Hoops week in Review

What an amazing week in basketball last week including the past couple of days. From the fight in Cincinnati, all the way to the Los Angeles Clippers becoming a factor in basketball what an interesting past few days. Let's review the good and the bad this past week you decide which is which:

• Xavier-Cincinnati Fight: This was much bigger than the game and unfortunately the personal beef between certain players escalated on the court with nine seconds left in the game. Supposedly something was said on Twitter which upset-ted several Xavier players.Therefore they decided to go street. Sad sad moment in sports you can't let what bothers you on the inside escalate on the court. Since these are still kids, hopefully they'll learn from this unfortunate teachable moment. Grow up to become honorable men not goons from the street. Both teams are pretty good this year.

• Kentucky-Indiana: This was the game Tom Cream needed to get his program in the right direction. A moral victory was not acceptable. This was the victory his program needed. The up-n-coming Hoosiers defeated the lottery bound Wildcats with a buzzer beater which was AMAZING!!!! Potential #1 pick Anthony Davis remained in foul trouble (he has a lot to learn) but Marquis Teague showed glimpse of promise as he dominated the game in the later part of the second half. Great game for the Hoosiers but the Cats are still Final 4 bound.

• David Stern denies Lakers Chris Paul: Last Friday the Lakers were gearing up for CP3 & Dwight Howard and even pulled the trade for CP3 for Pau Gasol but nooooooooo!!!!! David Stern refused to let the rich get richer which was wrong, and don't be surprised if Kobe Bryant doesn't request a trade after losing Lamar Odom for nothing along with Shannon Brown signing with Phoenix. 

• Meanwhile Chris Paul to the Clippers: Even though the "other" team in LA landed the future Hall-of-Fame point guard from New Orleans, this truly upset Black Mamba and the rest of the NBA Players. What David Stern did was unbelievable and nobody has a valid reason for him blocking the trade. Blake Griffin was as happy as a new kid in Toys R Us. The Clippers also landed Chauncey Billups, Caron Butler, and resigned DeAndre Jordan. The key to all this was making sure Blake stays for the future. The Clippers might be better than the Lakers this year WOW!!!!!

• Syracuse the new #1: Everything that's going on with the Orangemen nobody is talking about the 'Cuse being the nation's top team. I haven't watched the 'Cuse yet but we'll see how long their reign as the nations top team last. 

• Simeon is the nation's top prep team: The house the produced Derrick Rose, Nick Anderson, and most importantly Benji Wilson is still the #1 team in the land and has the top rated junior in the country JaBari Parker who has NBA written all over him. 

Basketball is Back!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome back NBA!!!!!!! Christmas time is coming and so is the NBA. The opening game of the 66 game NBA season is between the Chicago Bulls lead by the reigning MVP Derrick Rose facing The Los Angeles Lakers with Kobe Bryant and new coach Mike Brown. The NBA Finals rematch between the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks where they receive their rings also take place. Overall there are six games on Christmas which have all the marquee stars playing on opening night. Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, and Stephen Curry also highlight the Christmas night. The NBA was smart to have their young stars open the season trying to capture the fans that strayed away during the lockout. Building back the fans trust is key. Let's hope when this new bargaining agreement expires the owners and players are at peace to avoid another lockout. 

In college hoops over the weekend the two team that I project will meet in April to cut down the nets played in Lexington, KY as Kentucky defeated North Carolina by a last second block from 2012 #1 pick Anthony Davis.  Watching that game featured at least five future 1st round NBA picks. Harrison Barnes, Anthony Davis, Marquis Teague, Kidd-Gilchrist are lottery picks and Kendall Marshall is late lottery mid-round one pick. 

NBA free agency begins this week and training camp next week looking forward to all the signings. Also My ILLINI are 8-0 and ranked in the top 25 this week. 

