Loading ...The Rip City Project: “If that wasn’t bad enough, the logo is so blah it’s unbelievable. So let me get this straight, you named the team Thunder but have absolutely no thunderbolts in the logo? Nothing even resembling a lightning strike or some sort of electric force. Instead it’s Thunder in big font with that wack OKC logo under it. I’m sorry but that OKC logo looks like a fast food restaurant logo more with each time I look at it. For some reason it reminds me of Denny’s but I know that’s just my imagination running wild. Disappointing to say the least.”
Upside and Motor: “Something completely unintentional that I’m now finding note-worthy: look at the teams in each group, particularly the retro mainstays. What do these teams have in common? Celtics, Lakers, Pistons, Bulls. If you guessed that they totalled a ridiculous amount of the league’s championships, you’d be on the money. Of course the unis may have remained in an effort to preserve that championship history…or maybe it’s just that teams like the Timberwolves and Bobcats have uniforms that good players wouldn’t be caught dead in AMIRIGHT?”
Cuzoogle: A suggestion for OKC’s new mascot
Andrew Bynum: “It’s been a while since I have had a chance to speak to all the Laker fans all over the world. Before my injury, my teammates and I had a great rhythm building for the game of basketball. Immediately following the injury I watched my team struggle a bit, and that was really difficult not being able to help them out. We then traded two of my best friends on the team, J Crid and Kwame Brown. I had mixed emotions about the trade at the time, but what we got back in the trade was an All Star with a lot of skills in Pau Gasol. He can shoot, rebound, pass, and basically do it all. He helped to right the ship and propel us into the playoffs. It turns out he is a really good guy, and I am looking forward to practicing and playing with him. We held on to our #1 spot in the West and went on to meet Boston in the Finals. That was really the most difficult situation I’ve ever had to deal with, not being there for my team and fans on the biggest stage in all of the NBA. The thing that kept me sane throughout the entire time I was out was my family and friends, fan support, and the fact that this Laker team is building for the long hall. WE WILL BE IN THE FINALS AGAIN.”
Ball in Europe: “It is all over the internet, that Ben Gordon got offered 5.5 million Euros to join a team that already looks like they could win the Euroleague. As always, CSKA is denying this. It is also said that Ben Gordon would take an European offer of at least 7 Million Euros. First off - what passport does or could Ben hold? This might be crucial to find out if his pay check can be 7 millions per season. Remember, there are restrictions in the Euroleague and in each European domestic league, how many Americans can be on the team and even on the floor. Ben´s parents are Jamaican, he was born in London, but is an American basketball player, according to Wikipedia. After all, Ben is holding a UK passport.”
20 Second Timeout: Pays tribute to Hall of Fame inductee Patrick Ewing
Wages of Wins: “The Knicks only won 23 games last season. And when we look at these moves, it’s hard to see how this team is going to improve. Fortunately for the Knicks, though, it seems hard to imagine that Knick fans are going to think that the additions of Gallinari, Duhon, and Ewing Jr. are going to transform the Knicks into a contender. The one position that seems to exemplify the drive to lower expectations is at point guard. Stephon Marbury - as noted last November - entered the 2007-08 season with a 0.107 career WP48 [Wins Produced per 48 minutes]. Average is 0.100, so Marbury has essentially been an average NBA player in his career.”
Ginger D. Richardson of The Arizona Republic: “The Phoenix Suns plan to use solar panels for power at the US Airways Center, becoming one of only a handful of professional sports teams that get a portion of their energy from renewable sources like sun or wind. The new photovoltaic system will consist of more than 1,100 panels and be installed on the fifth level of the center’s parking garage at First and Madison streets in downtown Phoenix. At 194 kilowatts, it will produce enough energy to reduce the team’s power usage by the equivalent of 26 home games each season, Suns General Manager Steve Kerr said. The system is expected to be operational next year.”
a stern warning: “This news came out today from ESPN, stating that indeed there was more than just smoke at the rookie transition program. Arthur and Chalmers were “caught in their hotel room with marijuana and women, according to several sources.” If indeed this turns out to be true, this is yet another example of where NBA players distance themselves from the ordinary man or woman in society. That’s not to say that many of us fan-faithful don’t enjoy those very same vices that these young men are alleged of being involved in. Rather, the fact that makes the ordinary Joe in the street cringe is that these guys have been presented with the opportunity to earn millions in a job that they presumably love, yet they can’t sacrifice a few pleasures of life in order to take that opportunity, whilst they are sitting right under Commissioner Stern’s nose.”
