Yeah He Can Jump..

And if you missed Shannon Brown last night, Lakers took the L at home though.

Sparty Comeback

Last year, you could say North Carolina more or less own the Michigan State Spartans. After their two meetings last year, you could just see they were plainly unmatched. It's a new year, and Spartan nation has to forget last year, it is over and done. After losing in the National Championship, Tom Izzo's crew is ready for a comeback season. The Spartans did lose center, Goran Suton and off-guard, Travis Walton to graduation, but bring back a lot of key players to make a run right back to the National Championship. They return Big Ten POY, Kalin Lucas who is poised to make a run a National POY. State also brings back two keys forwards in senior, Raymar Morgan and sophomore, Delvon Roe. Both forwards should up there numbers this season, and be future first round picks when it is time to move on. Not to mention the return of junior guard, Chris Allen and their most athletic player, Durrell Summers, who put on quite the performance in last year's tournament (see dunk on Stanley Robinson). Anything less than a Final Four appearance is a season lost. Sparty is back again.

The Next "Big" Thing

Being that I am from NY, I have to show my state some love. The history of New York State basketball has consisted of mostly guard play, with the exception of Mr. Lew Alcindor. I would like to introduce you to the next "BIG" thing coming out of the Empire State. His name is DaJuan Coleman. Coleman is the 6'8 280 lb. center for Jamesville-DeWitt High School in Syracuse, NY. At 280, Coleman isn't much of a deer running up and down the court, but his strength and surprisingly quick post moves are the bread and butter of his game. As of now, according to ESPN.com, Coleman is only considering Syracuse University for his next destination. Well, that's great and all, but DaJuan has a lot of time to make a choice. I forgot to add Coleman is only a sophomore. He still has 3 years of high school ball to grow and improve, and with the departure of former teammate, Brandon Triche (Syracuse, Coleman becomes the first option and should see his stats going through the roof. If the big fella decides to shed a couple pounds, watch out NY, watch out World!!

Westside Connection

The AP Poll for the preseason top 25 was recently released, and I noticed something different. You remember when that that conference out west use to get like 5 to 6 teams, yeah that one, the Pac-10. This year's preseason poll only has two teams from that power conference. Which two teams do you think it is, Arizona and UCLA? Wrong. The two teams from the west coast are Washington and California. Yeah you know these two, Brandon Roy and Jason Kidd stomping grounds. Well they are back, and looking a lot better than recent years. Washington has returning stud Isaiah Thomas and McDonald's All-American Abdul Gaddy in their backcourt. The Golden Bears have the the senior leadership of, returning leading scorer at 5'10, Jerome Randle, and his backcourt mate, Patrick Christopher. These are not just any ordinary backcourts, they are the type of guard play that gets you deep into the field of 65. And thats exactly where these two Pac-10 teams hope to end up..

Go 2 Guys

Dimemag.com just finished their list of the top 30 go to guys in the NBA. Not necessarily the guy you want to start your game, but who are you going to give the ball to with 5 seconds left down by one? Let's take a look at the top 10....

10. Deron Williams
9. Chris Paul
8. Carmelo Anthony
7. Brandon Roy
6. Dirk Nowitzki
5. Tim Duncan
4. Lebron James
3. Paul Pierce
2. Dwayne Wade
1. Kobe Bryant


Who are you giving the ball to with the game on the line?

"I'm Back!!!!"

Welcome to poster land Paul Millsap.

Don't Need No Favors

He needs know introduction, and sure doesn't need any favors. With the hype of the upcoming season surrounding
Kentucky and their historic recruiting class, the South Atlanta native, Derrick Favors deserves some shine. He is probably the most athletic big man in college basketball, imagine a 6'9 Dwight Howard. If you didn't know already, Favors signed with the GA Tech Yellow Jackets for this upcoming season, and I am almost positive this will be his only season there. He is an absolute nightmare in the paint for opposing teams and is a terror on the defensive end. GA Tech head coach Paul Hewitt must be very happy his other forward, junior Gani Lawal, pulled out of the draft. He now possesses the best front court in the ACC, yes even better than Davis and Thompson (UNC). Favors and Lawal will both be top 20 picks if they decide to leave for the money, and it is very likely that both will head for the league. GA Tech and their fab freshman will make noise, its time you heard.

