NBA Fights of the Year

After a tumultuous season - one in which we saw "Ben Wallace with Range" - a.k.a. Kevin Love and an NBA player (Blake Griffin) dunking on people (I'm looking at you, Timothy Mozgov), it's time for the NBA Playoffs. Before I get ahead of myself, I will do a recap of a certain sort. You've seen the top blocks/assists/steals/dunks/plays/WTF moments of the year before, so I'll do something different: the top NBA fights of the year. So, here we go!

NBA All-Stars Revealed - Eastern Edition

Tonight, on the TNT pregame show at 7 PM EST, the commentators will announce the starting lineups participating in the 60th NBA All-Star Game held on February 20, 2011 at the renowned Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. (The reserves are announced in a week)

Here are my picks for the Eastern Conference - both the starting lineup and the reserve players. Most sports writers and I agree on the starting five - but the key difference is the selection of the players coming off the bench.

Click Here for my predictions on the 2011 Western Conference Roster

I will present to you the starting lineup and my analysis of the reserve selections:

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Unusual Technical

This might be a day late, but this happened during Christmas Dayyesterday during the Boston Celtics - Orlando Magic game:



You don't see that type of a Technical Foul every day, you know. Like commentator and ex-Grizzlies head coach Hubie Brown said during the game, I have always known this minor rule, but NEVER have seen it in action prior to yesterday. Dwight Howard should have known better. But it's unlikely that he would have made the free throw.

A Buzzer-Beater Wednesday

First came the Raymond Felton (point guard for the New York Knicks) shot right before the halftime buzzer:




Then, came the Paul Pierce (small forward for the Boston Celtics) step-back shot and the ensuing buzzer-beater by Amar'e Stoudemire (power forward for the Knicks):




If you saw the above highlight, the Stoudemire shot came after the buzzer - so, Celtics won their tenth straight game

And, finally, saving the best for last:




Yup, that was Manu Ginobili (small forward for the San Antonio Spurs) that shot the game-winning basket at the buzzer.

Fun Factoid: The Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers are the ONLY teams to use the same starting lineup every game this season.

Where's the Love?

I just saw the box score between the New York Knicks and the Minnesota Timberwolves - and this jumped right at me:

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Rondo's 24 Dimes : : AND a Triple-Double!

Just watch the video!

From Haynesworth to Injury Central

As you all may know, today is by birthday! I'm happy to become a full-fleged adult for the first time as I head to college next year.
Today's post will cover various sports clippings, such as Tennessee Titans DT Albert Haynesworth's supposed monsterous deal to the numerous and some devastating injuries in the NBA.

Here's a nice tune to Happy Birthday that I made up regarding Haynesworth's deal:

Albert Haynesworth will be rich
Albert Haynesworth will be rich
Danny boy is giving away 100 million
Albert Haynesworth will be rich

------------->

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I have quite a bit to say if Redskins owner Daniel Snyder plays Haynesworth. One is that he is coming off a contract year. Typically, players in any major sport (NFL, MLB or NBA) play their best if their season is their last on their contract. That is exactly what Haynesworth did. Also, Snyder is willing to pay $100 million - that's Agent Zero money there! - for one player. Unlike the 2008 Ravens/Dolphins franchises, who built their teams by buying ultiple players off the free-agent market and used the draft to their advantage, Snyder is willing to ONLY pay Haynesworth, less than three other free-agent signees and their four draft picks, of which I presume one of them will be cut. I guess Snyder is going back to his old ways again. Unless the Redskins cut many of their offensive linemen/defense that is 30+ yrs of age, they will still be a mediocre franchise.

Hopefully, Haynesworth won't do this again, since he now sees OL Andre Gurode twise a year now...

