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LINKBAWL: 4/15/08
2008-04-16 04:29:00
A touching article on autism from Carolyn at the And One blog.Ball in Europe's Final Four is finally here! Whoo Hoo!Basketbawful's worst of the night.Hardwood Paroxysm covering Deshawn Stevenson now that Ron Artest is done for the year.Sports Sayers not surprised that Michael Beasley is coming to the NBA?Sports Tsar just "O RLY'd" Carmelo. Haha.Odenized letting us all see the Cavs cheap win. Thank you.What the hell? Yes! The 30 foot Asian dunk!On Deck Circle and their take on the MVP race.Empty the Bench reminding who was freakin' horrible this year. Yes you Kirk Hinrich.Fear the Beard not feeling good after last night's Warriors meltdown between Nellie and the Beard.

The "Sort of" NBA Season Ending Award Show
2008-04-14 22:48:00
The NBA regular season has come to a close! And what does that mean? Award s time! Whoo hoo!We’ll need to determine an MVP, 6th Man of the Year, and Coach of the Year plus a few other special awards before the Playoffs start. Should you expect surprises? Of course! Should expect controversy? Of course! This is Le Basketbawl after all isn’t it? Let’s get right down to it.Most Valuable Pre-Madonna (MVP) Kobe Bryant. Why? Because he threw the biggest tissy fit this world has ever seen in the off season. “I’m done in L.A. and there is nothing anyone can do to change my mind!” Oh really “Aston Martin Jumper”?It was like Nick Saban telling Dolphins fans he would not be coaching Alabama no matter what, but signed a multi-year deal with them a couple of days later. It was like Shawn Kemp telling his 9th baby’s mama, “You really are the one Suga!” It was like Mark Cuban banning bloggers even…though…he is one. It was like Stephon Marbury in the back of a limousine wit...
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10 Worst Possible NBA Playoff Headlines
2008-04-14 19:31:00
1. “The Finals are set, Magic vs. Jazz!”Oh lord…could you have a bigger ratings killer than that? I guess we would get to see Dwight Howard dunk all over Boozer for 4-5 games which would be fantastic. I’m always up for a former Dukie getting his head slammed in by a ball. Does Rashard Lewis still play in the NBA? Really? And how much are the Magic paying him?2. “Stern still sticking to bench rule! Suns down Shaq, Amare and Barbosa.”If the Spurs and Suns actually do face each other in the first round you better expect some fireworks, controversy and plenty of “Big Shot Bob”. Although his teammates might want to remind him that the Diesel is on the other bench now and checking miniature white guys into scorers’ tables will not be tolerated.3. “MVP! MVP! MVP!”Mimicking the chants heard every time Kobe steps to the line and when he drops 65 on the Nuggets. (If they actually make it to the Finals…spare me.)4. “CP3! MVP!”See #3 and insert Chris Paul. Also expec...
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2008 Nike Hoop Summit Recap
2008-04-13 06:30:00
I would say the future of USA basketball sits in fairly good hands after watching today's Nike Hoop Summit . It was nice to see this kids actually work hard on a basketball court rather than that McDonald's All-American dunk/spam fest we are all accustomed to now. The USA team was clearly better than the world team even though a few of the world members play professionally from what we understood.Recap :The game was close in the first half and then the athleticism of the USA team was too much for the world and the game soon turned into a blowout. (Recap done!)Now, the last thing I want to do is provide a complete rundown of each player so instead I'm going to talk about the few that really stood out to me with a couple little pictures added in. (Classic Kellex story telling style!)Players to watch:Team USAEveryone going to UCLA! There was a crew of soon-to-be UCLA guys. In fact there were four on the team. They all impressed me but two of them really stood out and those were ...
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Nike Hoop Summit Today!
2008-04-12 17:27:00
What up! Headed to the Nike Hoop Summit in a little while to check out all the up and comers. Should be a blast, except for the fact that it is 76 degrees here in Portland today and the sun is shining for the first time in 6 months. Oh well, basketball first right?Info on the Nike Hoop Summit here. Oregon Live video coverage here.I should be back with pictures and reports later tonight assuming that the beer from the Rose Garden isn't flowing like wine!
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The NBA Blogger Season Awards!
2008-04-10 20:45:00
Hardwood Paroxysm is running this season's NBA Blogger Awards and it is fantastic! Of course we are no where to be found, but that's ok this blog is pretty new. When did we start, in December? So yeah, we missed practically half of the season. Next year folks! (Unless you wanted to write us in!)In the meantime, make sure you participate. Here is the link to the voting. (Vote only once!)
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NBA Draft History: The White Boy Busts
2008-04-10 06:00:00
When Tyler Hansbrough and Kevin Love decide to leave college, they will have the opportunity to join a unique group of basketball players. Which group is that you say? The "White Boy Bust" group!I've heard ramblings of Kevin Love actually turning into a decent pro while Hansbrough will struggle from the beginning, but to me, they're both destined to fail. They may each possess some intangibles, but they definitely don't possess anything that Kobe, LeBron, and Melo are drinking.Here is the list they will likely be joining within the next couple of years!Andrea Bargnani - Toronto RaptorsDraft ed: 2006 - 1st OverallJust 2 years in after being drafted number one and he's actually gotten worse. The numbers are down in the sophomore season at a ripe 10.2 points and 3.7 boards. His hair is pretty though!Adam Morrison - Charlotte BobcatsDrafted: 2006 - 3rd OverallOne season played, one season torn ACL. Unlike the guy taken two spots before him, he does NOT have such pretty hair...