The Return of Agent 0

The nationally televised games were what the people wanted to see. The possible eastern conference championship and of course, they had to show Lakers ring night. But something else was going on last night in the NBA. Gilbert Arenas is back, and he announced it last night taking down the western power Dallas Mavs. After being plagued with injury for the last couple years, it is good to see one of the prolific scorers back on his feet and back doing his thing. I think it's a safe prediction to make that Washington will have a bette season than last year, they only won 19 games. Arenas finished with 29 points and 9 assists. Welcome back Gil.

Celtics vs Cavs Recap

Now my prediction was wrong. I believe the Celtics are the superior team, but I just thought the Cavs had that home court thing going for them. A couple things from the game, when the Celtics put Rasheed Wallace in for Perkins, it almost looks unfair. Cleveland's bench has to step up, they were way outscored tonight, I was not impressed with Anthony Parker or Jamario Moon. I still don't think the Cavs guard play can hang with the Celtics at all. I know this is obvious, but when Lebron sits down, the other team is almost guaranteed a comeback. If Lebron has to play 46 minutes a game for the Cavs to get a win, they aren't the team everyone thought they would be. Yes I do understand that the Cavs were missing Leon Powe and Delonte West, but that is no excuse. And I also know it is only the beginning, but I think this was a bit of a wake up call for the Cleveland fans. Boston is back.

Mo' Money Mo' Problems

Now there have been only a couple of celebrities who have reportedly gone bankrupt, including MC Hammer and Mike Tyson. It boggles my mind the way these stars can just spend their money so unwisely. Well, let's all welcome Antoine Walker to the club. The former NBA player has officially gone "broke". According to the Boston Globe, Walker owes more than $4 million to his creditors and is facing felony check fraud charges in Las Vegas. He is only 33 years old. Yahoo sports reports that Walker made $110 million over his 12 years in the L. Also, if you add in his Adidas endorsement and the cover of "NBA Live 99", take away takes, and Mr. Walker made somewhere from $60-65 million. We all remember Walker for his famous shake, well maybe now, he can get a job in a DJ Webstar video or on the Celtics dance team.

Here We Go: NBA 2K X

this should get you ready for this season..

Rondo: Show Me the Money

SLAM.com reports
Boston and its point guard could not agree on an extension, and according to his rep, Rajon is going to be a restricted free agent next summer: “We’re not going to do an extension right now,’ Bill Duffy said. ‘The conversation has been cordial. We’ve been talking the last couple of weeks. There is a difference between the perception of him in their eyes and our eyes. With that being said, the focus is on Rajon to have a fantastic season and concentrate on winning a championship.’ Duffy, who also counts Steve Nash(notes) among his clients, said he is seeking a contract that would pay Rondo like one of the NBA’s top five point guards. The Celtics, Duffy said, ‘feel differently.”’

What this could mean for the Celtics and the rest of the NBA. It would be in the Celtics best interest to resign Rajon Rondo. With the contracts of the Big 3 under their salary, there is no way Boston would be able to sign a point guard close to the talent of Rondo next year. He is the only young piece they have there in Boston, the Big 3 and Rasheed only have so much time left to play. Or is Eddie House the point guard of the future? No. The rest of the NBA, especially the big shoppers of next summer's offseason should be happy about Rondo opting out. Rondo has proven he can run a team, he has the bling to prove it. He is apart of the next generation of great point guards, so getting Rondo could possibly turn a franchise around. Just another piece to the crazy Summer of 2010.

A Bad Blake

Blake Griffin reportedly has a broken knee cap and could sideline him up to 6 weeks. ESPN reports that Griffin apparently broke his kneecap during the Clippers' final exhibition game against New Orleans last Friday, perhaps after a dunk that left the power forward wincing in pain. The team initially said Griffin only had a sore left knee, making him questionable for the opener, before revealing the break.

