Linkage - Feb 15
In case you hadn’t heard Dirk Nowitzki is replacing Kobe Bryant in the three-point shoot-out. I still have Kapono as an even-money favourite to win, but Nowitzki is defnitely a bigger threat than Kobe was.
Nike and Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash are releasing a new basketball shoe made with manufacturing scraps, called the Nike Trash Talk shoe.
The shoe is modeled after Nash’s current shoe but uses different materials. That includes pieced-together scraps of leather and synthetic leather waste from the factory floor and a sole made up of special materials including ground-up rubber from a shoe recycling program.
Suddenly the NBA is alive, and kicking like a mule. And nobody knows what will happen next.
"The Lakers," said Toronto Raptors guard Darrick Martin, when asked who would win the West.
"The Spurs," said Rasho Nesterovic, shaking his head at Martin.
"I dunno," said Jose Calderon, genuinely stumped. "Phoenix?"
"Maybe Phoenix," conceded Nesterovic. "It’s incredible out there."
For the second-straight year, the NBA has rejected Dwight Howard’s request to raise the rim to 12 feet during the annual dunk contest, ESPN.com reports. Memphis Grizzlies forward Rudy Gay, another contestant, said he would match Howard’s dunk on the 12-foot net while Minnesota’s Gerald Green is willing to raise the rim to 13
For Bosh, there is plenty of work ahead as he continues to deal with the constant double-teaming thrown at him by teams trying to get the ball out of his hands.
If there’s one area Bosh needs to improve it’s his ability to pass out of double-teams.
While improving, he hasn’t figured out when teams come with an extra defender from different angles.
The Spanish sensation has been lights out with his stroke, continues to protect the basketball, but has developed a much-needed swagger that will serve Calderon well as he evolves as a point guard.
"It’s too bad he missed out on the all-star game,” Bosh said. "I think he was overlooked.
"He’s giving us a lot right now and he just has to continue working, playing with confidence. We’re going to go as he goes."
In his past two games, Calderon has averaged 24.5 points and shot a sizzling .724 from the field.
"I went to some teams, man, when I got there, they were like, `We’ll pay you $400 a week.’ And they couldn’t even pay you $400 a week," Moon was saying the other day. "The owner would call you, `The money will be here next Friday, so if you would, would you just stay and play until next Friday, because we promise the money will be there.’ The money was never there. Never. There’s so many teams I had to leave for financial reasons, man.
"That’s why I don’t understand why people complain in the NBA. People complain like they’re not making enough money. Come on, man. If they just went through a month in the minor leagues …"
Indeed, a little more than four months ago, before the 6-foot-8 forward was offered a spot on the Raptors’ training camp roster, made the team and worked his way into the starting lineup, where he currently resides, he was buying his own sneakers, living on, by his estimation, "pennies." Now he’s still earning a relative pittance in a league in which the average salary is more than $5 million. But the approximately $450,000 he’ll make in salary this season – in addition to the $106-a-day meal allowance every NBA player receives on the road, not to mention his cut of the slam-dunk contest prize money – adds up to far more money than he’s ever seen. Perhaps to celebrate, he recently purchased a new wardrobe: a dozen suits, with shirts and ties to match.
"Everything’s custom," he said with a smile, showing off a sharp blue pinstripe number recently, "except for the socks."
Meanwhile, the Toronto Raptors are experiencing double-digit increases even though the team’s record is no better than it was at this time last year.
We’re talking some pretty impressive increases here: up 51 per cent on Sportsnet (165,000 average), 28 per cent on The Score (120,000) and 6 per cent on TSN (158,000). And though the accuracy of digital ratings is somewhat suspect, Raptors NBA TV has seen its average audiences (68,000) almost triple.
Overall, ratings are up 34 per cent, marking the second successive season of double-digit increases.
No matter how you read the entrails, some of that Raptors growth has to be at the expense of the Leafs. After all, those abandoning the Blue and White are more likely to move to a local basketball team than poker.
Stack going out and telling anyone who’d listen that he was going to be traded, bought out and be back in Dallas in a month reeks of a pre-arranged side deal and that’s a no-no to the league office.
And other GMs are up in arms ’cause it really does violate the spirit, if not the wording, of the collective bargaining agreement. Stack’s going to be reprimanded and there are those among us who think it might turn out the league won’t let him do what he wants to do and that’ll throw the whole deal out the window.