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Fixing the NBA's Draft Lottery? Eek!
2008-04-09 20:38:00
This article could have made it into today’s ‘NBA Article Reflecting’ but it was too good and needed its own full length reflection. Brett Edwards of AOL’s Fanhouse wrote up his and some of his colleague’s ideas to fixing the NBA Draft Lottery and that whole absurd tanking situation we are now accustomed to. He puts up some valid points, but his major idea is just not ok and never will be. (Plus he loves Dwyane Wade waaaaaay too much.) Let’s break some of these down and give my input.The first idea is to reverse the current lottery situation. In other words, he thinks it would work if instead of giving the most lottery ping pong balls to the worst team, you give them to the team that just barely missed the playoffs. Huh? So rewarding the team that worked hard enough to miss the playoffs will get the best chance at a high draft pick? I’m not totally opposed to this but where do you draw the line on this? Do you take the team with the best record that missed or do you ta...

NBA Article Reflecting: Episode 7
2008-04-09 18:45:00
Article 1: Those Bulls, eliminated.This is easily the most pathetic story of the entire NBA season don’t you think? Here is Ben Gordon after the game:“They wanted it more and played a lot harder than we did,” guard Gordon said. “A lot of their guys are playing just to stay in the NBA, so they definitely had a higher level of intensity than we showed.”You let a team, down 2 All-Stars and 4 regular rotation guys, beat you to eliminate you from the playoffs? They had more “intensity”? YOU WERE PLAYING TO KEEP YOUR PLAYOFF HOPES ALIVE. There is nothing more frustrating than this group of pre-Madonna’s wasting away all that talent. They may have had some coaching issues and few injuries this season, but come on, you are paid millions of dollars to do this and you all obviously could care less.I hope Paxson wipes out the entire team and starts over fresh because these are all classless NBA acts.Article 2: The Cavs winning that NBA Chip this year?So this is a nice li...
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LINKBAWL: 4/8/08
2008-04-09 06:28:00
freedarko.com on the NBA's supposed, soon-to-be new age limit.Sports Sayers and the continued MVP debate. Wait till Friday?The Association with the return of Sir Dirk.The Recliner GM loves them some Sixers and those Sixers just clinched a playoff spot. Whoo hoo!The BDL Bedlam champ has been announced!Celtic's Blog definitely does one of the best link posts each and every day.Pistons Nation with some press clippings. I love the Dickie V story.Twolves Blog meeting Gilbert Arenas?Blog A Bull with a great post on Calipari and his Memphis arrogance.Odenized was quick with this Lamar Odom shot on Brandon Roy. How the hell, I just watched this minutes ago?Hoops Addict was involved in the SlamBall conference call with us. Their take!Sebastian Telfair...Hoops World come on!This very interesting. A Memphis killer going to Memphis?

NBA Article Reflecting: Episode 6
2008-04-08 18:25:00
Article 1: The underclassmen headed to the NBA.This article lists out the group of kids leaving college early to hopefully make those big ol’ millions in the NBA. He should be updating the list as more declare so you may want to bookmark this one to keep them all in your sights.I’m actually not sure who many of these guys are. Like, who the hell is Lester Hudson from Tennessee-Martin? Robert Vaden from UAB? Some of these guys need to stop dreaming. Here is the list you need to know about:-Eric Gordon-Jerryd Bayless-Brooke Lopez (maybe)The rest…pfft.Article 2: Supposed boring basketball in the NBA.Here is another attempt at bashing the NBA while comparing it to the NHL. I’m not sure what kind of fan this writer is, but he is obviously blind or bitter or…I guess I probably shouldn’t say. He actually goes so far as to compare the NBA to curling. When I read articles like this, I actually laugh and then vomit. Why? Because this guy is actually getting paid to have this sort ...
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50 Reasons Being an NBA Blogger is the "S"
2008-04-07 21:27:00
Because the NBA freakin’ rocks!Because J.E. Skeets does it.Because Isiah Thomas still has a job.Because every other post of yours won’t be about steroids or Roger Clemens.You get to write about a Mamba, a King, an Agent, Aristotle, Might Mouse, and Jesus.Reading your RSS is another excuse not to watch American Idol.What the hell else would you do in the winter?Because the Western Conference exists.Because this happens. This too. You get to have your own biased unbiased ranking system.You get to spread tons of rumors.In some cases, people actually pay you to write this junk.You can verbally abuse someone about an MVP vote while hiding behind your monitor.Because Superman was born again. Because Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose and Eric Gordon are coming.Because Kevin Love won’t make it.You can meet a ton of interesting friends.The NBA has All-Star games in Las Vegas and New Orleans.Because Greg Oden’s Fro-GO-Hawk happens. Because LeBron will be in New York soon.You get to interv...