Opening Night Predictions

Washington vs. Dallas
Dallas reloaded with the addition of Shawn Marion to an already good team, but I don't think he is going to turn them into a defensive stopper. Jason Kidd is old, but he is still one of the greatest point guards of all time so I don't think age should be too much of an issue. The Mavericks also picked up Drew Gooden, who is said to possibly take the starting center position away from Erick Dampier. On the other hand, the Wizards are guard heavy to the max. They have six guys who could quite possibly be deserving of playing time, but one or two will probably end up getting bench splinters. Washington has Gilbert Arenas, Randy Foye, Caron Butler, Nick Young, Deshawn Stevenson, and Mike Miller all at the guards. If Antawn Jamison can stay healthy, he is one of the most reliable players in the league. I am also very impressed with the emergence of the young center, JaVale McGee.
My prediction: I will take Dallas with a 12 point victory at home.

Houston vs. Portland
Houston is young, simply put. No Yao Ming, possibly no Tracy McGrady could mean trouble. The young Rockets are led by Aaron Brooks, Luis Scola, Carl Landry, and newly acquired Trevor Ariza. If they play as hard as they did in last year's playoffs they should be alright, but still out of the playoffs in the west. Then there is the Portland Trail Blazers, they were always team on the rise and now finally they have grown into a contender. Brandon Roy is officially a superstar, and with the extension Lamarcus Aldridge just signed, he is now a franchise player. The future is bright.
My prediction: Portland by 7, Houston plays tough.

Clippers vs. Lakers
As we all know, the Clippers selected Blake Griffin with the #1 pick. With the #1 pick comes a rebuilding season. A healthy Baron Davis should help, so should Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby. Blake Griffin is already having injury problems, and we probably won't see the former Sooner tomorrow night. The Clippers also have young players like Eric Gordon and Al Thornton that need to step up this season. We all know about that other team in L.A., the heavyweights, the all-star team, the champions. The Lakers come back this season with the same roster with a determined Andrew Bynum, growing Shannon Brown, and defensive stopper Ron Artest. Good luck to the rest of the west, the east will test them this year though.
My prediction: Lakers by 18, it's ring night.

Boston vs. Cleveland
Hands down, the game of the night. I also think a preview of the eastern conference championship. Lebron cannot do it by himself, see 2007 finals. The acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal is huge, literally. The supporting cast has also grown with Leon Powe and Anthony Parker. Something tells me Delonte West will not last long this season, but oh well. Could this be Lebron's year? The mighty Celtics are back. The big 3 is still there, but really none of them are as important as the play of Rajon Rondo. Garnett must stay healthy and Rasheed must control his temper. I would love to see another Boston vs. L.A. finals.
My prediction: Cavs take it by 5 in their homecoming, but Celtics win the east when all is said and done.

Good Ol' Preseason

With the highly anticipated NBA season coming up, the preseason could not have been more misleading. The top teams were losing to the terrible ones, but hey, that's preseason isn't it? Here is a look at the Top 10 plays from NBA.com from this year's preseason.

Lucky Number 13

Let me introduce you to the best 13 year-old basketball player in the world, Andrew Wiggins. He will eventually be a member of the 2014 recruiting class, but it is way too soon to be talking about college. Wiggins is 6'6 195 lbs. and wears a size 14 shoe. He is actually a Canadian resident, and the son of former NBA player Mitchell Wiggins. His game is already beyond his age, as you can imagine. I probably wouldn't waste my time writing a blog on a 13 year-old who I didn't think was worthy. Wiggins is very aggressive and shows a very soft touch around the basket. Like all young phenoms, his game must still grow as he grows, and only at the age of 13, who knows how much more growing Wiggins has to do.