Now, to injury central in the NBA. Almost every team has suffered some sort of devastating injury, with multiple mediocre teams (i.e. Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Clippers) getting hit with the injury plague the worst. Here's a list of NBA teams that have dealt with major injuries (major injuries referring to star players getting injured for multiple (3+) games):

Washington Wizards: PG Gilbert Arenas
Charlotte Bobcats: SF Gerald Wallace (Now healthy)
Orlando Magic: PG Jameer Nelson
(B/c of this, ended up trading for Skip to my Lou PG Rafer Alston
Boston Celtics: PF Kevin Garnett
Philadelphia 76ers: PF Elton Brand (Although he was a hinderance rather than a help)
Toronto Raptors: PG Jose Calderon and PF Chris Bosh (Now healthy) and ex-Raptor PF Jermaine O'Neal (now with Miami Heat)
Cleveland Cavaliers: C Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Now healthy), SG Delonte West
Milwaukee Bucks: SG Michael Redd, PG Luke Rindour, C Andrew Bogut and MASCOT Bango (all out for season)


(You can see Bango limping after being hit in the groin. OUCH!)

Indiana Pacers: PF Mike Dunleavy, PG T.J. Ford
Denver Nuggets: PF Nene
Portland Trail Blazers: Oft-injured center Greg Oden (He'll NEVER play a full 82-game season)
Utah Jazz: SF Andre Kirilinko (a.k.a AK-47), PF Paul Millsap (Now healthy), PF Carlos Boozer (Now healthy) and PG Deron Williams (Now healthy)
Minnesota Timberwolves: C Al Jefferson
Los Angeles Lakers: C Andrew Bynum
Phoenix Suns: C/PF Amare Stoudemire
Golden State Warriors: C Andres Bientrins
Los Angeles Clippers: PG Baron Davis (Now healthy), PF Zach Randolph (Now healthy) and C Marcus Camby
Sacramento Kings: SG Kevin Martin (Now healthy)
San Antonio Spurs: SG Manu Ginobili
Houston Rockets: C Yao Ming (Now healthy), SF Ron Artest (Now healthy) and SG Tracy McGrady
New Orleans Hornets: C Tyson Chandler
Dallas Mavericks: SG Jason Terry and SG Jerry Stackhouse (Now healthy)

That is more than 66% of all NBA teams, and 81.25% of ALL current playoff teams. OUCH!

Now, for my Video of the Day:
It's of LeBron James' 55-point outburst against the injury-depleted Bucks. He was shooting three's from near halfcourt, like 40 feet away from the basket!

All-Star Awesomeness!

It's All-Star weekend, and I'm ready for the festivities! But before I go into my top events, there is other NBA news that tops this weekend's headlines.

The Marion trade finally went through! After two dismal seasons in Miami, where he was out-of-place, he goes to Canada and be part of the newest Big Three - The Matrix with Calderon and Bosh. It's similar to the trio back in Phoenix from the 2005 season, where Marion was with another premier point guard (Steve Nash) and power forward (Amare Stoudemire). Maybe that's what Toronto Raptors' GM Bryan Colangelo was thinking. After three months of waiting, the trade finally took form.

Now, back to my post on the All-Star Outlook. I'm gonna be missing the celebrity all-star game (i mean, who watches that AWFUL game???) but ill watch part of tonight's Rookie vs. Sophomore Challenge.



This will be an exciting event to watch. I got a chance to see the rosters and there was something that stood out to me: Dwayne Wade (Rookie Assistant) and Dwight Howard (Sophomore Assistant) are the coaches! How's that for entertainment purposes? Other notables to look at:

* Kevin Durant (Sophomore) vs. his teammates, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook (Rookies)

* Likewise, Eric Gordon (Rookie) vs. Al Thornton (Sophomore)

* Marc Gasol and Rudy Fernandez reunite (They were both on Spain's roster during the '08 Olympics)

Last year's contest was exciting as well. LeBron James' former sidekick, Daniel "Boobie" Gibson, hit 11 - That's right, ELEVEN - three-pointers as a rookie in 2008. He wan't invited this year. b/c LBJ's current sidekick - veteran Mo Williams takes his place in the All-Star festivities.



But these lineups - in 2008 and this year - do not match up with what could be the greatest Rookie Challenge lineup this decade. There was LBJ, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Josh Howard on the Rookie side - and Carlos Boozer (Who used to be LBJ's teammate once upon a time), Manu Ginobili, Nene, and Amare Stoudemire on the Sophomore's side.

