Remember those “Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Videos”? (If not, you can see both of them in all their glory: here and here. Both are NSFW.) Well, the writer of those Cleveland’s own, actor Mike Polk, recently got a chance to make fun of the Inside the NBA guys.
To be honest, it is absolutely comical gold. Specifically the line about Craig Sager’s clothing which will burn our retinas out and he looks like a game show host on meth. I also like the mention of watching “The Closer” with Kyra Sedgwick at the end of the video.
I guess Mike Polk will never have to make another Pizza Pan commercial again.
Everyone knows that TNT sports Ernie Johnson is one of the most stand-up guys in sports journalism today. Johnson also had to deal with being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in 2003. (For Ernie's speech on fighting this disease, check this link)
One of the most infamous clips of Ernie goes back to early 80’s when Turner Sports was still its infancy stages. During what appears to be, a slam dunk contest in Atlanta against Ernie Johnson and Craig Sager on a kiddie hoop, birthed the nick-name “Elevator Ernie Johnson” which was seen a shirt he was wearing during the event.
Well, a company called “Homage Clothing” decided to re-do the shirt and make it available for sale. (You can buy it at this link) A portion of the proceeds will go to charity to fight against Lymphoma and find a way to cure the disease.
In the above video, you will see the clip of “Elevator Ernie” and a shout-out to Homage clothing that TNT did before game three of the Eastern Conference Finals.
It’s that time of year again; it’s time for Inside the NBA to give out their fashion awards for the NBA playoffs. There were some definite hits and misses but it’s something that everyone can enjoy, from that struggling fashion designer to baiting your girlfriend to watch the NBA Playoffs.
My real question though, what in the hell was Lamar Odom thinking with that red leather vest? That looked like something someone bought from an S&M shop and forgot to tell Lamar.
I think one thing that we all can agree on is that Lebron James is the best dressed player in the NBA.
Remember when WWE chairman Vince McMahon promised that he would get the NBA back with his own version of the Nuggets/Lakers 5 on 5 match? Well, we officially have video proof that it did go down on Monday Night Raw.
The Cleveland Cavaliers appeared to be on a fast-track to the NBA finals after sweeping both of their opening round opponents in the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons. Well, then I guess, the Orlando Magic decided to prove maybe we were a little premature on making this assessment.
Before the start of game four, a reporter asked Cavalier guard Mo Williams regarding if the Cavaliers could come back and win the series. This is what he said:
“We're the best team in basketball," he said.
"Guarantee we're going to win the series? Yeah, yeah," he said.
"We are down 2-1. But there is nobody on this team and definitely not myself that says we are not going to win this series. Yeah, it is going to be tough. We know that. We get this game tomorrow, go home, still got home-court advantage."
Well, the Cavaliers lost the game four in overtime by the score of 116-114. The Cavaliers are now fighting for their playoffs lives when they get back to Cleveland on Thursday for game five.
My real issue with Mo Williams is the comment that he made saying that the “Cavaliers were the best team in basketball.” I think this comes up with an O RLY moment. The best team in basketball does not give away a game one at home and comes only a second away from being swept. I have personally never been someone who was for this “I guarantee this win” sort of individual especially when I was down in the series. Maybe all the mock-picture taking and baseball swings should have been saved when they actually get to the Finals. Mo Williams should back his play up on the court and not with his mouth.
I will give Orlando and coach Stan Van Gundy credit for the way they have played this season in the playoffs. They have physically out-matched the Cavaliers and force them to play the perimeter defensively. Lebron James appears to be frustrated and the Cavaliers lack of depth is showing at this point.
Maybe I need to make a guarantee, “That’s all she wrote for the Cleveland Cavaliers.”
Remember the push-up contest that Charles Barkley lost to camerawoman Cybele Forbes earlier this month?
Well, there was an impromptu rematch of the contest before game three of the Eastern Conference Finals. This eventually led to another challenge that Cybele laid out for Barkley which is still out on the table if Charles accepts it. Then Charles went to talk about the tired joke of "Why does a women not need a clock." (It's funny but think if any attractive women read this blog, I'll side with them on it.)