NBA Preseason Cancelled

With college basketball just around the corner and Euro-league in full swing, the NBA cancelled the remaining preseason schedule on Tuesday in a move that surprised nobody. Some players have made the smart career/financial choice by playing overseas which makes sense because not every NBA player has a max contract. Things got intense this week that David Stern and Dwayne got into a verbal shouting match (would have love to been a fly on the wall). Bottom line these are millionaires fighting billionaires and in the end the biggest losers, are the fans.

Well not much pro hoops to talk but I will forecast the upcoming college basketball season real soon.

The NBA....I MISS THIS GAME!!!!!

Offseason Hoops Stories

One of the NBA's motto use to be "I Love This Game" well now that we're on day 75 on the lockout the new motto should be "I Miss This Game". I admire that several marquee players pros and college stars are seeking employment in the Euroleague but I want the NBA lockout over IMMEDIATELY!!!! Since the summer leagues have come to an end and negioation are at a standstill, fans like myself will have to wait for Digger Phelps, Dick Vitale, Bobby Knight, and Steven Bardo for basketball to appear again on television. Let's take a look at some of stories this offseason/lockout:

• Turkey has become the new hot country for U.S. players to ball. Deron Williams, Demetri McCamey, Sherron Collins are playing there but DWill is the only player with the out clause once the lockout ends. Allen Iverson played there briefly last year. The competition has picked up in Turkey as well.
• Rucker Park has lost it's flavor as the best summer ball. The Drew League in LA was the most talked about league this summer have players like Brandon Jennings, Kevin Durant, John Wall, and Kobe Bryant play this summer.
• Chicago Pro Amms is now a joke. There were three leagues this summer, Marquette Park, South Suburban College, and my favorite Phoenix H.S. I never made it to the Marquette Park games this summer but I heard they were pretty intense but the few times I've attended South Suburban, it's not even a glimpse of IIT. South Suburban charges and they don't even have the marquee names to attract the crowds. Phoenix H.S. was the closet thing to IIT drawing up & coming Chicago stars like Jerome Randle, Sherron Collins, Oris Eldridge, Jermey Pargo, Royce Parren with cameo appearances by Will Bynum. No NBA players played at Phoenix and most notably, south side players did not play. All the game at Phoenix were intense (especially Sherron vs. David Bailey) with a Pro Amm like atmosphere with the crowds chanting WHAT WHAT WHAT!!!!!!!!
• Unlike 1998, players are bound together and are a lot smarter in 2011. Player President Derrick Fisher wrote a letter to the players in the League updating them on what's going on during the negotiations and wants them to remain sharp and hopefully they'll get back to work soon.
• Marquee underclassmen being smart and deciding to remain in college rather than turn pro. The 2012 NBA Draft is going to be one of the most loaded draft classes in NBA history.
• In conclusion..........I MISS THIS GAME

Kemba Walker - NBA Draft Recap Part 2

Michael Jordan selected Kemba Walker in the 2011 NBA Draft which should be competitive when training camp starts. What Walker did was put his UCONN Huskies on his back from the start of the season and led them to the NCAA Title. That winning attitude and leadership has a Jordan player written all over it. With DJ Augustine currently the starting point guard, the Final Four Most Valuable Player will contend for the starting PG spot.

Kemba Walker is a typical New York City point guard that possesses blazing speed that also comes with a lighting crossover and outstanding court vision. Like his NYC predecessors (Mark Jackson, Stephon Marbury, Rod Strickland, Kenny Anderson) Walker needs to work on his jump-shot. Scoring in college was easy but if he's not consistently hitting the uncontested jumper, he'll find his way to the bench.

Overall in the right system, Kemba will survive the NBA game with his heart to take the big shot (ask PITT Center) and does not lack leadership skills.