The Commissioner on King James

According to DimeMag.com
In 25 years as league commissioner, David Stern has seen his fair share of great players from Michael Jordan to Larry Bird to Kobe Bryant. So who’s his favorite all-time player? Stern recently told Rick Harrow from The $ports Take (Versus) in an episode that runs on Oct. 27, that he’s quite the fan of the King.
“He may be the best player ever to have played. Michael might dispute that, but he has a lot of canvas yet on which to paint. I have no doubt the picture is going to be beautiful.”
“You know, he hasn’t won anything yet but he may be the best player ever to descend to this planet. It’s a delight to watch him; it’s a delight to watch him grow, to see his width and breadth, in terms of his interest and capacities. He’s a great kid and a great player.”

Greatest ever? Lebron sure puts up a fight with his high flying action and breath taking plays, but I still think he needs a couple rings to make it complete. There is no doubt in my mind, that when all is said and done, James may have the edge over anybody else's highlight tape, ever. We will just have to see where this road leads, wait to see the picture on the canvas..

Bobby Jackson Retires

Booby Jackson, 36, who played for the Kings, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Grizzlies, Hornets, and Rockets, announced his retirement after a 12-year career. Jackson won the Sixth Man Award in 2002-2003. He will be most remembered for his early years with the Kings, when Jackson and Mike Bibby made up one of the best point guard tandems in the NBA. Good Luck Bobby.

Kyrie Erving chooses Duke

Earlier today on ESPNU, well actually now yesterday, St. Patrick's (NJ) point guard Kyrie Erving picked Durham, NC for his next destination. Erving verbally committed to Coach K and the staff at Duke. He is the #2 rated point guard in the class of 2010. Erving is a scoring point guard with excellent defensive skills, and can also run the team. The 6'1 senior chose Duke over Kentucky and Texas A&M. Here is a look at the Blue Devils next big star..

Things Done Changed

Funny how things change..
According to ESPN.com,
SEC Commissioner Mike Slive confirmed to ESPN.com that there are eligibility issues regarding both Kentucky top recruit John Wall and Mississippi State's top freshman Renardo Sidney.
Sidney's eligibility has been discussed for months, but this is the first it has been publicly acknowledged that there could be a question about Wall's eligibility.
A source also told ESPN.com that Kentucky has been investigating Wall's eligibility for months because his former AAU coach was a certified agent.
According to NCAA protocol, any case involving pre-enrollment amateurism issues would be investigated by the NCAA Eligibility Center. Wall and Sidney are eligible to practice but not compete until their amateur issues are resolved. If a player has an academic eligibility issue, he is not allowed to practice or compete.
"Those are amateur issues that arose prior to their coming to our schools," Slive said of Sidney and Wall. "Those are strictly amateurism issues. As we told our people, somebody needs to determine if they are eligible. It's not relative to you, it's relative to them."
Slive also said that he believes Wall and Sidney are the only SEC freshmen with unresolved eligibility issues.
"This is a very different thing than what I've been talking about for eight years," Slive said, referring to the SEC's outlaw image in terms of rulebreaking. "The culture is different now."
Brian Clifton, Wall's AAU coach, was a certified agent with FIBA, basketball's international governing body, for nearly a year. Under NCAA rule that equates to Wall accepting illegal benefits from an agent. Consequently Wall could have to repay any and all expenses Clifton footed during that period before he can play with Kentucky.
NCAA rule also stipulates that an athlete can be withheld from at least 10 percent of a team's games as part of the punishment.
A source told ESPN.com that the Kentucky compliance department had been working feverishly to clarify Wall's eligibility in recent weeks and had been going back to the 2007 to see exactly how much money is owed. Wall made two unofficial visits to Kentucky that fall while Billy Gillispie was head coach -- in September he attended a UK-Louisville football game and in October returned for the Wildcats' Big Blue Madness opening night practice.
"My understanding is that all 13 players on our roster are eligible at this point," said UK media relations director DeWayne Peevey.
Peevey said that school privacy policies prevent Kentucky from discussing the eligibility of players. When asked whether Wall might be excluded from any games, Peevey said that information would be confidential.
"We won't release anything," Peevey said.
Clifton, the president of D-One Sports, previously admitted to being a certified agent but said he forfeited his license in August 2008 so he could devote his full attention to his AAU program.
"Absolutely I was a licensed agent," Clifton told CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish in August 2008. "But what I started and what I had given my life to was this (D-One Sports) program and I was about to watch it fall apart. Obviously I couldn't let that happen. So at that time -- after having not signed any clients -- I figured that program was the most important thing for me. … And that was the end of the agent thing."
Under the guidelines set by the Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, agent violations can fall under two categories:

• If an individual accepts significant monetary benefits from an agent, his or her eligibility should not be reinstated.

