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Kevin Martin is a Scorer
2007-11-25 18:45:00
Taking a look at the stats leaders for the NBA as of today reveals much of what you'd expect it to be. The listings seem to make sense for the most part. Perhaps the biggest surprise comes here from the scoring leaders though:NBA Scoring Leaders:LeBron James CLE 30.9Kobe Bryant LAL 27.0Carmelo Anthony DEN 25.8Kevin Martin SAC 25.2Tracy McGrady HOU 25.0Lebron, Kobe, Melo..Expected. T-Mac also a usual suspect. But Kevin Martin ? Very surprising. Last season he came on strong, but didn't expect him to keep it up. He averaged about 3 points his rookie season, then went up to about 10ppg and then doubled it to 20. Now he's sitting pretty with the other scorers. He's got to be one of the most deceptive scorers around because looking at his body type you wouldn't expect it. He's also picking up extra points with Mike Bibby sidelined (out 10-12 weeks after thumb surgery). A small guy like AI was up there but that's AI. Kevin Martin is definitely a guy who flew under the rad...

Around the NBA 11.24.07
2007-11-24 09:00:00
Here's some of what went down over the past 24 hours within the NBA, including a return to games after the Thanksgiving holiday:- Baron Davis did everything but sell popcorn and sodas at the Warriors vs Wizards game on Friday night. The guard recorded a triple double with an impressive 33 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists to lead Golden State to a 123-115 win over Washington.- ROY, Roy helped the Blazers defeat the Kings 87-84 with his game winning layup. - The battle of the big men between the Diesel and Yao went to Shaq daddy, as Miami finally won a home game and sent the Rockets to a 6th straight loss.- The Phoenix Suns have now risen to their best start in franchise history after defeating the Clippers tonight 113-94. Phoenix ties the mark of its 1980-81 squad with an 11-2 mark. The games between Phoenix and Boston just might be the ones to watch this year!- Best of the East D-Howard & Orlando continue to roll. Howard notched another double double with 34 points and 17 re...

How the NBA Gives Thanks
2007-11-22 01:54:00
(Above: D Wade serves up Turkey meal courtesy of NBA.com)The NBA and its players definitely lend a helping hand for Thanksgiving. Most NBA teams had their players serving food to those in need so they could enjoy a good traditional holiday meal. Here's how several of the teams give assistance to those in need during the Thanksgiving holiday.- The Nets served Thanksgiving dinner at the Montclair Citadel Salvation Army.- The TWolves served meals to Purple Heart recipients and military families of Minneapolis. - The Pistons distributed meals throughout Pontiac, Michigan for Lighthouse charities. - The Pacers gave holiday groceries and tickets to a Pacers game for families at the Pacers Academy.- The Knicks are hosting food drives up until December 13 for NYC families in need.- The Lakers served Turkey dinner to families at the LA Boys & Girls Club.- The Bucks helped out at Milwaukee's House of Peace holiday dinner program.- The Nuggets' Marcus Camby runs an annual "Cambyland Tur...
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New Beast of the East
2007-11-20 12:47:00
The Orlando Magic defeated the New Orleans Hornets 95-88 on Monday night, pushing their record to an impressive 10-2. The Magic would seem to be amongst the upper eschelon in the East now, as the Bulls have fallen off the map. And there also seems to be a passing of the torch. Recent reports and analysts have discussed how Shaq is beaten up and just not the same as before. Shaquille, the former Magic star, now gives way to a new star in Orlando, the East, and the NBA, the youngster named Dwight Howard. The Orlando Magic were slightly criticized when they passed over a guy like Emeka Okafor in the draft a few years ago. After all, Okafor had stayed in college, while Howard had just attended his high school prom. Okafor had the solid skills and made the grade, but the Orlando head office saw D-Howard's potential. And that potential is starting to pay major dividends. The Magic are on pace to probably be contending with Boston and Detroit for the Eastern Conference title. Dw...
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Start your All-Star Voting!