Very sadly, I was not watching my local Cleveland newscast for ABC Newschannel 5, nearing the end of Eastern Conference Finals game two when this celebration happened. During the end of their late night news-telecast on Friday, anchors Leon Bibb and Alicia Booth, weatherman Mark Johnson and sportscaster Terry Brooks were still on-air before Lebron’s game-winner.
Sportscaster Terry Brooks appears to see Lebron James hit the game winner (or at least he was signaled) and the full-scale celebration started. Leon Bibb who appeared to be cynically waiting for next year was in shock. Terry Brooks was celebrating and not realizing where he was. Alicia Booth appears to be unsure at the moment of what had happened. Finally, weatherman Mark Johnson appears to “peace out” of the frame.
The best celebration is the random dude in the upper right-hand corner celebrating in the background. (He actually posted the video, still looking for a full name.) He either realizes that he is on camera and gets out of the shot or he is just that happy that Lebron hit it. You also have to like the random scream as it switches to the end of the telecast graphics.
Somewhere Lebron James was saying, “In Your Face, Leon”
It appeared that the Orlando Magic were going to take a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals and be well on their way to the NBA Finals as they lead by the score of 95-93 with one second left to play in the game. Then Lebron James decided to make the biggest shot of his career, evening the series at 1-1 by the final score of 96-95.
Stan Van Gundy took blame for the loss and explained that it was his fault for the guarding assigment of Hedo Turkoglu on Lebron James. This is why on some level that NBA coaches amaze me.
Orlando was up by two with less than a second left, why in the hell was Lebron James not double-teamed. The worst case scenario is you let someone else beat you instead of the NBA's MVP. Also with one second left, the shot was probably going to be tougher for a player outside of Lebron.
I do regard Van Gundy's logic of having a 6'9 player guard Lebron to try and force a tougher shot and I will not get on Van Gundy's back for that one. However, he has Mikael Pietrus and Rashard Lewis. It was clearly visible that Turkoglu fell-back for a second while Lebron was taking the shot. I'm sure that Pietrus and Lewis would not had that happen to them. That one second gave Lebron a good-looking shot.
In my opinion, Orlando had a grand opportunity to try and seal this series up. Now you have to play against Lebron James and the Cavs in at least three more games. In the end, I do not like those odds for Orlando.
I figure that most of you know about the issue of the Nuggets-Lakers game four fiasco with a double booking of Western Conference Finals game four and WWE Monday Night Raw. WWE eventually moved to Los Angeles for the Monday Night Raw event and everything appeared to be quiet on the Western front, for now at least. Here is another classic Vince McMahon ESPN interview:
Then it got me to thinking, Could the Nuggets use this story as motivation during their playoff series against the Lakers?
With the series tied at 1-1 and the Nuggets coming home to the Pepsi Center it has to energize and motivate them on some level. I know the whole theory of motivation is such a fleeting bird in the NBA but think this out. The Nuggets were long-shot to even make the playoffs before the deal and no one believed at the time they could even get to this point. This story even appears that their own owner did not even believe in them since Kroneke had the possibility to move the event as late as April.
Denver point guard Chauncey Billups has already played in this “Us against the World” mentality when he was with the Pistons during their Finals win 2004 over the Lakers. Head coach George Karl has gone through play-off woes and might try to spin this is an opportunity to beat public perception of his team. In the NBA, image is everything and this might be a chance to “relax” any playoff jitters that the team must have after their two losses in Los Angeles.
In the annals of sports history, many teams have used negative comments to spur themselves onto victory. However, this is the first documented case of a sports team getting hounded by another entertainment sporting entity. In the end, if the Nuggets are going to turn it around, they will have to prevent themselves from getting “counted out” in the series.
Most of you know that I live in Cleveland, Ohio and frequently in the downtown area to a fair degree. Yesterday was game one of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic. Since game one was in Cleveland, I expected to see Charles Barkley or Kenny Smith. After getting a meal at Tower City, I was walking back to see an older gentleman jogging past me.
I quickly did a double-take and saw him jog into a building to grab something to drink. As I walked past, I noticed that said individual was wearing a t-shirt with a Jordan insignia of the back of it. I saw him run past me as he appeared be running towards the downtown area of Tower City. I deduced eventually that it was Craig Sager
Now, I’m not 100% sure that it was Sager since I did not see him wearing a colorful suit that only he could pull off. But, he was running in the direction of the Ritz hotel where most of the TNT crew is staying at.