Never seen billboards as big as the 30-storey ones for Charles Barkley and Dwyane Wade and their phone shenanigans. For a retired dude, Chuck’s everywhere. And every picture they have of Chris Bosh seems to be about two years old. There’s one adorning the entrance to a store that looks like it’s from 2006.
Moon, who scored a career-high 17 points in a 99-95 loss at Philadelphia on January 19, has averaged 8.2 points and 6.1 rebounds in 43 games.
He also ranks amongst the rookie leaders in steals, rebounds and minutes. He was named Rookie of the Month for January along with Seattle SuperSonics swingman Kevin Durant.
"It’s hard to get such awards in this league," Moon said. "So, I’m going to try and continue to work hard and do what I’ve been doing to help my team get some wins and then maybe I’ll come away with another Rookie of the Month.
"As long as we are winning games, I’ll be satisfied."
"I know he is going to have a good time," teammate and All-Star reserve Chris Bosh said. "It’s really going to be an experience for him from the D-League, to the Globetrotters, to the CBA and now All-Star Weekend. I’m really happy for him."
As a result of his travels, basketball fans in Arkansas, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Spain know about Moon. If he can pull off the upset and win the dunk contest, that list will continue to grow.
"This is a chance for him to make an instant name for himself," Bosh said. "If he is able to win the dunk contest, people everywhere will know him by first name wherever he goes."
Olajuwon is expected to be on a list of finalists for the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2008 when it is announced today at a ceremony that is part of All-Star Weekend. Likely joining him on the list of finalists will be former collegiate and pro rival Patrick Ewing, along with ex-stars Adrian Dantley, Chris Mullin and Dennis Johnson, along with and longtime NBA coaches Pat Riley and Don Nelson.
Olajuwon was traded to Toronto on Aug. 2, 2001, played one season for the Raptors, and officially retired in 2003. He averaged 21.8 points and 11.1 rebounds and finished as the NBA’s all-time leader in blocked shots with 3,830. In leading the Rockets to the NBA title in 1994, he became the only player in history to win Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year and NBA Finals MVP in the same season.
5. TORONTO RAPTORS - Chris Bosh, who leads Toronto in scoring (22.5 ppg) and rebounding (9.2 rpg), is having another excellent season for the defending Atlantic Division champions. Toronto is a fun team to watch, and a healthy T.J Ford makes the Raptors a dangerous opponent, but the team is just not in the same class as Boston or Detroit.
"This dunk contest is going to be very interesting because they’re all high-flyers," Gomes sums up. "They all have different styles too. I think Rudy can do a lot more in the air, Moon—just by watching the dunks he’s had—looks like he can take off from distance, Gerald can get up off two very high and make dunks. Dwight Howard is the odd-ball out of it, but for him to come back I think he might have something up his sleeve."
Unless you’re into NBA Basketball, the names Gerald Green and Jamario Moon sound as familiar as your local bus driver. But these yeoman dunkers will be creating history on Saturday night if there hype is even close to what they’ll do. Dwight Howard is the center for the Orlando Magic. Jamario Moon is a forward for the Toronto Raptors.
Jose Calderon is THAT good … as a ’spectacularly efficient’ PG who:
I) Gets his teammates the ball ’when & where’ they need it to succeed;
II) Has an exceptionally high Basketball IQ;
III) Plays the game with tremendous Passion & Poise;
IV) Is ‘big enough’, ‘quick enough’ & ’strong enough’ to defend multiple positions on the floor, in a defensive ’switch’ or ’designated rotation’ situations;
V) Is a solid rebounder;
VI) Is improving his shooting stroke (i.e. Pull-up J, Catch & Shoot, 3FGA’s & FT’s) every year;
VII) Is a terrific finisher of layups at the rim, with either hand;
VIII) Is a well-conditioned athlete;
IX) Is a consumate professional (& a 1st Class teammate); and,
X) At 26 years of age, has already captured one World Championship (2006) with his native Spain.
Q3. Name the Point Guards in the history of the NBA to shoot …
+50.0% on FGA’s
+45.0% on 3FGA’s
+90.0% on FTA’s
with an Assist : Ratio of +5 to 1
while Averaging 31.9 MP
for an entire season?
A3. Prior to this season … there has NEVER (ever) been one!
Leave a Reply