2007-11-17 01:56:00
As you know, All-Star voting is now underway for the 2008 NBA All Star game. According to All Star 2008 Central, there's 65 days left to vote too. NBA.com has a look at 10 guys with a good chance to make their first ever all-star game:Al Harrington, Andre Iguodola, Al Jefferson, Richard Jefferson, Chris Kaman, Corey Maggette, Kevin Martin, Chris Paul, Zach Randolph, Deron WilliamsView NBA.com's discussion of each of the above and below players here.And here's The Next 10:LaMarcus Aldridge (POR), Marcus Camby (DEN), Jamal Crawford (NYK), Danny Granger (IND), Brandon Roy (POR), John Salmons (SAC), Josh Smith (ATL), Jason Terry (DAL), Hedo Turkoglu (ORL), David West (NOH)Out of the list I'd definitely give Chris Paul, Richard Jefferson and Deron Williams a good early shot at making the team. Below is the flash widget you can add to your Myspace, Blog, Netvibes, Google and many other sites. Stop by NBA.com to pick one up, or click below to go vote!
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Kobe's Block Party & Celtics 7-0
2007-11-16 08:59:00
You're going to get sick of hearing about a few things this season. One is how great the Boston Celtic s are doing, and the other is the constant chatter about "will Kobe be playing in LA or somewhere else?" Right now those two topics seem to dominate the NBA.The Celtics of course is a great story in basketball. Some coaches and GM's from other teams even said they underestimated the Celtics being this good. But if you look at the 3 stars they have, they each offer a unique necessary component which a lot of teams lack. You've got probably the smoothest and most consistent outside shot from Ray Allen. You've got the consumate team leader do-it-all type in Paul Pierce, who's been in Celtics hell for years now. And then you add in former MVP Kevin Garnett, a guy who can rebound and, well you know the rest. Basically, they are the real deal at 7-0 and this is something great for Celtics fans. Then you've got the Kobe story. Right now, he's still a Laker. There's been ...
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NBA All-Star Voting Begins!
2007-11-15 17:01:00
On Wednesday the official 2008 NBA All-Star ballot was unveiled. The game will be held in New Orleans on February 17, 2008. Voting will take place through January 13 of 08 to select the starting 5 for each side of the game. There's 60 players to choose from in both the East and West. With the shift of players to the East it will be very interesting to see which players are voted in. Kevin Garnett has been a mainstay on the West side for years now, which means he will probably be getting the starting vote now in the East.There's 24 guards, 24 forwards and 12 centers to choose your 5 starting players from in both the East and West. You can begin voting Thursday, October 15th at NBA.com There will also be ballots and ballot boxes at NBA arenas, T-Mobile retail locations, and through wireless phone. This year will also feature the debut of a special voting widget that bloggers, website owners and others can place on their sites, blogs or profiles. The widget will allow site...
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Mr. Jackson, are you for real?
2007-11-14 21:37:00
Phil Jackson is not one who holds back when making statements to the media about his teams and players. But he decided to take things a bit too far with his comments following the Lakers loss to the San Antonio Spurs last night. The Lakers suffered a 107-92 loss in San Antonio despite poor play from team leader Tim Duncan (5 points). Jackson compared the way his team lost to the award-winning movie, "Brokeback Mountain", saying that there was a lot of "penetration and kickout". Members of the media had a chuckle after his comment, but a day later there's not as many people laughing.David Stern was most likely not amused and may be handing out a fine for the post game comments. Jackson will probably make a public apology for his comments, as he is a Hall of Fame coach. Hopefully Phil understands that his remarks went just a bit too far and he recoils on the statement. The Lakers will play the red-hot Houston Rockets Wednesday night at 9PM on ESPN. In other news, the Stephon Ma...
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Stephon Marbury, Get Back 2 Reality
2007-11-14 01:10:00
On Tuesday during a Knicks practice New York Times reported that Stephon Marbury stormed out angrily after he was informed by coach Isiah Thomas he wouldn't be starting Tuesday night's game. Marbury apparently left Phoenix, and the Knicks didn't make it clear where Marbury went to with a game against the Suns tonight. This would only seem to reinforce the poor image many athletes get for being crybabies and whiners. It really makes you wonder what Stephon is thinking?Here's a few notes Stephon might like to review:1) You're getting payed millions of dollars to play basketball for one of the most storied and possibly scrutinized teams in all of basketball. Read that again: "millions of dollars".2) There's plenty of guys who would love to get paid millions of dollars not to start for a NBA team, and come off the bench.3) You're not the coach. You defer to the team coach and if you don't agree, you finish out practice as best you can and take the issue to management for th...