Now to Saturday night.

The H-O-R-S-E challenge seems like a dud, since there are two shoot-first guards - Joe Johnson and Kevin Durant - versus a point guard/shot-maker in rookie O.J. Mayo. Like most NBA fans, we were all expecting a contest with LeBron, Wade and Kobe Bryant. Oh well. Let's see how this turns out. Only problem is that, when does the contest occur? I know that it's prior to the main events tomorrow, but at what time? I saw that it could occur at around 5:30, but I thought it will be at 7-ish. I should wait and see.

Maybe this guy should have been invited:



Next comes the Shooting Stars contest, where an NBA legend, a WNBA player and a current NBA player take part in a shooting contest against trios from other cities.



Last year's trio of Tim Duncan, the Admiral - David Robinson - and Becky Hammon are the defending champs, and i bet there will be a repeat. For one, the other teams - Detroit, LA and Phoenix - all have coaches as ex-NBA players. The Admiral is still in shape and could aid his group in yet another win.


Then there is the Playstation Skills Challenge. This year, the competitors are: Nets' PG Devin Harris, Spurs' PG Tony Parker, Bulls' rookie Derrick Rose, and Cavs' Mo Williams (Replacing Magic PG Jameer Nelson). There will be a new champion this year, since last year's champ, Jazz PG Deron Williams was not invited. Speaking of Williams, he set a record during the championship of the Challenge last year.

Here, take a look:



I hope there's a new record this year!


Fourth on the Saturday All-Star event list is the Three-Point Contest. Raptors' guard Jason Kapono is the two-time-defending champ, and looks to reclaim the crown for the third straight year. He doesn't seem to have a challenger, unlike previous years. (Spurs' guard and ex-Wizard Roger Mason could be the dark horse tomorrow night) But what shocks me was that Celtics' SG Eddie House was NOT invited and Heat guard Daequan Cook WAS invited. In one game this year, House hit a career-high EIGHT three-pointers. In SIX games this year, Cook failed to make a three-pointer, his season-high is 6 makes in a game, and his 3-point-percentage is 41.1%. House, on the other hand, has a percentage of 42.1%. EDGE, House.



I find it a travesty not to include House but include Cook in the contest.

Lastly, the dunk contest - the BEST part of the Friday and Saturday events. There's defending champ, Magic center Dwight Howard, injury replacement and former dunk participant J.R. Smith , former dunk champion ('06) lil' Nate Robinson, and rookie and not-so-great dunker Rudy Fernandez. Howard has said that he has something up his sleeve, so we'll have to wait and see.

Here's Smith's video of his last contest performance in '05:



Now, here's Robinson's victory from 2006:



Lastly, it's Superman!



To conclude, here's my Video of the Day. Since I'm in an All-Star mood, here's a clip of the BEST dunks by one player in a dunk contest. (It's in two parts)

Enjoy!

Part 1:



Part 2:

The Garden is on Fire!

Wow. What to say! After Kobe's 61-point performance on Monday and LeBron's 50 + triple-double last night, I wonder what the Knicks are in for when the Celtics come to town. Could there be two triple-doubles today - one by Rondo and one by Kevin Garnett or Paul Pierce? As KG said in the last game of the '08 NBA Finals, "Anything is Possible!"



LeBron's output was statistically unbelievable - the kind of unbelieveable that Wilt Chamberlain puts on his opponents almost daily during his professional career. A triple-double is amazing. But having not only a triple-double but ALSO 50 POINTS is out-of-this-world.

Here's his performance last night:



Even in fantasy standards, he had a monster game. Typically, elite players, such as LeBron, average about 35 fantasy points per game (using cbssports fantasy statistics). That output is about as musch as a triple-double. Yesterday he had 84 fantasy points. EIGHTY FOUR POINTS! Unbelievable!

Let's see what the Big 4 - Rajon Rondo, KG, Pierce and Ray Allen - can produce today against the defense-depleted Knicks.



The sky is the limit, Boston!

Now, to conclude today's post, I have today's Daily Video. It is of the original NBA on NBC theme, Roundball Rock, by John Tesh.

Enjoy!