Steve Weinman of CelticsBlog: “This isn’t a debate about the merits of marijuana laws or whether the drug should be legalized. Because the fact is that right now, those statutes do exist, which means that using marijuana is against the law. When an individual is about to begin his tenure in a well-paid career and will be living a very comfortable lifestyle, breaking the law becomes an even riskier - and therefore sillier - behavior than it normally is. When an individual is at an orientation for that new job that is specifically designed to prepare him for the new lifestyle, the responsibilities that come with that and the risks of certain behaviors that can jeopardize the plush living - likely including illicit drug use and law-breaking in general - skirting the law for a momentary high goes from silly and risky to a simply dumbfounding lapse in judgment.”
Ira Winderman of The Miami Sun-Sentinel: “Marijuana apparently was present in some form. Ladies were where ladies weren’t supposed to be. You know, sort of like college. But at a symposium designed to address such NBA temptations? Uh, not the best way to start one’s pro career. The financial hit will be significant, and a suspension is likely, even with the league’s substance-abuse policy prohibiting a suspension for a first marijuana violation. What matters is that David Stern is fuming. That’s never a good omen. For months, Chalmers had come off as too good to be true. Stolen in the second round. Impressive in rookie league. Solid kid from a solid family. Mentioned as a possible starting backcourt partner by no less than Dwyane Wade. Instead, the Heat finds itself with a 22-year-old acting like a 22-year-old. Figure on the embarrassment from this incident, no matter the level of involvement, scaring the kid straight.”
Hooped Up: 5 NBA Players Who Could Play In The NFL
Adam Lauridsen of The Contra Costa Times: “No matter what the outcome, the Warriors need to reach some resolution on the matter soon. Training camp this year was already going to be filled with enough questions given Davis’ departure. A cloud hanging over Monta is another distraction the healthy — and talented — players left on the team don’t need. This training camp should be about the promise of our youth and the creativity of our coach, not a basketball themed remake of I Know What You Did Last Summer. Ellis’ body will heal — he’s a resilient basketball player in his mid-20s, not John McCain — but if he’s not careful he will inflict an injury on his reputation and the team’s chemistry that may leave the parties hobbled long after Ellis returns to his high flying ways.”
Jason Friedman of Rockets.com: Ron-Ron’s New ‘Do [Photo]
Fline Blinebury of The Houston Chronicle: “Chris Pond has coached basketball all over the globe in all sorts of different circumstances, from Argentina to Zaire, from the Ivory Coast to Taiwan. And he knew there was something special about the tall, skinny kid who walked into the gym in Nigeria back in 1980. Pond was then the head coach for the national team of the Central African Republic, whose stars — Anicet Lavodrama, Freddie Goporo and Bruno Kongawoin — would one day anchor the lineup at Houston Baptist University. It was a Monday morning while holding an informal shootaround when the gangly kid entered the gym carrying his sneakers. “You want to run with us?” Pond asked him. A 17-year-old Hakeem Olajuwon said yes and the rest is history.”
Fline Blinebury of The Houston Chronicle: “Fitch took the phone call from legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith before the 1984 draft, asking how the Rockets could possibly pass up Michael Jordan with the No. 1 pick. “I told him that the people of Houston would burn our houses down if we didn’t take Dream,” Fitch said. “And we also needed a big man who was ready to play right away. “You can look back now and ask, ‘What if?’ But I look at Dream and what he became, how hard he played, how far he went and I don’t think it was the wrong choice. “I coached (Larry) Bird in Boston and Dream in Houston and I’ll tell you this: Give me Dream and Bird and any other three guys who ever picked up a paycheck in the NBA and I’ll play anybody. Anywhere. Anytime.””
Brian Windhorst of The Akron Beacon Journal: “Everyone wanted a piece of James — for his amazing play on the court as a senior and for the swirling controversies and story lines that came with the uncharted territory. Fans crammed every public appearance across the country. National media outlets camped out at the high school. Representatives from shoe companies moved into Akron-area hotels. Competing agents came offering loads of cash. Potential business partners angled for attention by sending gifts to James and family members. James himself was in and out of court with high-powered attorneys to fight the Ohio High School Athletic Association over a suspension. For those reasons, by the end of what turned out to be a historic season, James and his Irish teammates became recluses to a certain degree, limiting access the outside world had to them. All except for a then 21-year-old student, whose work is about to open a new window into James’ life and the behind-the-scenes story of that team.”
