, so maybe I was a little too quick to draw conclusions in the last post.  Certainly, the win over the Bucks was much-needed and should have provided a boost to the team's psyche and morale.  However, after further investigation of the Cleveland Cavaliers' game against the New York Knicks on Wednesday, I have come to this conclusion: the team simply stinks.  But how can anyone argue with that given the results?  Giving up 63 points to the Knicks in the first half is simply inexcusable and would certainly seem to disprove coach Mike Brown's deep obsession with a defense-first attitude.  Either that or the team has stopped buying into his system, which also would not be surprising.  Sooner or later, fans might have to come to terms with the realization that the Cavs, their beloved 'Bron & Co., is one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference.

Continue reading "New York Knicks Prove Me Wrong"

This is exactly the kind of win the Cleveland Cavaliers needed to get themselves out of a terribly pesky slump.  The Cavs beat the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday in two overtimes, 104-99.  It was the kind of hard-fought game throughout that the Cavs were accustomed to winning last season, but had trouble doing so this early in the 07-08 season.

Continue reading "Cavs Win in Double Overtime Should Provide Boost"

So King James and his ailing Cavs defeat the Bucks in OT last night. I'm surprised that the Cavs needed the 2nd extra period to eek out a win... the sad thing is, whenever I see the Bucks play against the Cleveland Cavaliers I have a series of "what might have been" thoughts cascading into my head. Why? Because Michael Redd should be playing alongside LeBron. But for some reason, the Cavs couldn't make a competitive offer to the man two or three seasons ago when he was a free agent. Or maybe Redd, like so many other players, ain't tryin' to play roundball in the Mistake By The Lake! Imagine if LeBron was dishing off to Michael Redd in the corner instead of Larry Hughes? Imagine Redd leading the break off a defensive rebound outlet pass, he could dish to LeBron or take it to rack himself and bring the crowd at The Q to its feet? Those are just pipe dreams... sadly.

Continue reading "It Takes Double Time"