yo dawgz,like i told yall,after game 7 da lakers are goinna go for a threepeat. though i thought k8be and gasol should;ve become co-mvps. next yr,hopefullyu we'll get to see k8be and the lakers play against king james and whichever team he is in.current celtiocs team is done. and for all yall michael jordan fanz,uh huh,better watch your back coz here comes k8be going for his 6th nba title.after that,who knows,mayube title no.7, no.8, no.9 are coming before he retires.
Honestly embarassed to not know him Former NBA star Bol dies at 47 AFP/File – Sudanese former NBA star Manute Bol sits in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba in 2009. Bol, who spent … Sat Jun 19, 7:50 pm ET WASHINGTON (AFP) – Sudan's Manute Bol, who spent 10 seasons in the National Basketball Association, died Saturday. He was 47. Bol, who was devoted to humanitarian work in his native Africa, died at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville, where he was being treated for severe kidney trouble and a painful skin condition. Bol contracted the skin disease, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, as a reaction to kidney medication he took while in Africa. Bol played in the NBA with Washington, Golden State, Philadelphia and Miami. He led the league in blocks in 1985-86 with Washington (5.0 average per game) and in 1988-89 with Golden State (4.3).
What a way to kick start the summer season... ..the mass of humanity with the party and parade in downtown L.A...complete with tight security.. ..Lakers girls, the team, Black Mamba, Ron-Ron, the Magic Man..even the vuvuzelas got into the act.. [video=youtube;5gjvAQIGm1s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gjvAQIGm1s[/video]
the latest wordz on da street says phil jakcson is really consisdeirng hanging it up.he will go back to his montana mountain cabin this coming friday and think it over with his doctors for another week.cross your fingers lakers fans he will make his come back announcemtnt next week. also,lakers are intenrested in signing former Suns SG Raja Bell.he was injured most of last season with da warriors but if signed he will add shooting depth to the lakers bench.
Still fit to be called King James???.. The tires must be flat on the Heat bandwagon, there are so many people jumping on! ..but let's wait until the new Big 3 accomplish something. Who knew this would come out like this in the end...King James jumping ship??..No longer the Alpha-Dog in his team??.. My take on the new Big 3 in Miami: If they don't win multiple titles together, this will in the end go down as one of the biggest flops in professional sports, if not in the NBA history. Riley can put his dapper Dan back on the bench and it still won't help. You have to have co-hesiveness/chemistry among players to win, here you will only have a big possibility of clash of enormous egos. Bosh is the outsider, you can tell that already by the press conference on ESPN; at worst he will be left in the dust. Who will run the team? Lebroom or Wade?.. I can understand James' decision & move. Quite smart in his part. It's almost like an old cliche, "if you can't beat them, join them"..In a way, i don't know if it's the fault of the management for not providing James (being stingy) the players needed to win as much as James tried his best but simply can't change the fact that Cleveland will not attract the big names & be a happening place for other big time players to come. So, it was time to bail ship.. I know he wants to win a title, that's why he (along with Wade & Bosh) took the pay cut to play together. But i just think he doesn't have the will or just feel no other big name players will join him, even if he moved to N.Y. or Chicago or somewhere else and re-establishes himself.. In a way, i don't really approve Dan Gilbert's reaction by putting James down. James did stay loyal for at least 7 yrs and tried to bring the Cavs to somekind of a respectable level. At the same time, I also don't have much fond for the way James carried out his announcement, by reserving a 1 hr special on ESPN, making him sound bigger than the game. For me, with this move, James can't be considered in the same class as Kobe, Magic, Bird, Air Jordan. Those players stayed with a team from beginning til end, through hardships and good-times. And they brought glory to the franchise. Now, Lebroom's legacy will be this. Lebroom James will be playing second fiddle to Wade, the Robin to the Batman. No more the Alpha-Dog. Lebroom will no longer carry his King James mantra as he's proved that he simply doesn't have it in him to carry a team. And btw, the Heat is still Wade's team; has been, is, and will be until he retires. As for the Heat's future predicament, i think the 3 players will gel fine and win their title(s). Speaking of which, it should be quite interesting to see who will take the last shot should it come down to that situation...Wade? or Lebroom?.. ============================================ Another basketball news: The U.S. will field a different set of players for the upcoming FIBA World Championships. Most of the 2008 U.S. Olympics players have refused to play for various reasons. Should be interesting nonetheless and i think the U.S. squad can still win the Gold..