If anyone from TNT or Craig Sager himself can confirm for me via twitter at ThatNBAPick, I want to check if that was him I saw or an imposter that looked like him. Very sadly, I was unable to ask where he got hit suits, I have an upcoming wedding to go to and I wanted a pink-blue suit to wear.
I think most of you have figured out that since the site is called, “That NBA Lottery Pick,” there would almost have to be a post about the 2009 NBA Draft Lottery. The place where dreams come true in getting a Lebron James and Shaquille O’Neal happens or where your dreams come to shatter all within a room with ping-pong balls.
The NBA Draft Lottery was held last night before the Western Conference Finals game one between the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers. Specifically with this draft-class the prize is Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin and then a smattering of other players from Arizona’s Jordan Hill, Spain’s Rick Rubio, and UCONN center Hasheem Thabeet.
Here were the odds of the likelihood a specific team getting the #1 overall pick: Sacramento Kings (17-65) - 25.0% Washington Wizards (19-63) - 17.8% Los Angeles Clippers (19-63) - 17.7% Oklahoma City Thunder (23-59) - 11.9% Minnesota Timberwolves (24-58) - 7.6% Memphis Grizzlies (24-58) - 7.5% Golden State Warriors (29-53) - 4.3% New York Knicks (32-50) - 2.8% Toronto Raptors (33-49) - 1.7% Milwaukee Bucks (34-48) - 1.0% New Jersey Nets (34-38) - 0.9% Charlotte Bobcats (35-47) - 0.7% Indiana Pacers (36-46) - 0.6% Phoenix Suns (46-36) - 0.5%
So who won the lottery, who will get stuck taking Ricky Rubio, and who will be forever cursing the heavens above for their terrible luck. The video of the 2009 NBA Lottery is below:
(Do not continue reading if you do not want to know the results)
With that the 2009 NBA Draft Lottery is in the books for this year and the winners of the top prize of the first overall pick are the Los Angeles Clippers and Blake Griffin as the prize. The Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards fall out of the first three slots making them the big losers. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies move up to the top three.
Overall, another wacky edition of the NBA Lottery which only means that NBA Draft is only a few short months away. However, I have a feeling that Blake Griffin will be shopping for homes in Los Angeles relatively soon.
Here is the draft order for the 2009 NBA Draft for teams in the lottery:
1) Los Angeles Clippers 2) Memphis Grizzlies 3) Oklahoma City Thunder 4) Sacramento Kings 5) Washington Wizards 6) Minnesota Timberwolves 7) Golden State Warriors 8) New York Knicks 9) Toronto Raptors 10) Milwaukee Bucks 11) New Jersey Nets 12) Charlotte Bobcats 13) Indiana Pacers 14) Phoenix Suns
Recently on Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley was beaten in a push-up contest by camerawoman Cybele Forbes. Usually, I am not surprised if the “Round Mound of Rebound” loses to a fit mom of two in a push-up contest but then a comment that he was on a diet and refused to eat some Krispy Kremes that Cybele offered to him before the competition got me thinking.
I am officially challenging Charles Barkley to a Krispy Kreme/Donut eating contest. I am almost 100% percent sure that I can beat Chuck in an eating contest.
To throw a little back story, when I was still attending college, a local ice cream parlor has an eating challenge called the “No Way Challenge” which is eating more than 12 scoops of ice cream, toppings, and two full bananas. It equals to about more than 2.5 pounds of ice cream which you have to eat in a period of fifteen minutes. I completed the “No Way Challenge” on three different occasions and hold the second fastest time in history for under eight minutes. You have never felt pain to the point where tongue feels like sandpaper.
I know that donuts are a completely different entity but I feel that since I conquered the “No Way Challenge” then I can beat Charles anyway. I will even spot him a couple if he thinks that he can beat someone that is 100 pounds lighter than him. (I honestly do not know what Charles currently weighs but I rough estimation is about 280 or so.)
With the Cleveland Cavaliers being the host's to the beginning of the Eastern Conference Finals, TNT is coming to Cleveland and since I live in the area, I officially will be around to compete against Charles.
I will be contacting my friends in the blogging community to hype this story as much as possible on Ballhype, Digg, Yardbarker, etc. I will also be twittering Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Gary Payton, Chris Webber, and anyone that can get the word out to Sir Charles.
