Note to KG: Defensive Players of the Year Should Actually Jump to Contest a Dunk
May 14, 2008
Filed under: Celtics, Cavaliers, NBA Playoffs, NBA Videos
“LeBron James, with no regard for human life!” Kevin Harlan is fantastic. I’m not sure why KG didn’t really attempt to contest this dunk, especially considering this year’s Defensive Player of the Year only had one foul the entire game. Maybe he thought the game was over, and maybe he didn’t want to get really embarrassed by having LeBron throw it down on his head. Either way, it was a nice exclamation point for the Cavs, who are now headed back to Boston with the series all tied up at two games apiece.
Lakers: Kobe Bryant The NBA’s Iron Man
May 13, 2008
Filed under: Lakers, NBA Playoffs, NBA Videos, Jazz, Los Angeles, The Word, FanHouse TV
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded NBA Correspondent, brings his exclusive NBA reporting to FanHouse. Check back here regularly for more videos.
In this video we talk to NBA star Kobe Bryant about his back injury. Around 1:10 into the video watch how the city of Los Angeles is responding to Kobe’s MVP award.
Lakers-Jazz Game 4 Live Blog
May 12, 2008
Filed under: Lakers, NBA Live Blogging, NBA Playoffs, Jazz, Featured Stories
The Jazz got some much needed home cooking in Game 3, as players like Boozer and Okur who struggled in Los Angeles came back and led the Jazz to victory. For the Lakers to bounce back in Game 4, they’ll need less Boozer, more Gasol, and fewer turnovers.
Can they do it, and more importantly, will anyone be at the arena to watch? It is a Sunday afternoon in Utah, after all. If your religion will allow it, join me here at 330EST for all the action.
Bribed by Pizza, Ohio Forgives Papa John’s
May 11, 2008
Bribed by Pizza, Ohio Forgives Papa John’s
Filed under: Cavaliers, Wizards, Eastern, NBA Fans, Cleveland
Every Papa John’s franchise in Northeast Ohio sold one-topping pizzas for 23 cents yesterday to atone for the “crybaby” t-shirts given away in Washington last week. And as you’d expect, it was a complete cluster. From the Columbus Dispatch:
The offer, intended to remedy a franchisee’s insult to Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James (No. 23), resulted in closed stores, long lines and angry customers after stores became overwhelmed by the demand. Police were called to help control the crowds at some outlets.“It’s total chaos,” said Ann Marie Buswell, 33, a social worker who got her pizza at the Hudson Avenue store after waiting an hour and a half.
If you think waiting an hour and a half is bad, consider that some people waited five hours for the free pie. Five freaking hours for a pizza that usually costs $12. But mind you, these people weren’t just looking for free food; no sir, they were making a stand:
“I did it for the principle of it. The principle of it is he’s not a crybaby and Papa John’s should not have gotten into it,” Jennie Moore, 54, of University Heights, said as she waited for a pepperoni pizza.
Yes, the principle! Justice has been served! Papa John’s has learned it’s lesson! Everybody who cried about LeBron James being called a crybaby has been heard! Of course, while all these people were busy making a stand for principle, three people were arrested (one for public intox, another for disorderly conduct and one for line-jumping) and police had to patrol stores after they closed to make sure they weren’t vandalized.
And even if you were lucky enough to get a pizza, you still had to contend with trying to get it home:
One customer, who bought her pie about 10 p.m., told police she had her pizza stolen as she was walking down Turney Road. She said a man started talking to her, then grabbed the pizza and ran away.The shop replaced her pizza.
While this stunt does little to restore my faith in humanity Ohio, there was some good that came of it: Papa John’s donated every penny of their 23-cent sales plus $10,000 to the LeBron James Family Foundation, a sum of nearly $40,000. That may be what James makes in a single game, but that’s not the point: it’s money to charity that otherwise wouldn’t have been donated, and that’s always a good thing.
Cavs’ Ben Wallace Doubtful for Game 3 Versus Celtics
May 10, 2008
Cavs’ Ben Wallace Doubtful for Game 3 Versus Celtics
Filed under: Celtics, Cavaliers, NBA Injuries, NBA Playoffs
You may recall Ben Wallace leaving Game 2 of the Celtics-Cavs series because of allergies. It was thought at the time that the Celtics’ ridiculous pyrotechnic display during the announcement of the starting lineups was to blame (and for all we know, it might have been), but whatever it was that caused the flare up is probably going to keep Big Ben out of Game 3.
Wallace started but played less than 4 minutes in Thursday night’s game before he became dizzy and asked to come out. He staggered to the bench and had to be assisted by his teammates before the Cavs’ training staff stepped in.
Wallace underwent a series of tests at the Cleveland Clinic on Friday. The team said the defensive stopper could be upgraded but it was “best case, 50-50″ that Wallace would play Saturday in Game 3.
If Wallace can’t go, Mike Brown is expected to start Anderson Varejao in his place. But with Big Ben out of the lineup, that will in all likelihood lead to more minutes for Joe Smith. That could be a welcome boost to the Cavaliers’ anemic offense in this series, just as long as his teammates are aware that he’s not exactly capable of handling Kevin Garnett by himself defensively.