2010 FIBA World Championships..Can the U.S. reclaim the Gold medal title??.. ..coming up next, starting this weekend til September 12??.. Can the U.S. squad reclaim the title of FIBA World Champions this yr even without the same stars who brought back the Olympic Games gold?..i believe so.. http://www.nba.com/2010/news/08/24/usa-final-roster/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2 ================================================================ U.S. finalizes roster for 2010 FIBA World Championship By Official release Posted Aug 24 2010 1:26PM ATHENS, Greece (August 24, 2010) -- With one exhibition game remaining and just four days out from the tip of the FIBA World Championship for Men, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo today announced the 12 players who will represent the United States at the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Named to the 12-man 2010 USA World Championship Team were: Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets); Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks); Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers); Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves); Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder). The 2010-12 USA National Team coaching staff is led by Duke University's Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski, and features as USA assistant coaches Syracuse University's Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan and Toronto Raptors head mentor Jay Triano. "Rajon came to us and said he was going to withdraw from the team, that he had some family matters to attend to and some things to take care of before the NBA season. He did an outstanding job during our training, we appreciate the effort and commitment he made to our program and he completely has our support," said Colangelo. The USA World Championship Team will complete their exhibition tour facing Greece in Athens on Wednesday (12 noon EDT). The U.S. will then travel to Istanbul on Aug. 26 and train prior to starting the World Championship. The 12 members of the USA World Championship Team, by the end of the FIBA World Championship (Sept. 12), average out to be 24.66 years old. The roster features six players 22 years old or younger - four players who are just 21 years old (Durant, Rose, Gordon, Westbrook) and two who are 22 years old (Curry, Love). The oldest player on the USA roster is Chauncey Billups, who is 33 years old. By comparison, the 2006 team averaged 24.58 years of age; 26.16 in 2002; 27.83 (NBA lockout year) in 1998; 26.33 in 1994 and in 1990, the last team consisting of collegians, was 20.08 years old. The 2010 USA World Championship squad averages 5.0 seasons of NBA experience, with one player having one season (Curry), four players (Gordon, Love, Rose, Westbrook) possessing two seasons, one with three (Durant), one (Gay) with four, one with five (Granger), one with six (Iguodala),one with nine (Chandler), one with 11 (Odom) and one with 13 seasons (Billups). 2010 U.S. Team Finalists: Chauncey Billups G 6-3 202 Denver Nuggets Tyson Chandler C 7-1 235 Dallas Mavericks Stephen Curry G 6-3 185 Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant G 6-9 230 Oklahoma City Thunder Rudy Gay F 6-8 230 Memphis Grizzlies Eric Gordon G 6-3 222 Los Angeles Clippers Danny Granger F 6-8 228 Indiana Pacers Andre Iguodala G/F 6-6 207 Philadelphia 76ers Kevin Love F 6-10 260 Minnesota Timberwolves Lamar Odom F 6-10 230 Los Angeles Lakers Derrick Rose G 6-3 190 Chicago Bulls Russell Westbrook G 6-3 187 Oklahoma City Thunder Head Coach: Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University Assistant Coach: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse University Assistant Coach: Nate McMillan, Portland Trail Blazers Assistant Coach: Jay Triano, Toronto Raptors Team Physician: Steve Traina, Denver Nuggets Athletic Trainer: Joe Sharpe, Oklahoma City Thunder Athletic Trainer: Casey Smith, Dallas Mavericks
USA squad @ the 2010 FIBA World Championships.. crushing.. USA vs. Croatia [video=youtube;T2ri_gaNKow]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2ri_gaNKow[/video] demolishing.. USA vs. Slovenia [video=youtube;zK1zMreVh_I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK1zMreVh_I[/video] escaping.. USA vs. Brazil [video=youtube;NAdHlMpr7xw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAdHlMpr7xw[/video]
They will never learned a lesson. They will never learn that basketball is a team sport. They can't just pick any 12 guys for any tournaments, put them together for a couple months and expect to teams that play together for years.
IMO, this is part of the overall (long term) goal, which is the 2012 OG. If anything, the current team is somewhat of a scratch team and I feel this is part of the 2012 final selection process as some of these players will be part of that 2012 Olympic team. If i recall, the process of selecting the 2008 U.S. Men's team started in 2006 (with the WC in Japan). It took 2 yrs (summers) to finally filter everyone out. That 2006 U.S. WC team had some players who eventually joined in the final 2008 Olympics roster, but there were also some new ones (e.g. Mr. Bryant). I think this time, the lack of committed players from that 2008 U.S. Team (because of last minute withdrawals) forced the U.S. committee to select these players. Is it the committee's fault? Partly can be blamed on the U.S. committee, but also partly can be blamed on the players. Hopefully, after this WC, the committee can decide firmly on what they're going to go with: the current players or the 2008 players. Or most likely a combo of the 2.
Probably only Billups is committed, he's their elder statesman (he'll be even older though by 2012) and is not quite as busy as the superstars always examining their upcoming contract negotiations (salaries or endorsements).
Knock out round next.. ..a few more highlights for the U.S. squad of their group play..up next, the KO round.. Slam-dunking.. USA vs. Iran [video=youtube;rGwZWmzQAfE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGwZWmzQAfE[/video] [video=youtube;fAw9FQqUg6w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAw9FQqUg6w[/video] Shellacking.. USA vs. Tunisia [video=youtube;lG_x0BKIWPY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG_x0BKIWPY[/video] [video=youtube;55K6JWZOGRQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55K6JWZOGRQ[/video]
Not just Veterans take a pay cut in the future! Updated: September 8, 2010, 2:50 PM ET Minimum deals more fad than trend With the threat of a lockout looming, teams won't keep nabbing talent at a discount By Tom Haberstroh Special to ESPN Insider Player A is just two seasons removed from scoring 21.6 points per game for an NBA playoff team. As recently as 2009, Player B made the All-Star team and led the league in field goal percentage. And last season, Player C played over 20 minutes per game for the NBA's best regular-season team. What do these NBA vets have in common? Despite their recent successes, they each signed for the NBA veteran league minimum this summer. (And in case you haven't guessed them already, the three players are, in order, Tracy McGrady, Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas.) In the case of McGrady, the precipitous deterioration of his health and skills led to his basement deal, which is nothing new in the NBA. However, the minimum deals inked by O'Neal and Ilgauskas signal a significant ripple effect from the summer's realignment. That is, the NBA veteran minimum exception is no longer just reserved for old timers desperate for a handout. Instead, the exception now opens the door for quality veterans to join a team bound for all-time greatness, as long as they're willing to stomach the comparatively low salary -- and a hit to their ego. But what does that mean for the future?