The ball is in your court Charles or in pure terms, the donut is.
During the season finale of Saturday Night Live, they decided to make fun of everybodies favorite studio NBA show: Inside the NBA.
Will Ferrell was guest-hosting and the skit was based around the endless "Frank TV" promos during NBA playoffs and MLB playoffs. I will give credit to Bill Hader for pulling a possible mirror-image of Ernie Johnson and Kenan Thompson some credit for doing a decent Charles Barkley.
To be honest, the only thing that I like about SNL is the digital shorts with Andy Samberg but this was really entertaining.
However, to make it even better, here is the reaction video from last night's version of Inside the NBA for Ernie's Neat-O Stat of the Night.
The NBA has lost another great human being as former NBA player Wayman Tisdale has passed away at the age of 44 due to cancer.
Tisdale played for twelve seasons in the NBA for the Kings, Suns and Pacers but mostly is remembered for his collegiate career as an Oklahoma Sooner. Tisdale owns many honors when he played at Oklahoma from being named a three time All-American including when he was a freshman and still holds the record for the most points scored as a freshman and sophomore.
Tisdale won a gold medal with the 1984 Olympic team that was coached by Bob Knight and eventually take with the second overall pick in 1985 by the Indiana Pacers. Tisdale was a solid contributor through his NBA career, his best season came in 1989-1990 when he was a member of the Sacramento Kings, Tisdale averaged 22.3 ppg and 7.5 rpg.
Tisdale eventually retired to follow his musical career in 1997, Tisdale who was an accomplished, self-taught Jazz guitarist produce eight albums included his recent offering called “Rebound” where did some work with country music artist Toby Keith.
He was given the Legacy Tribute Award by the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2002. Tisdale’s life then took a turn for the worst when in March of 2007; he underwent treatment for bone cancer. The cancer was found in his right knee after being treated at a hospital in February of 2007, for when he fell down a flight of stairs in his home. Eventually, he had to have his right knee and foot amputated in 2008, but that did not appear to slow him down.
Tisdale passed away at St John’s Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of 44.
A year ago, ESPN did a special report on Tisdale and his life after amputation.
I’ll be honest when someone told me about the new Lebron/Kobe commercial, I assumed that it was going to be another solid memorable Nike commercial. Then it got weird.
To quickly overview the commercial, Pupper/Muppet versions of Lebron James and Kobe Bryant are chillin at an apartment. The Muppet version of Lebron James continues to do his signature “chalk toss” to the dislike of the Kobe Muppet which just wants to relax. Eventually the Lebron Muppet irritates the Kobe Muppet and asks him, “If he is done?”
The Lebron Muppet says, “No” and then covers the entire living room area with his chalk dust. I think then a collective, “What the Hell was that?” was spoken in at least six different languages and an alien language that we still trying to decipher as we speak.
I was feeling a contact high halfway through the commercial. It was like H.R. Pufnstuf turned into an NBA commercial. The idea was a solid one to begin with but it just felt like someone either decided to trip out on Weed/Cocaine came with the idea. I can picture the meeting of the ideas guys to come up with this commercial.
“Idea Man #1: Man, I cannot think of anything? Idea Man#2: Me, either. Wanna smoke some weed? Idea Man#1: Why, not? (2 Hours Later) Idea Man #1: Dude, I got a great idea. Let’s Lebron and Kobe be Muppets. Idea Man #2: I am so on bored with that. Let’s also make the Lebron Muppet annoying and wanting to spread that…what is that stuff throws in the air? Idea Man #1: Some sort of Tulcum powder, I think. I wonder what Lebron is doing right now? Idea Man #2: Thanks, you want to get some Wendy’s?”
In the end, I’ll rest my case as this being one of the weirdest commercials that I have ever seen. At least, I thought the Muppets were going to help, they did not.
Update: Here is the latest spot by Nike using the Lebron and Kobe Muppets. It is called three rings and while it does make more sense than the last one, I do not get these commercials at all.
I’m going to take a gander that most of you did not pick the Denver Nuggets to make the Western Conference Finals but that came to fruition as the Nuggets beat the Mavericks in game 5 by the score of 124-110 to move on.
