The end of Yao Ming playing in NBA?
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Looks like Yao Ming could be out for a long time.
You read it, because there are rumors that claim that this latest injury hitting the seven-foot Chinese giant coming to the 2009 NBA basketball season is so severe that they’re calling it career-threatening.
Apparently, Yao Ming hasn’t fully recovered yet from the broken foot he suffered from during the NBA playoffs. And while the brand new season is still a few months away, Yao’s recovery is so behind schedule that they are already ruling the big guy out for the entire season, or worse, his NBA career.
‘’At this point, the injury has the potential for him missing this next season and could be career threatening,’’ team physician Tom Clanton said.
‘’One of the things we are trying to get is a consensus opinion on that, to make certain there is no option we are overlooking that would provide an earlier return or would be an option for treatment that he would prefer rather than doing additional surgery.’’
Yao Ming suffered a hairline fracture of the tarsal navicular bone of his left foot when his Houston Rockets were playing the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the NBA playoffs. The team initially ruled Yao to be out for eight to 12 weeks but they found out that he could be missing a lot more time after a bone scan revealed that the fracture is not healing properly.
This leaves the Houston Rockets with no choice but to try to salvage their campaign with what they have left for the fourth straight year. However, this time, they’ll do the salvaging even before their campaign officially begins.
Yao Ming missed 21 games back in the 2005-06 season because of an infection in his left big toe. Then he missed 32 games in the 2006-07 season because of a broken leg. During the 2007-08 season, Yao hit the injury list yet again with a stress fracture in his left foot before injuring the same foot again in last season’s playoffs.
To make matters worse, the Rockets have…
The Best Rookie of the NBA Draft is..?
Monday, June 29th, 2009
Let’s hope some of these guys will live up to the hype.
In case you didn’t know, the NBA just wrapped up the 2009 NBA Draft. And while it’s still a little bit early if any of these picks were the right one or not, we’re hoping none of ‘em will turn out to be a big joke like Milicic did.
And as far as the overall no.1 draft pick is concerned, as expected, the Los Angeles Clippers got Blake Griffin. Griffin should provide the Clippers a brighter outlook for the future. I mean, the guy’s just 20 years old for crying out loud. That gives him a lot of time to develop into an NBA star and help the franchise finally shave that losing mystique off.
Griffin could have been a top 10 pick in last year’s draft but surprisingly, he opted to return to Oklahoma for his sophomore year. Griffin is dominant in the low post and could really help the Los Angeles Clippers inside the paint. He faces constant double teams but he has learned to pass effectively out of them. He is one of the best rebounders in the country, has great athleticism, runs the floor well and he finishes strong around the basket.
Then we have Ricky Rubio, the most talked about guy in the draft. This guy made a name for himself in the 2009 Beijing Olympics Men’s Basketball Finals when he almost helped Spain beat the U.S. for the title.
Taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves as the overall no.5 pick, Ricky Rubio has good foot speed, a high basketball IQ, and great court sense. It’s like he is one step ahead of everybody else on the court. He shoots pretty well from the floor, knows how to flop, can get to the line a lot and shoots about 80 percent from it. He goes hard every time he is on the court. Has great length and quick reflexes to break up passes.
The biggest prize of the draft, LITERALLY SPEAKING, is the seven-foot-three, 267-pound tower of power, Hasheem Thabeet. The problem is, he got drafted by a team that has a knack for giving up on their big guys.
Yes, the Memphis Grizzlies took him and for a…
The 2009 NBA Draft will go like this
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
Since we all know the Lakers are the new champions, it’s time to look forward for next season.
And as far as the coming 2009 NBA Draft is concerned, the Los Angeles Clippers are the big winners of the NBA’s 25th draft lottery, moving up from the third-best chance to earn the top pick. Memphis will be second and Oklahoma City will pick third.