NBA Draft Recap - Part 1

This is a 3 part blog that I'll talk about regarding the 2011 NBA Draft

Last Thursday the annual NBA Draft took place in New Jersey and to nobody's surprise, the Cleveland Cavaliers took Kyrie Irving with the first pick. Coach Byron Scott played poker with the media but finally reveled his has when they drafted the former one & done freshmen from Duke. Why Irving was chosen first even though he only played eight games all year is simple: much like the quarterback in football, point guard is the most important position in basketball and they're an extension of the coach on the floor. Had Irving been healthy during the season, Duke easily defeats Arizona and most likely would have advanced to the Final 4 this past March.

Derrick Rose and John Wall were the previous point guards selected first overall and are the leaders on their team. With the departure of LeBron James last summer, Kyrie Irving realizes he's no Lebron but he has to put the city of Cleveland and the Cavaliers on his back. That's the cost of being drafted 1st overall. The verdict is still out if his turf toe injury is completely healed but when healthy, Irving has lighting speed, low turnover ratio, and extremely athletic. With this new team, he should not have any problem taking over the leadership (this team lost 26 consecutive games) since he hails from a winning high school & college program. Most scout are comparing him to Chris Paul but I see a more athletic Kevin Johnson in Irving. Remember KJ was a scoring PG who also dished 10 assist per game.

The only drawback I see is can the newly number one pick handle losing because he'll loose more games next season than he did in high school and college combined. 

2010-2011 Basketball Season Recap

Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks, and Connecticut Huskies for becoming newly minted champions. Enjoy the summer and good luck defending your titles next season. Now that college and pro basketball has concluded, AAU and shoe camps are heating up but let's review ten things what basketball has taught me these past few months.

1. Blake Griffin - Karl Malone is training has the makings of becoming the next great power forward of all time. Once The Blake Show realizes the game of basketball is more than just dunking over people and develops a mid-range shot and becomes a decent free-throw shooter, he'll surpass Tim Duncan as the greatest power forward of all time. His ball-handling ability is already above average. 
2. Derrick Rose - Youngest MVP in NBA History. Straight from Chicago I've always said this hometown point guard will not only be the best lead guard for years to come but he'll also become the face of the league with the likes of LeBron, DWade, Kobe, Durant. So far he's right on track. 
3. Chicago Bulls - Speaking of Derrick Rose and his team, not one critic, scout, fan (including me) thought the Bulls will finish with the best record in basketball this season. Next season teams will pay more attention to this defensive minded team lead by the reigning MVP Derrick Rose. 
4. Miami Heat - Cavs owner Dal Gilbert tweeted after the Mavs victory there are no shortcuts. Not shocked they did not defeat the Mavs as my notion about them being only a 3 player team got exposed. Pat Riley's crew need a completely roster to compliment Wade, Bosh, and James. 
5. LA Lakers - After 3 straight NBA Finals appearances, the defending Champs thought they would waltz to the NBA Finals. Kobe Bryant's team did not have the same drive in them this season which is why they're no longer champions. 
6. Forming a "Big 3" - Miami, New York, and Boston all have three major superstars on their roster but the Celtics were the only ones victorious. Boston's Big 3 worked because they had the supporting cast to go along with their Big 3. Let's hope Miami follows Boston's example. 
7. Kemba Walker - NYPG!!!! The return of the New York City point guard dominating college basketball is exactly what this now former Huskie did all the way to Houston. His dominant play also elevated his draft status for the 2011 NBA Draft. 
8. Mid majors vs. Big 6 - The Final 4 had 2 mid-majors with Butler in the title game for the second straight season. The mid majors are not catching up what's happening is mid-major players are staying 4 years while the UCONN, Kentucky get the one & done players. Do you build for the future or like Calapari recruit only for that season with the best freshmen then start over again?
9. 2011 NBA Draft - This will go down as the weakest draft class in years due to the pending lockout next season. As a result the 2012 Draft will go down as one of the deepest drafts in history.
10. Dallas Mavericks - The addition of Tyson Chandler was truly the difference which is why they're world champions. Also Dirk & Terry never forgot what took place in 2006. JJ will get a huge paycheck from Cuban.