The Nuggets might be one of the most interesting teams in the playoffs with the cast of characters which include “Birdman” Chris Anderson, Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith, Carmelo Anthony, and big-game Chauncey Billups. The team can play at a snail’s pace if needed but they love to run the basketball right down your throat.
Considering how the Lakers have played recently, it would not surprise me if they make their first ever NBA Finals appearance. It just seems that this team’s success has almost come out of thin air. The Nuggets prior to this year were always looked upon as a first-round out and Carmelo Anthony talent was still untapped. Specifically I would like to shine the spot-light on head coach George Karl, forward/ center Nene, and point guard Chauncey Billups.
Karl was always known as the coach that choked in big games. Karl’s Seattle and Milwaukee teams were talented but always seemed to fall short of their eventual goals. After having to deal with prostate cancer, Karl’s Denver Nuggets have slowly but surely started to become a threat in the Western Conference. When Chauncey Billups was acquired, the team came together and might have been the best team that I have seen George Karl has coached. I hope for Karl’s sake that he remove “big game choker tag” since someone with over 900 wins deserve better.
Center Nene has had a strong playoff run so far averaging 12.0ppg, 7.3rpg, and 2.7apg after coming back from a removal of a testicular tumor. Nene has made big plays in the post along with his ability in transition. He will be a force to deal with regardless of who the Nuggets play in the Western Conference Finals. Also his Wikipedia page tells us that Nene is “happily married”
However, the true story of this team is the home-coming of point-guard Chauncey Billups. I’ll be honest, I expected the Iverson-Billups trade to be a solid deal but at this point it looks incredibly one sided. Billups much like Sam Cassel did in Milwaukee and Gary Payton in Seattle for George Karl, has made big plays and come with amazing performances. Billups was what the team needed in a player who is a leader on the floor and someone willing to take the big shot if called upon. In my opinion, he is the best big-game shooter in the NBA.
The Denver Nuggets are the NBA’s version of the Arizona Cardinals where a team that always had talent has finally figured out the answer to the question. Hopefully the Nuggets run will not end before they claim the ultimate prize.
Remember that kid who was pushed over by “Big Baby” Glen Davis after he hit the game winning shot against the Orlando Magic in game 4? Well, his father decided to take up his case and demanded a public apology should be given to his son for the incident. However due to the wind of the harassment that his son has received on his Facebook page, he has backed off on his claim.
The Orlando Magic fan demanding an apology from Glen "Big Baby" Davis says he reacted emotionally and will back off.
Ernest Provetti was standing beside his 12-year-old son Nicholas, sitting courtside, when the boy caught the backhand of an excited Davis. Davis scored the game-winning basket in the Boston Celtics' 95-94 Game 4 win against the Orlando Magic at Amway Arena.
Earlier Monday, he said he sent an e-mail to the NBA league office complaining about Davis' shove -- who many thought to be an accident.
In the e-mail, Provetti said Davis conducted himself like a "raging animal" with no regard for fans' personal safety.
"The NBA makes it clear to not cross the sideline," he said in a telephone interview. "If I cross that line, the NBA will take away my tickets. It's a double standard."
He said neither Boston or the NBA has responded. And he won't be waiting around for that call.
"In the scheme of things, I still think he shouldn't have went on the sideline, but obviously nothing is going to come of it," Provetti said. "And it's better to forget about it and not incite it anymore."
Interestingly enough, Provetti said he was a huge Boston Celtics fan before moving to Orlando from New Jersey last year. He said Doc Rivers and Ray Allen are class acts, but thinks the NBA's overall image is becoming more thuggish.
I’ll be honest; this is another edition of a concerned parent who decided to step over the line to protect his son. If his son was injured by Glen Davis, I could completely understand his concern but honestly it was a dumb idea to begin with and even stupider to believe that he did not think of the consequences from it.
Glen Davis was a “raging animal” after he hit the shot but his son should been paying attention as this human being came towards him. I understand his concern but Davis did not intentionally hit his son on purpose, he was just stuck in the crosshairs.
I also loved the fact that the article mentioned that he was Celtics fan before moving to Orlando and commented that the NBA’s overall image was “thuggish.” Here is a news-flash, if you do not like the product, do not go the games. Over-generalizations of players as being “thuggish” just make the individual who says them look uneducated.