With the result now at hand, Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin appears to be the consensus No.1 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. Griffin, who led the nation with 30 double-doubles and 14.4 rebounds per game while also averaging a Big 12-best 22.7 points as a sophomore, might be the best option for the Los Angeles Clippers as they can dispatch the services 
of expensive power forward Zach Randolph and try the rebuilding process once again.
Sure, the Los Angeles Clippers already have a lot of forwards on their roster but if the stats say that Griffin will give them the best chance to win more games, then that’s the guy they should take. Hopefully, it won’t be a mistake like the last time they had the overall No.1 pick, wasting it on Michael Olowakandi.
As far as the other teams and their picks are concerned, read on…
For the Memphis Grizzlies, it might be Connecticut junior center Hasheem Thabeet. The 7-3 shot-blocker is viewed as a high-risk choice. Memphis was the one team that might take Thabeet instead of Griffin if Memphis was to get the No.1 pick, that’s how badly the Grizzlies need size. So it seems likely they would take Thabeet ahead of Rubio. Marc Gasol was good last year, but he’s more of an offensive player than a defensive player.
The Oklahoma Thunder will have an easy…
LeBron James to get help from Shaq?
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
The tipping point.
That is exactly where Shaquille O’Neal is at this point of his career. It seems it was only yesterday when he won three championship rings with Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, since then, he moved on to win another one in Miami before failing to do the same in Phoenix.
Now that he’s stay in Arizona is about to expire, rumor has it that the Cleveland Cavaliers are interested in having Shaq play alongside LeBron James. Sure, at 37 years old, Shaq won’t be able to lead ANY TEAM deep into the postseason, but with No.23? It might just work.
According to the rumors, the Cleveland Cavaliers are willing to trade Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic for Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal will be making $20 million next season in the final year of his contract while Wallace will make $14 million and Pavlovic $4.9 million with only $1.5 million guaranteed.
The salary exchange is close enough to make the trade between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns work.
Sure, the Suns are giving up a four-time NBA champion like Shaq but the fact of the matter is, the seven-footer is on the verge of retiring anyway and since they would end up saving $10 million in the deal, that will at least point them towards the right direction in rebuilding the franchise.
If Ben Wallace takes a buyout after he gets traded to Phoenix, the Suns would save even more money. Wallace has already hinted that he is contemplating on retirement after the Cavs, heavily favored to play for the NBA championship, lost to the Orlando Magic after six games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
It is very unlikely for Wallace to postpone…
Lakers look to take 3-1 lead over Magic
Thursday, June 11th, 2009
If they can, then we’ll probably start paying attention to those guys.
The road to the title continues in the NBA with Game 4 of the 2009 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic set to be played this Thursday in Orlando, Florida.
Last Tuesday night, the Orlando Magic made history by taking their very first win in the NBA Finals, beating the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3, 108-104. That’s right, this franchise finally won one.
You see, it wasn’t so long ago when a Magic team led by a young Shaquille O’Neal was swept by Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets. This franchise finally winning a game in the NBA Finals last Tuesday night was vindication, to say the least.
Of course, despite making history, the Los Angeles Lakers are still in front in this series, 2-1. The Orlando Magic still have a lot of work to do too, they still need to beat this Lakers team three more times to win the title, not to mention the fact that they need to win this Thursday and tie the series to give themselves a shot in this best of seven affair.
The problem is, the Lakers will come out more focused, even more determined, and a little agitated.
You see, the way the Lakers finished Game 3 should be more than enough reason for these guys to feel apprehensive. The Lakers team that finished that game wasn’t the same team that won the first two games of this series. In Game 3, the Lakers gave it away to the Magic, with Kobe Bryant missing key free throws and committing huge turnovers down the stretch that paved the way for Orlando to win it.
Maybe the Lakers took Game 3 off since they did have a commanding 2-0 lead coming into Amway Arena last Tuesday. Maybe they just needed to find out how far can the Magic take them if a win in a game as big as Game 3 was at stake. Maybe the Lakers just wanted to keep this series interesting. After all, would you still be interested if the Lakers went up 3-0 in Orlando?
One thing’s for sure though, the Lakers…
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