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Free Throw Shooting Experiments
2007-11-12 18:34:00
A recent episode of Fox Sports Net's "Sports Science" had an interesting discussion of the "X Factors" in sports. In terms of basketball, they conducted experiments to see what affects a player shooting free throws. First they took at look at what hinders shooting more during a game; sound or sight distractions.At 116 decibels the Sacramento Kings' Arco Arena is considered the loudest measured arena in all of basketball. A college player named Brandon shot free throws in a somewhat empty gym. At first strobe lights and crazy fans were introduced near the baseline as distractions to test sight hinderances. Then a band named Throttle played guitar and drum music at 120 decibels. Brandon shot 70% with the visual distractions. With the band playing at such a loud rate, Brandon's heart rate spiked up and his FT% fell to 6 for 10, a 30% drop from before the sound. Brandon was 70% with visual distractions, and 60% with noise distractions, a slight difference. The experiment pr...
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NBA Standings Analysis 11.11.07
2007-11-11 21:53:00
Checking out the NBA standings even though it's still early, there's some surprises. The division leaders as of today are Boston, Detroit and Orlando. Nobody is too surprised by the Celtics red-hot start. Orlando is definitely on the rise thanks to Dwight Howard who continues to shine. And Detroit is a stable team which plays like most teams should. But many are surprised by Chicago's lackluster start and the Wizards winless start. The Wizards do have Gilbert Arenas back, but he is reportedly trying to recover from knee/leg surgery still. Miami is also winless and sorely misses D-Wade. That most likely explains the new Converse commercials where Wade is shown in an empty arena announcing himself. Out West, not too many surprises. The teams you'd expect to be good are good (Utah, Denver, Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas), those you'd expect to be bad are bad (Seattle, Minneosta, Memphis). However, the Clippers would have to be the surprise at 4-1. Elton Brand h...
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Yi vs. Yao: The Global Good & Bad
2007-11-10 21:09:00
Friday night marked a historic sporting event which may have had over 200 million witnesses, making it possibly the "most watched sports event" ever, according to ESPN's Sportscenter. The game was the Milwaukee Bucks visiting the Houston Rockets, meaning China's two NBA stars were facing off. It was the rookie Yi, vs the established veteran Yao, making it a contest of global proportions.Yao got the better of the stats matchup and the Rockets won the game. Apparently fans in China were tuning in during early morning about 9AM or so there to check out the live game which was quite exciting for them. Global ly this represents a great thing for the NBA, as it has attracted a very large foreign fan base. It's been the talk of NBA for several years now too, the global expansion and how more European players have started to take over. Cases in point are Germany's Dirk Nowitski, Canada's Steve Nash and Spain's Pau Gasol. Yao and Yi bring even more appeal on a foreign level with ...
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NBA - "Where Amazing Happens"
2007-11-10 00:56:00
The new advertisements run by the NBA for the 2007-08 Season are a thing of beauty. They are backed by the moving piano music of "Everyday" by Carly Comando, the ads display still pictures of various NBA players and situations with inspirational quotes. There also appears to be a commercial done for each NBA team, which airs in its respective region. The Celtics version aired here a few times during their game Wednesday night, and most likely the Nets and Knicks versions will be showing as well.You can check out several of the new ads over at YouTube. The first 4 are legitimate, they come from the NBA's YouTube channel. After that is anyone's guess, but the last two are definitely fan created. You'll see in the final link below, a fan was a bit crude in terms of NBA basketball love, but it may give you some laughs.NBA - Where Amazing HappensWhere Amazing Happens: HeartWhere Amazing Happens: AnticipationWhere Amazing Happens: ImmovableWhere Amazing Happens: Milwaukee BucksFa...