I hope that the Celtics and the NBA do not give him an apology and honestly he is not deserved one. If Davis wants to apologize to his son, it is his choice but accidents happen. (In a related note, Davis did apologize) In the end, we should all learn from this and stay the hell out of Glen Davis’s way.
Usually, NBA postgame press conferences are rather boring to say the least. The players and coaches ramble on about the game while reporters try to go after that one singular sound-byte. The only thing of any interest is usually what the players are wearing.
This is where we get our NBA Fashionista, Jill St. Clair to comment on the fashions of the NBA. For this edition, we have that red suit that Aaron Brooks wore during the postgame of the Rockets win in game four against the Los Angeles Lakers. The history behind the suit jacket was the Houston Rockets decided to make them for each member of the team. (Ironically, Yao’s did not fit)
“I’ll be honest. Red is one of those colors that usually everyone can pull off. However, the red just doesn’t work with him. The red is just so bright that is makes an HDTV want to commit suicide.
It also did not help that he decided to wear that ANDRE 3000 bow-tie with it. It just does not work with anything. It makes you look like that your twenty-year old chasing Cougars around the block in the 1950’s.
I’ll give him credit for being a solid employee by wearing the jacket itself but that should be the only time he should wear it.”
I’ll agree with Jill on this one, the jacket itself made Brooks look like he fell into a vat of red paint. Brooks had a big game but not big fashion-sense.
There was some sad news in the NBA today as former Hall of Fame head coach Chuck Daly passed away from pancreatic cancer. Daly will mostly be remembered for coaching the Detroit Pistons to back to back championships in 1989 and 1990.
Daly’s Piston teams epitomized toughness and glamorized defense for the first time since the Auerbach Celtics. Daly was known as a player’s coach who gave player’s leeway since Daly figured out that without the players, he would not be successful. (Most famously, gave Isiah Thomas a day off because of something negative written in a newspaper about him.) The “Bad Boy” Pistons led by Isiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer, Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman, John Salley and a host of others became one of the most feared teams in NBA history. The Piston players nick-named him “Big Daddy Rich” as a show of support and camaraderie for Daly.
Daly also coached the Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets, and the Orlando Magic during his coaching tenure in the NBA. In my opinion his most impressive coaching job came in the lock-out short season of 1998-1999 where he took a team with Darrell Armstrong, Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, Horace Grant, and a random collection of NBA veterans to an Atlantic Division title at 33-17. Although the Magic lost in the first round, this might be one of the biggest underdog stories in NBA history that no one seems to mention.
Daly was also head coach of the 1992 Dream Team where he won a gold medal in Barcelona (Making him the only coach with an NBA title and Olympic Gold Medal) with arguably the greatest collection of talent in Olympic history. It is a feat within itself to deal with that many talented players but also to have the team ready every night to face an inferior opponent. The average margins of victory for those games were 44 points.
Chuck Daly was also known for his stylish suits that seemed to attract the attention near the middle of his career with the Pistons. However, Daly was more substance that style anyway. Daly’s overall coaching record in the NBA was 638-437 and his playoff record was 76-51 which ranks in the top ten of the best playoff records of all-time.
During the beginning of the NBA playoffs, many coaches and NBA analysts donned “CD” pins in honor of Chuck Daly to fight the disease which would later claim his life. Daly died his home early Saturday morning with family by his side.
Daly was a Hall of Fame coach, an innovator in NBA coaching strategies, and one of the best basketball minds to ever grace the game. Daly was 79.
Remember the home invasion that Antoine Walker had in Chicago back in 2007? Well, the guy who carried the robbery out 30-year old Antoine Larkins was recently sentenced to 21 years in prison.
A 30-year-old man has been sentenced to 21 years in prison for robbing NBA star Antoine Walker at gunpoint at his Chicago home.
Antoine Larkins pleaded guilty Tuesday to home invasion charges. He and three others were initially charged with armed robbery, aggravated kidnapping and home invasion.
Authorities said Walker was pulling into his garage on July 9, 2007, when several armed men ambushed him, forced him and an assistant inside his home and took a car, cash and jewelry.
Well, I think that sentence might deter someone from trying to rob Antoine Walker again. I’ll be a little honest and say that is one of the few times that I have seen a twenty-year sentence for a home invasion where no one was seriously injured. I’m not saying that I disagree with the sentencing but more along the lines that twenty-one years is a long time to be in jail for a robbery where no one was injured.