NBA Essentials: The Lakers Are My Muse
May 9, 2008
Filed under: 76ers, Cavaliers, Pistons, Magic, Lakers
NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.
1. 710AM Radio, ESPN: Several absolutely hilarious Lakers song parodies. (via SbB)
2. Third Quarter Collapse: Excellent breakdown of the Magic’s Game 3 win, and something about a free doughnut.
3. Orlando Sentinel: Get your very own Rasheed Wallace mask!
4. Cleveland.com: How long would you wait in line for a 23-cent pizza?
5. Seattle Weekly’s Buzzer Beater: The many hairstyles of Vladimir Radmanovic (via BDL)
6. Sixers4guidos: Italian Sixers fans finally have a place to go.
Speeding Ticket Adds to Carmelo Anthony’s Legal Problems
May 8, 2008
Filed under: Nuggets, NBA Gossip, NBA Police Blotter
Carmelo Anthony’s driving woes continued this past weekend, as ‘Melo received a ticket for speeding. Anthony was said to have been going 60 in a 45 zone on Saturday afternoon, which by itself isn’t really that huge of a deal. But it certainly isn’t apt to help his case when he is arraigned on June 5th for that DUI charge he picked up a few weeks ago.
My advice to Carmelo? Use some of that $13M you earned this past season to hire yourself a driver, my man. Seriously.
[via TrueHoop]
No Go, Canada: D’Antoni Denied Permission to Speak to Raptors
May 7, 2008
No Go, Canada: D’Antoni Denied Permission to Speak to Raptors
Filed under: Raptors, Suns, NBA Gossip, Phoenix, Toronto
In news that can either be described as an anti-collusion effort or simple petty bitterness, the Globe and Mail reports that when the Suns granted Mike D’Antoni permission to speak to other teams about their head coaching positions, they had one condition. He is not allowed to speak with the Toronto Raptors.
Now, if the two teams were division rivals, this would be pretty self-explanatory. If they were conference rivals, even, I could see the inherent value. But as they play in different conferences, there are really only two options. The first is that Suns owner Robert Sarver wanted to make sure D’Antoni’s buddy and Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo didn’t benefit if he was in any way involved in D’Antoni’s decision to ride out of the desert. This is not beyond reason, considering the personal and professional relationship between the two. Likewise, it prevents D’Antoni from hooking back up with Colangelo and re-instituting the “run and gun” which the Suns have decided to abandon, and succeeding with it where the Suns failed, however unlikely that may be. Better to just nip the possibility in the bud than to risk further embarrassment and attention to how quickly the Suns disintegrated when Sarver hired Steve Kerr.
But there’s a more likely reason, after the jump.
The more likely option, though, sadly, is good ol’ fashioned, plain bitterness. It’s no secret that Colangelo’s departure from Phoenix wasn’t under the best terms, and that Sarver and Colangelo never really got along. Colangelo is the Sun of longtime Suns owner Jerry Colangelo, and the team was long considered a family business. After Colangelo’s departure to Toronto, it seems that this move has probably been made just to keep Colangelo from reuniting with D’Antoni in an effort to deny both parties an agreeable ending to this whole fiasco.
It’s more than a little startling how fast things can erode in the NBA. Just two and a half years ago the Suns were the toast of the NBA, a title favorite, and the most exciting team in the NBA. They had young players with talent, the Hawks’ draft pick as long as it wasn’t lottery protected and a future that surely included titles. Now they feature a staggering amount of cap space devoured by aging players who were unable to overcome the Spurs, and their wunderkind GM is in Toronto figuring out how much he can get for TJ Ford. And the Suns are putting restrictions on the coach that got them to this point to limit his ability to join that GM. Funny how things work out.
Blane Harrington > The LeBrons
May 6, 2008
Filed under: Raptors, Eastern, NBA Videos, Toronto
If Gilbert Arenas is the undisputed king of athlete bloggers, Chris Bosh is similarly the sporting world’s master of the YouTubes. After making his debut with an awesomely awkward plea for All-Star votes, he followed up by revealing his alter ego, Blane Harrington. And now, Harrington returns:
My favorite character? Bosh as the chef (45 seconds in), though the cable guy (1:27) gets bonus points for the wig and fake stomach. Sure, it might look like a low budget version of The LeBrons, but before you accuse Bosh of copying LBJ realize they’re both clearly inspired by each other Eddie Murphy motion picture. Besides, I think the lack of polish (and commercialism) actually makes it superior.
Behind The Scenes of The Lakers/Jazz Series: Kobe Takes Care of Teammates.
May 5, 2008
Behind The Scenes of The Lakers/Jazz Series: Kobe Takes Care of Teammates.
Filed under: Lakers, NBA Playoffs, NBA Videos, Jazz, Los Angeles, The Word, FanHouse TV
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded NBA Correspondent, brings his exclusive NBA reporting to FanHouse. Check back here regularly for more videos.
In this video, we find out why NBA Star Kobe Bryant is getting MVP chants from his Lakers teammates. Around 2:30 into the video we catch up with coach Phil Jackson who tells us about the intensity of round two.
AOL Video link. Youtube link.