Celtic Pride Restored
2007-11-08 20:18:00
Ok believe the hype. The Boston Celtic s are not even messing around. After just 3 games, they've racked up 3 wins and 2 of them were by 20 points or more. The latest was a murder of the Denver Nuggets, who were supposedly playing some good ball themselves. You'd think a team with Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby would stand their ground. However, things didn't work that way in Beantown last night. Celtics were up by almost 40 at one point and finished with a huge win.Let's face it, Danny Ainge was getting criticized heavily for years as the Celtics looked dismal, but now he's smiling ear-to-ear as he's restored Celtic pride. They even ran special commercials during the game last night. You may have seen the ads that NBA has been running with the piano background music and various phrases such as "Where Regret Happens" or "Where short shorts happened". Well this one was all about the Celtics and most importantly the restoration of "Celtic...
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The Bad News Bulls?
2007-11-08 01:06:00
Something is amuck in the Windy City. The Bulls are definitely the biggest surprise of the early NBA season as many fans are seeing. This team, predicted by many to be one of the top 3 out of the East has come out of the gates with a winless start, 0-4. Unexpected and almost inexplainable. According to a recent Chicago Sun-Times article, one bright spot was rookie Joakim Noah's recent debut. Despite that, one would have to wonder why is this team not winning games? Looking at the Bulls' stats, you have 4 guys scoring in double digits, with Ben Gordon leading the way at 20.5 points. Kirk Hinrich's production and Ben Wallace's production seem off and sub-par compared to what either player is capable of. Hinrich was a point guard for a Team USA squad a few summers ago and now seems like he's a rookie with just 11.5 ppg and 4 assists per game. Wallace is also playing like a bench role player picking up just 4.3 rebounds a game and 1.5 blocks. This isn't the guy Chicago w...
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Gilbert is Sorry, Sorta?
2007-11-06 23:54:00
Gilbert Arenas decided to semi-apologize for his big prediction when he wrote on his latest NBA blog. He had previously made a bold prediction that the Wizards would upset the Celts on opening night, and of course the Big 3 spoiled the party."They had it and I had to eat my words on national television. 0-1 on predictions is not the way you want to start out the season, especially me with my mouth.But I did have two fans sitting on the front row wearing No. 0. They sat right next to the bench. They were two really good fans.I've been going to Boston for many years now and I've never seen anything like that. I know most of you were watching it on TV, but if you were there you could hear them just chanting my name which was beautiful because I don't think even Michael Jordan got his name chanted in another arena like that.Even though mine was chanted for hatred, it felt good. Now there's a bond between me and the Boston fans. "Agent 0 will probably be keeping his predictions to h...
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NBA News and Notes 11.05.07
2007-11-06 00:37:00
Here's some news and notes from around the NBA with the season in its first full week of action.Elton Brand and Greg Oden aren't the only stars forced to sit out for most of or all of the NBA season. Adam Morrison of the Charlotte Bobcats is now out for the season with an ACL tear in his left knee, probably one of the worst injuries someone can see in basketball or pro sports. Morrison will have surgery on the knee in about 5 days. Despite the injury, Seattle Times reports Morrison is trying to stay positive.Players of the week for the first NBA week were Indiana Pacer Danny Granger and Houston Rocket Tracy McGrady. Both teams are off to 3-0 starts in their respective Conferences, and perhaps Indiana was the bigger surprise of the 2. Strong play from Granger indicates he may have a breakout season to lead this team, with J O'Neal struggling with injuries. T-Mac is more expected although he and teammmate Yao will need to also stay healthy this season to keep the Rockets cont...
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It's Early for the East
2007-11-04 13:11:00
The clocks have been moved back 1 hour for Daylight Savings Time, so it's early on the East coast. It's also early for the Eastern Conference, but there's been some interesting developments so far.- The surprise of the young NBA season so far would have to be an undefeated Indiana Pacers team. The Pacers have gone 3-0 beating the Memphis Grizzlies, Washington Wizards and Miami Heat. The Pacers team webpage is already saying the Pacers are a team who's able to find ways to win and asking if they might fit into the playoff picture. If so, the East is more competitive than we all thought. The Bucks and Sixers haven't looked terrible so far and they were predicted to be near the bottom of the Conference this season. Remember, it's still early.- The other surprise although it is early is the Chicago Bulls. They've dropped games to both the Pacers mentioned above and the Bucks, who are two teams you might have considered out of contention this year. Looking at stats, Ben G...