Just to think, someone got 21 years in prison for robbing Antoine Walker. I wonder what the logic was. “Yeah, I’m going to get a group of my boys and then rob Antoine Walker? I might get some money and jewelry.” I’m missing the logic in this. Just to think their sentencing may have been worst if they robbed someone who was a better player than Antoine Walker. Robbing Lebron James probably gets you life in prison.
Oh well, we officially proven the theory, Robbing Antoine Walker=Bad Idea.
Recently I came across a video of someone shooting the JumboTron in Boston during game 5 of the Celtics series against the Chicago Bulls. During the video you can hear the person who is recording it shout out “McLovin” as someone appears on the big screen.
Well fans that is Christopher Mintz-Plasse from the movie “Superbad.” Plasse is a fan of the Boston Celtics and has been spotted at many Celtics games including game 5 of the Boston Celtics series against the Chicago Bulls where he was seen in that video.
It says on his Wikipedia page that his father grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts which would make some logic sense that he might be a bred Celtics fans.
I’ll be honest that I am not the biggest fan of the Boston Celtics but they cannot be all bad since McLovin is a fan. I’ll leave all of you with the Best of McLovin from Superbad:
During the Houston Rockets upset of Los Angeles Lakers in game one of their second round series, a friend of mine asked a question regarding who was that small-guard blowing past the Lakers. I got to tell him that was point guard Aaron Brooks.
Brooks was an undersized point guard coming out of the college with the Oregon Ducks or at least what scouts thought when he was drafted by the Houston Rockets with the 26th overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft. Honestly with names such as Jason Smith, Javaris Crittenton, and Jared Dudley going in front of him, it appeared that Brooks would be another solid college player who would never amount to anything in the NBA.
Then a funny thing happened, Brooks in his rookie year was a solid producer off the bench and with the trade of former point guard Rafer Alston to Orlando, Brooks was given the chance to start for the Rockets in his second season as a pro.
Brooks has never looked back since that day, during the regular season he averaged 14.0 ppg and 4.5 apg as a starter. Over the Rockets recent playoff-run his current averages are 15.9 ppg, 4.0 apg, and 2.7 rpg, Brooks does not appear to be letting up any time soon.
One thing it looks like that the scouts might have overlooked about Brooks was that his lack of size was a hindrance but he get past that deficiency based on his pure speed to get to the basket. Brooks ball-handling and court-vision is important for a Rockets team that has the towering Yao Ming and head-case turned headliner Ron Artest. Brooks will also need to step into the third scoring option if the Rockets are to move onto the Western Conference Finals.
After the Rockets game one win, head coach Rick Adelman in a post-game press conference stated that, “I got give Aaron Brooks a lot of credit. He came in and I told him at the beginning of the 3rd quarter (first time-out) that he has got to be more aggressive. He has make things happens for us, attack them and he did that.”
Aaron Brooks might not be the biggest name in the Lakers-Rockets series or be the tallest player. In the end, Aaron Brooks size might be his greatest asset.
The Atlanta Hawks have finally won a first-round playoff series; it was their first win since 1999. That team featured Mookie Blaylock, Dikembe Mutombo, Steve Smith and some guy named Chris Crawford. Well, it seems that Josh Smith is happy that the team has finally cast away that feeling of futility and taken a certain animal off the cities back.
Also, what type of monkey was it anyway? Was it a gorilla, orangutan, spider monkey, or my favorite, evil monkey.
However, there should be some congratulations in store for the Hawks since they finally did win a playoff series and not against a push-over team. The Hawks reward for beating the Miami Heat, they get to meet the Cleveland Cavaliers in the next round.
Usually, most blogs like to go in-depth with their analysis of the playoff games and try to intelligently have you learn something about the game or the teams. However, we like to think it is more entertaining to just do LOL CATZ parodies. (All parodies are done for the games played on 5/03/09 and 05/04/09)
The finality of the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics series was Saturday night’s game seven which ended in a Celtics victory by the score of 109-99. Then almost 98% of the time, someone from ESPN/Fox Sports/Blogodome decided to call it the “greatest series or the greatest first round series ever played.”
Now, I’m not going to complain about that it was not a entertaining series and possibly might be the best series that we might see this season, this is nowhere even close to the best first round series of all-time.