• If an individual accepts benefits from an agent that are not significant enough to warrant permanent ineligibility, the student-athlete will be withheld for the violation and will be required to repay the value of the benefits.

The committee goes on to say that if a student-athlete accepts benefits from an agent greater than $101, the student-athlete will have to repay the money and be subject to a minimum 10-percent withholding condition -- in other words, withheld from 10 percent of a team's regular-season games.
"There can be mitigating circumstances, but the rule of thumb would be they'd have to pay back the money," NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said, declining comment on Wall's particular case. "And if it was a significant amount they could potentially be withheld from games. The line in the sand is if an agent or whatever they want to call themselves was marketing an individual student-athlete or prospective student-athlete based on their athletic abilities. If so, there are potential issues."
Osburn also cited a rule that stipulates: "to maintain amateur status and NCAA eligibility, a student-athlete or their friends and family cannot have an agreement -- oral or written -- with an agent or accept benefits from an agent until his or her eligibility expires."

Big Blue Nation

Do you think Big Blue Nation is excited about their upcoming season? I would be, especially with a point guard like John Wall. Will Wall and Calipari put Kentucky back on the map after several previous rough seasons? I think so.

Magic vs. Isiah

According to SLAM ONLINE,
I’m guessing that these two won’t be kissing on the cheek anytime soon: “When he heard the criticisms from his former friend Magic Johnson in a soon-to-be-released book, Isiah Thomas said he’d had enough. And so he began to fight back. ‘I’m really hurt, and I really feel taken advantage of for all these years,’ said Thomas, the Hall of Fame point guard and former NBA coach and executive, most recently with the Knicks. ‘I’m totally blindsided by this. Every time that I’ve seen Magic, he has been friendly with me. Whenever he came to a Knick game, he was standing in the tunnel [to the locker room] with me. He and [Knicks assistant coach] Herb [Williams] and I, we would go out to dinner in New York. I didn’t know he felt this way.”

Mr. Kevin Durant

With the NBA season just around the corner, I wanted to do a piece on the player that I think will have a coming-out party in 2009-2010. Mr. Kevin Durant. Last year, he averaged 25 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Yes I know he plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but this team is growing and Durant is turning into a star. He is listed at 6'9 but with his "stretch" arms, Durant looks like he is a seven footer. On top of his height, Durant has all the skills that a shooting guard needs. He is only 21 years old!! I thought last year, he was overlooked for the All-Star Game despite his team's record. I can almost guarantee an all-star appearance this upcoming year, and I would not be surprised at all if Durant won the scoring crown. The Texas Longhorn product will surprise, just stay tuned.

Restraining Order Reggie Miller

According to SLAM ONLINE,
Reggie says he’s feeling threatened by the man who once accused him of trying to steal his girl: “Six-foot-seven NBA legend Reggie Miller is ‘fearing for his safety’ and has gotten a restraining order against Alex von Furstenberg, claiming the wealthy aristocrat tried to fight him and run his car off the road. ‘Knick Killer’ Miller, as the ex-Pacer was known, alleged he suffered ‘fear and distress’ when von Furstenberg confronted him Oct. 17 as he sat in his car outside a café in Malibu, yelling, ‘I will beat you down.’ Miller refused to fight von Furstenberg and drove off. But von Furstenberg followed him and ‘maneuvered his vehicle in front of me several times,’ pulling alongside and ‘hanging out of the window in a threatening manner,’ Miller claims.”

The First

To open my blog, I was on youtube scrolling around and came across this video. Who is the best high school player to come to the league?!?!