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Buy an NBA Team for $350 Mill
2007-11-03 19:41:00
For a cool 350 million dollars you could be the proud owner of the Orlando Magic. It seems a bit cheap if you think about it, adding up the ticket sales, merchandising and salaries of all their players, staff, dancers, employees and executives. Sports Business Radio has an August 2006 article which lists 5 teams out you can buy each for under 350 million. They include the Portland Trailblazers, Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers and Memphis Grizzlies. Not too bad at all. Particularly appealing, and probably now selling for a much higher price, are the Trailblazers with future prodigy, Greg Oden, considered a franchise/cornerstone player.In related news a website called Make Money with Super Affiliate Zac Johnson discusses how a woman sold the rights to the internet domain name "bobcats.com" to the Bobcats for $50,000 which just might be nice for most of us, but could have been a bargain sale for the Bobcats.
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Lamar Odom's Car Crash Victim
2007-11-02 16:41:00
TMZ.com is reporting that Los Angeles Lakers Forward, Lamar Odom, has paralyzed a woman's left leg due to an auto accident he caused. The accident occurred when Odom ran a red light and then T-boning the 37 year old woman's car. Odom was driving to the Lakers' Tuesday morning shootaround before their season-opening game against the Houston Rockets. The jaws of life and firefighters worked frantically to get the woman out of the wreck. The woman has reported she is "keeping her chin up" and staying strong. As some commentors at the site have noted, most people would keep their chin up when they will be settling an auto accident suit with an NBA player, or most any celebrity. Odom reportedly suffered a slight concussion from the accident, and he is still recovering from shoulder surgery.TMZ.com has photos from the accident here.
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Lebron Wants Triple Doubles
2007-11-01 21:59:00
Just 10 points for King James in the Cavs' season opener Wednesday night, against the Dallas Mavericks. Lebron was kept in check by some tough D, but he surely will represent in his next game. It's rare to see a guy of his caliber have back to back poor performances.In related news, Lebron has openly admitted he wouldn't mind matching Oscar Robertson's record of averaging a Triple Double for an entire season. Robertson achieved this way back in the 1961-62 season, just his second year in the league. James has several seasons under his belt, but these days that type of stat line seems tougher to keep up over the course of a season. Jason Kidd said he wanted to achieve this last year but fell short of the goal, and he scores far less points than James. It seems that one of these 2 guys could be the type to pull this off if anyone in the league can.From Cleveland.com sports, James said:"As an individual accomplishment, what Oscar Robertson did by averaging a triple double ov...

NBA Season Begins...
2007-10-31 14:52:00
Last night the NBA season opened with just 3 games on the schedule. Here's a quick look and some thoughts.Jazz defeated the Warriors 117 to 96Carlos Boozer scored 32 pts along with 15 boards. I expect him to be in the top 10 maybe even top 5 scorers this season and to have a big All-star season for the Jazz this year. Deron Williams added 24 points and should continue to become the star player h was looking like last year.Spurs defeat Blazers 106 to 97Opening night action was supposed to see the big rookie Greg Oden match up against the champion Spurs. However, Oden is out for the season, so Mr. Duncan reigned supreme with 24 points and 13 rebounds, after getting his championship ring.Rockets 95 to Lakers 93The closest game of the night, Kobe Bryant showed his usual scoring prowess with 45 points total. T-Mac went off for 30 points and added 6 rebounds. Big man Yao added 25 points and 12 boards. It was Shane Battier who hit a tiebreaking 3 pointer with just 2.5 seconds left...
