andboo Sports RSS Feed for Basketball

Team USA basketball redeems the country

yiBoo — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:00:20 -0500

They did it! Team USA men's basketball team has brought back Olympic Gold. After being disappointed time after time, this year's team, nicknamed "The Redeem Team," has redeemed the country's dominance over basketball.

The Gold medal game between Team USA and Spain was a nail biter. Spain was neck and neck with Team USA up until the last few minutes. It took incredible play by the NBA's finest to squeeze out a victory. This game felt like it could have gone either way.

Marco Belinelli is a Bust

andwho — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:07:53 -0500

Marco Belinelli is officially a bust.

I had been a big fan of his when he was drafted and lit up the Summer League a year ago. He seemed like a dead-eye shooter. Instead, he turns out to be a streaky shooter with an unorthodox shooting form with no defense whatsoever.

Rather than working to improve himself in the Developmental League during the season, Belinelli sat himself on the bench and played less than inspired ball in the few minutes he was given to showcase himself.

NBA Free Agency Begins With a Bang

yiBoo — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:07:13 -0500

The official start of NBA free agency started today, and there has been several major announcements already. The biggest move so far has to be Elton Brand signing with the Philadelphia 76ers for 5 years worth an estimated $82 million. There has been some talk about how Brand and the Clippers had a predetermined deal in place for Brand to resign with the Clips, but that Brand and his agent, David Falk, turned their backs on the deal. I doubt we will ever know the truth, but it does make for good drama.

The second biggest move is the Baron Davis move, which directly relates to the Elton Brand move. Davis agreed to a long term deal with the Clippers days after Elton Brand opted out of his contract with the Clippers. Some were reporting that there had been shady dealings under the table between the Clippers, Elton Brand, and Baron Davis. Whatever agreements took place seems to have vanished as Brand bolted for Philly. Also interesting is that there has not been an official report of Baron Davis actually signing a deal with the Clips.

Baron Davis opts-out

andwho — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:50:26 -0500

Baron Davis, the face of the Warriors' resurgence, opted out of his contract yesterday night. The choice was a bold move on his part as he leaves $17.2 million behind.

Rumors have Davis going to the Los Angeles Clippers were he will play in front of his hometown fans. Elton Brand, who also opted out of his contract, is expected to resign with the Clippers at a lower rate thus giving them their own version of the Big-3 in Davis, Brand, and Kaman.

There have also been rumors with Davis heading to the New York Knicks to play under D'Antoni's wide-open offense. Although Davis is a West-coast guy, there would be no complaints if the Knicks offer a max contract.

Boston Celtic's 2008 NBA Finals MVP

yiBoo — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 16:07:46 -0500

After an epic fail by the Los Angeles Lakers, the Boston Celtics are up 3-1 in the NBA Finals. With such a deficit, it is almost certain that the Celtics will win the series. The only question remaining is who on the Celtics team should get MVP honors.

The candidates are the Boston Three Party, otherwise known as Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. All three players have been vital to the success of the Celtics, but there can only be one.

2008 NBA Finals: Lakers vs Celtics

yiBoo — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:30:24 -0500

The NBA Finals will start Thursday night with the LA Lakers visiting the Boston Celtics for game 1. There has been a lot of comparisons to the historical match-ups between these two teams in the 80s and even earlier. But all that talk is just filler to sell newspapers. These two teams have their own identities, and they will need to build their own legacies.

Legends are born in the playoffs, but they are immortalized in the Finals. So far this year, the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant has proved to the league just how clutch he is, making shot after shot in the fourth quarter to send the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs home in five games. It is a great run, for sure, but without the championship, Kobe's great run may well be forgotten.

NBA Will Fine Floppers Next Season

yiBoo — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:36:56 -0500

The NBA has announced that it will start issuing fines for players that flop fouls. Various NBA personnel attending the games and watching video reviews will mark cases of potential flopping. Then the league will review the play(s) after the game to determine if indeed a flop took place. The keyword in the statement issued is that only clear cases of flopping would be fined.

This new rule change can help clean up the game. Floppers exist on both sides of the court, offense and defense. The players should be out there playing real defense, not just flailing their arms around hoping for a call. Some offensive players dribbling in the paint would sprawl over the floor, hoping for a call. That's not basketball.

NBA Draft Lottery 2008

yiBoo — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:49:36 -0500

The NBA is set to hold the 2008 NBA draft lottery this Tuesday, May 20th. The draft lottery is the process in which the order of the first 14 draft picks are assigned to NBA teams. The 14 teams that did not make the playoffs are in the lottery and have a chance at winning the #1 pick.

Although each non-playoff team has a chance at getting the first pick, the team with the worst record has the highest chance. The initial list of teams is sorted by worst win-loss record. The worst team, the Miami Heat, is at the top of the list and has a 25% chance of winning the first pick in the draft. The non-playoff team with the best record, the Golden State Warriors, have the lowest chance of winning the first pick, at 0.5%.