Wizards, Mavericks blockbuster trade
Monday, February 15th, 2010
This is the first big trade of the season.
With the 2010 NBA basketball season at the midway point, you can expect the action to pick up as teams will now start to position themselves for a prime playoff spot. Of course, teams will begin to make some changes too and with the trading deadline just around the corner, the NBA’s trading machine will be working overtime in the next few days.
But as far as the Dallas Mavericks and the Washington Wizards are concerned, they’re already making some changes. The Mavericks have just traded Josh Howard to the Wizards in exchange for Caron Butler. The impact this trade will have on each team’s season remains to be seen.
The Washington Wizards have also sent big man Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson to Dallas as part of the package. The Mavericks in return sent Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross and James Singleton as part of the deal with Josh Howard to Washington.
On paper, the Dallas Mavericks clearly had the better end of the deal and the Mavericks organization couldn’t be any happier. ”It makes us significantly better,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said.
The addition of Caron Butler will hopefully fill the spot Shawn Marion left when he was traded to Miami a couple of years ago. Brendan Haywood on the other hand will give the Mavericks that shot-blocking presence again, something the team has been lacking since losing Erick Dampier to injury.
”Caron is an established professional and an All-Star with the ability to score from anywhere on the floor,” said Donnie Nelson, the Mavericks’ president of basketball operations. ”Brendan will solidify our center position with athleticism, shot-blocking and defense. DeShawn has also shown that he can be a talented asset to this team.”
As for the Wizards, all they wanted was…
Watch Durant in the All-Star Game
Sunday, February 14th, 2010
Because he might just steal the shot this Sunday.
With the Oklahoma City Thunder surprising a lot of people this 2010 NBA basketball season, their main man, that’s Kevin Durant, is being included in the discussion for MVP honors this year. You read it, he’s right up there this year with the LeBrons, Kobes and Dwyane Wades. So how special has this guy been? Can he really take the MVP away from the more established players in the league today?
Listed at 6-foot-9 but closer to 6-11 according to those who try to defend him, Kevin Durant is doing it all for his team this season. He leads his team in scoring, rebounding and minutes (39.9). He has improved defensively while also increasing his scoring average, third best in the NBA, by four points over last season and by nine over his rookie season. His field goal percentage is up to 48.1 percent, better than last season’s 47.6 and well above the 43.0 percent he shot two years ago.
But perhaps the most impressive stat is that the Oklahoma City Thunder is posting a winning record so far. So good in fact that if the playoffs started today, the Thunder could enjoy homecourt advantage in the first round of the postseason.
Opposing players know that it is Durant’s combination of height, frame and extraordinary wingspan that makes him so rare in the game and a nightmare to defend. ”His capability of taking the ball off the dribble is very 2-guard-like, and getting to the rim,” Lamar Odom said. ”And, of course, he can get his shot over anybody. His jump shot, his step-back, it’s something you don’t really see.”
The closest comparison most make of Durant to anyone who has come through the league is silky Spurs great George Gervin and a young Tracy McGrady. Long and lean, Gervin was just 6-7 and a spry 185 pounds during his 12-year career in the 1970s and ’80s. McGrady, the player Durant said he has patterned his game after since an early age, is 6-8.
The Mavs’ head coach Rick Carlisle compared Durant’s game somewhat to that of fellow Baltimore native Reggie Lewis, who, at 6-7, 195 pounds, played on one All-Star team in a six-year career with the Celtics.
”He’s a different kind of cat. He’s taller than…”
Ready for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game?
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
We know the starters, now it’s time to find out who got snubbed and who should be there in Dallas.
Every year, the NBA’s midseason extravaganza snubs a few players who fans feel should be in the league’s annual celebration of the brightest stars in the NBA. The 2010 NBA All-Star Game in Dallas is no different.
Let’s start with this one guy who probably got snubbed from the All-Star game this year because of a mug you can’t market ANYWHERE. And in case you didn’t get that, I’m referring to Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman.
This will be the second time the Los Angeles Clippers star got snubbed for the All-Star game. For a guy who looks like a child molester, Kaman is quickly becoming one of the brightest stars in Hollywood. The guy is averaging 20.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. He is arguably having the best season of any traditional center in the West and that is why the Clippers, despite all their struggles, are still hanging on for a playoff spot.