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Eastern Conference Predictions
2007-10-30 16:00:00
With the season starting in less than a day now, here's a look at how the now competitive Eastern side just might finish out. Teams ranked 1 through 8 indicate playoff position.1) Chicago Bulls - A strong, and very talented group all around. They'll be in the Finals, but runner-ups to the fast and high scoring Phoenix Suns.2) Cleveland Cavaliers - Last year's Finals runner ups, Lebron will be hungry to get his team there again, but will fall short with tougher competition in the East this year.3) Boston Celtics - Will the first season for the "Big 3" spell a championship? It will most likely take a year to develop, but they'll be battling for the top spot at the end of the year.4) Detroit Pistons - This team has held together many of its key contributors for years now including Billups, Wallace (Sheed) and Rip Hamilton. However just like Hamilton's name, the team may become RIP should they not produce come playoff time5) Miami Heat - Wade should be back to prime form and now ...
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Western Conference Predictions
2007-10-30 00:48:00
Ranking the teams in the order I think they will finish the season out:1) Phoenix Suns - Expected NBA champions will run to the title. 2) Dallas Mavs - Another disappointing season with no title?3) San Antonio Spurs - Defending champs will fall short as they get outrun.4) Denver Nuggets - Melo and AI's first full season together should be a treat.5) Houston Rockets - Success of this team will rise and fall with Yao Ming. New coach Rick Adelman may help. 6) Utah Jazz - Tough to place them 6th, especially after the Jazz' great playoff run last year.7) Los Angeles Lakers - Kobe's still the man, but that's all the Lakers have when it comes to playoffs.8) New Orleans Hornets - Chris Paul and company finally break into the playoffs, but will get bounced out 1st round.9) Golden State Warriors - Losing J-Rich makes them miss the playoffs, just barely.10) Sacramento Kings - They might barely be in the mix for the final playoff spot in the West, but don't have enough to hold their own w...
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Shaq & Shaunie Splitting
2007-09-05 17:35:00
It appears one of the biggest and most dominant forces in all of the NBA will be playing a new game; the singles game. Shaq uille O'Neal and his wife, Shaunie, are reportedly splitting up. From NBC5.com: "The couple has four children together -- Shareef, 7, Amirah, 5, Shaqir, 4, and Me'Arah, 1 -- and Shaq has a daughter, Taahirah, and Shaunie has a son, Myles, from previous relationships, the
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Team USA Grabs Gold
2007-09-03 02:57:00
Mission complete. On Sunday, Team USA defeated Argentina 118-81 to take home the Gold Medals in the FIBA Tournament of the Americas. This earns the US team a spot at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Jason Kidd took the team captain trophy. Puerto Rico took Bronze, while Argentina's loss to the US earned them the Silver. On Saturday, the U.S. National Team pulled away for another convincing win at
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NBA Star Troubles
2007-09-02 00:30:00
In recent news, several NBA stars seem to be getting themselves into trouble. Here are 3 recent NBA or former NBA player episodes/incidents. 1) James Posey - Reckless Driving "Boston Celtics forward James Posey was suspended Friday for one game by the league for pleading nolo contendre to reckless driving, in violation of the law of the State of Florida. The 30-year-old Posey will serve his
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Dallas Stars Advertising Humor
2007-09-02 00:23:00
A bit of an NHL tie-in to the whole Tim Donaghy NBA referee scandal here. The Dallas Stars decided to use some advertising on a billboard (above) involving the NBA's latest problem. From dallasnews.com: "If you've seen the billboard near American Airlines Center, you might think the Stars should be sent to the penalty box for slashing another sport when it's down. Or you could soak in the
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Stern Stands by Refs
2007-09-01 02:12:00
David Stern originally said he believed the illegal gambling actions of former ref Tim Donaghy were isolated. Now that Donaghy has stated he will name names of refs involved in gambling, Stern is taking an approach of letting hisst refs do the talking. Stern gave the media comments regarding the matter while he was watching Team USA in Vegas. From afp.google.com: "NBA chief David Stern said
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USA's Mission Almost Complete
2007-09-01 02:03:00
Team USA continues to dominate all competition at the FIBA Americas Tournament, as they should. Lead by Kobe, Lebron and Melo, opposing teams are simply being left in the dust as the US players dazzle the crowd. The latest victory came over Argentina, and had one of the closer margins of victory. However, Argentina was considered the toughest competition for the US team in the tournament.
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