The 1989 Cavaliers-Bulls match-up had the “shot”, the 2007 Warriors-Mavericks had more excitement since no one expected a number eight seed to take out a 67-win team, the 1984 Knicks-Pistons series which included the duel between Bernard King and Isiah Thomas. I could keep going but I figure that it might bore you a bit. (Honestly, there are a lot more.)
Why do we figure that this one was the greatest of all-time? Well, there seems to be two factors here. The first one is the amount of overtime games that the Celtics and Bulls had. It included seven overtime which was most in NBA history for a series. I’m not going to doubt that watching an overtime game is entertaining but most of these overtime games were filled with bad shots and bad decision-making. The lack of fouling by Chicago up by three in double overtime in game six is still haunting me as we speak.
The ESPN factor has to be there when judging the series since we like to use the Worldwide leader as our measuring stick. These are the top two of the three locations that ESPN loves to pimp out. Why would ESPN not to try and pimp this series as the greatest ever? Sure, there are other sources saying that the series is one of the best that they have ever seen but these were the same people saying that the Mavericks-Warriors was the best first round series that they have ever seen two years ago. We flip-flop because it is the current “it” moment.
The lack of a single memorable moment does hurt the series. Sure there was Noah’s dunk which ended in a three-point play in game six, Allen’s 51 point performance in game 6, Gordon’s game tying three to send it to double-overtime in game four, and Allen’s game winner in game two. However, there is no clear-cut moment that I will remember from this series since Boston took the series. If it was Chicago, then I would at least have a memorable moment on some level.
Will we remember this series in about four months? To be honest, I will not and I have a feeling that a fair amount of you will do the same. Sure it will be fresh in the minds of Bulls and Celtics fans but they will tend to forgot it in Chicago due to the Bulls loss and the Celtics fans will forget about the series if the Celts do not win an NBA title.
Is it the most memorable first round series right now? Yep, it is. Will it be the most overrated first round series ever? It might be but only until we find another one to replace it with.
If you have been unable to turn on your television recently, then you have not probably heard of the recent disease that is sweeping the nation in the “Swine Flu.”
Most of you have probably bought masks, loaded up on Vitamin C, or decided it’s not worth the bother since the odds of you dying in a car wreck are more likely than catching the “Swine Flu.”
However, now the NBA has to take note since two of the teams still currently involved in the NBA playoffs: The Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets, are currently in the heart of the “Swine Flu” pandemic. (Courtesy of Sports Illustrated)
"We are monitoring this very closely and following all of the advice of the CDC and the World Health Organization," said NBA spokesman Tim Frank. "There has been no suggestion or direction from any government or health officials that public gatherings should be cancelled or avoided."
On Wednesday the Rockets issued a statement through the Toyota Center.
"We are aware of the situation and concerned for all involved," the statement read. "We have been working with city health officials and the mayor's office, as well as monitoring the situation from state and regional authorities. At this time, Toyota Center has been advised to continue its normal operations pertaining to Rockets and Aeros playoff games as well as concerts. We will continue communicating with the various agencies and will keep our fans apprised if any operational changes are implemented based on the directives we receive from local authorities."
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said in an email to SI.com Wednesday night that the Mavericks were closely monitoring the situation but weren't taking any specific precautions at this time.
"We are keeping up with all health alerts," said Cuban. "Its a moving target that we will keep close tabs on."
I think this might be the first time that someone has mentioned that the Swine Flu is a moving target. All we need is to find some skeet shooters to find the disease and shoot at it.
All kidding aside, this is a serious issue that most Americans have to deal with and honestly would not surprise me if a playoff game could be affected by this. Then we will have to figure out a location for those games to be played at but we will wait and see since the “Swine Flu” has not passed the pandemic stage.
In my opinion, I’ll seclude myself in my living space until the disease passes or at least until it’s downgraded to “House-Wife Freakout.” However the one positive is at least it gives us ample time to watch the NBA Playoffs in the comfort of our own homes.
Usually, I am a fan of LOLCATZ and other LOL sites. However with the intensity of the NBA playoffs, there seem to be a shortage on LOL's based on the NBA Playoffs.
That need will now be fixed, all of these pictures are from the games played on 4/31/2009. Enjoy.