Another guy who definitely should be in the All-Star game in Dallas is Chauncey Billups. Having the All-Star game this year without Mr. Big Shot is a travesty, to say the least. He is probably the best point guard in the Western Conference at this point of the season. Hell, he should be there starting for the West instead of Steve Nash in my opinion.
But probably because of the injury that forced him to miss eight games this season, Billups failed to get the fans’ and the coaches’ votes.
”I’m sure it played a role,” Billups said, who just recently broke his career high when he led the Denver Nuggets to a win over the Lakers in Los Angeles. ”We have the second-best record in the West. If I didn’t miss the eight games we could be vying for the best record, the first spot. If we had the best record in the league, it could be…”
Robinson returns to Slam Dunk contest
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
Because he thought defending slam dunk titles is under NBA rules.
Either that or Nate Robinson is just trying to get everybody’s attention and hype up the All-Star slam dunk contest because the annual event right smack in the middle of the 2010 NBA basketball season has already lost LeBron James
Yup, we won’t be seeing LeBron James after just almost a year ago, he referred to himself in the first, second and third person all at the same time, saying, ”Right now I’m preliminary putting my name in the 2010 contest Saturday night. LeBron James is saying in 2010, in Dallas Stadium, he will compete.”
As far as reigning champion Nate Robinson is concerned, WILL BE because, according to him, ”the champion has to go back.”
Nate Robinson said, ”The NBA, they asked me, ‘Do you want to do it?’ And at first I wasn’t sure. This is my fourth time doing it, so I know people probably get sick of seeing me dunk, but like I said, the champion’s got to go back.”
”And I guess, hopefully, I mean if I don’t win it, it’ll be good because I don’t want to go back no more. But if I do [win], and they want me to go back again, I guess so. Keep going until I lose.”
However, while Robinson believes the NBA is requiring him to defend his title, NBA spokesman Mark Broussard says otherwise. Broussard says the league is NOT requiring Robsinon to participate in the slam dunk contest for the 2010 NBA All-Star Weekend. In other words, they want LeBron and they’re sick and tired of Nate.
”He was asked to come back and defend his title, and he agreed to do so. There is not a rule saying he has to,” Broussard said.
The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement requires players to compete in All-Star Saturday events only if they have been selected as All-Stars, or chosen to compete in the Rookie-Sophomore Game.
Players voted in as All-Stars by the fans…
Nuggets take on Iverson and the 76ers
Monday, December 7th, 2009
And in case you’re wondering, Iverson will start.
After all the whining about not starting this 2009 NBA basketball season, it looks like Allen Iverson may finally get his wish because after he returned to the Philadelphia 76ers a few days ago, current 76ers head coach Eddie Jordan has already said he will start Iverson, probably because he doesn’t have anybody else left.
In case you didn’t know, yes, Allen Iverson is back where it started it all, Philadelphia, returning to the very team that drafted him to the NBA after a bitter parting back in 2006.
It’s funny that when Iverson left the 76ers, the team was at the very bottom of the Eastern Conference and on game night, he will return to the same team still at the very bottom of the East. When the Sixers traded Iverson to the Nuggets in 2006, they were 5-18 and on an 11-game losing streak. The Sixers are 5-15 and on a nine-game losing streak when Iverson returns Monday.
Will Iverson’s return to the Philadelphia 76ers be the boost the team is looking for? Maybe. At least their dwindling ticket sales will improve a bit.
Iverson practiced with the other four starters who will likely start on Monday against the Denver Nuggets, one of the three teams Iverson played for after leaving Philly in 2006. Iverson joined Samuel Dalembert, Elton Brand, Thaddeus Young and Willie Green in his first practice back with the team.
”It was like deja vu,” 76ers center Samuel Dalembert said of watching him practice.
”He made a difference already in practice,” coach Jordan said. ”His talking, his presence, being a step ahead of the play defensively.”
The 76ers hope they can say the same of the returning Iverson come game time with the injuries they’ve been having this season. Leading scorer Andre Iguodala is out with a sore ankle and is questionable for Monday’s game while Lou Williams it out indefinitely because of a broken jaw.
All these injuries equate to a miserable 5-15 start for…
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