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NBA Article Reflecting: Episode 5
2008-04-07 19:11:00
Article 1: NCAA and NBA team up for youth programs. Sorry AAU!It is sort of interesting to think that the NBA and NCAA are teaming up to help the youth grow as basketball players in a more legit fashion than what, AAU ball? They are also looking at loosening the restrictions on college coaches and contacting players. I’m sure Kelvin Sampson loves this news after just being canned for it.I’m all for growing youth hoops programs in hopes of creating USA world dominance in basketball again, but the thought of allowing pro and college coaches to contact these kids even more and be a large part of their lives at such a young age is a little disturbing. This article is also taking an indirect shot at AAU programs which have been a fixture for how many years now? Why won’t the NBA partner with established programs rather than use its heavy clout to bring a competitor into this market.Of course growing up in Montana, I had zero opportunities like this. (Let me be a little bitter.)Arti...
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NBA Article Reflecting: Episode 4
2008-04-04 18:47:00
Article 1: Eric Gordon to the NBA a surprise?After reading this article about Eric Gordon, I sort of feel sorry for Indiana fans. Those are words I’m not sure come out of many basketball fans’ mouths, but after what this program has been through in the last year, how can you not?Gordon was looked at as some sort of savior even though fans knew he would only be there for such a short time. He was brilliant early on in the season but faded late with what is now being reported as a broken wrist. He and DJ White together were going to take this team back to the national stage and hopefully play for a title. And then all hell broke loose…again.It is sort of like the quote we hear now with the resurgence of the Celtics, “The NBA is just better when Boston is good.” For me and I’m sure many others, college basketball is just better when Indiana is good. We had it for half a season this year and then the invention of the century known as the cell phone crept its way into the han...
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Toolbox of the Week: David Friedman
2008-04-04 00:46:00
This will be the first episode of Toolbox of the Week and hopefully the last.The Player: David Friedman Background:Ever heard of him? No? Me neither until yesterday! He is obviously ranking pretty low on the life/importance meter isn't he?Friedman is some sort of wannabe writer/blogger. If you check out his blog, 20 Seconds Wasted (or the amount of time you would struggle to spend on this sort of slop), you will see the overwhelming sickness of self promotion he has spread everywhere.I don't recommend reading any of the material as you may find slight discomfort and possible nausea. Seriously, look how uncomfortable he looks.The Winning Moment:Fresh off an unwarranted argument with Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo a few weeks ago the guy decided to attack me!I was unfortunate fortunate enough to participate in a conference call/interview with him for the return of SlamBall. This being my first ever conference interview ever, I was without a recording device and was forced to jot every...

Interview: Pat Croce, Commissioner of SlamBall
2008-04-02 22:45:00
Without recording capabilities on my cell phone, I was forced to actually write notes by hand. I seriously can’t remember the last time I wrote so much; my chicken scratch has gotten worse over the years, that’s for sure.This will look a little informal for an interview, but seeing as most of the other attendees were recording and will likely put out a transcript, I thought I’d change it up a bit! Story time!I joined the conference promptly at 11:00 AM PST and some of the others had already joined. I was fortunate enough to hear a few bleeps on the conference line and realized I was not the last one in!Other blogs in attendance:20 Second Timeout (David)Hoops Addict (Austin)Fantasy Basketball ProsPure Point (Sara)From there we waited for Pat to come on while his assistants struggled to connect him. (Isn’t ‘working a conference line’ on their job description?) They reminded us that we had time to each ask one question with one follow up. (OK!)While on hold, the rest of us ...
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NBA Article Reflecting: Episode 3
2008-04-02 19:10:00
Article 1: Q and A with Miami Heat guard, Daequan Cook.This was a nice read especially since my initial thoughts on Cook were not good. I know this is just a printed interview, but I feel pretty good about this kid now. He looks to Shaq like a big brother and genuinely seems to be working hard to make it in the NBA. It was nice to read a second article in two days about a kid who left college early and is already planning on taking some summer courses during the off season.One interesting note from the interview was the thought of him turning 21 this month. How the hell does that work? He graduated high school, played one year of college and now is just finishing up a year in the NBA. Let’s work this out: he turned 18 graduating high school, turned 19 in college and should be turning 20 this year, right? He was obviously one of those kids that had an extra year on everyone. You know, that kid that’s parents held him back to be better than his class in sports. That idea...
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Top 25 NBA Basketball Blogs: April 2008
2008-04-02 04:45:00
The April 2008 results are in! The ranking system needed to be tweaked just a little to allow for blog growth so if a few of the scores look a little lower than last month, that is why.There were not a whole ton of jumps but some we did see some slight movement from a few blogs. Truehoop slipped a little as its Technorati ranking has officially disappeared. Le Basketbawl came in 28th for March, but due to a domain change we have dropped way back (Damnit!). Odenized made a nice push but came in at #26. I'm sure he'll be in there next month once he gets a PageRank and that Technorati ranking continues to soar.Remember that tie-breakers are decided based upon a blog's Technorati authority.Here are the March results if you would like to compare the two.Enjoy!Top 25 NBA Basketball Blog Rankings: April 2008#1FreeDarko.com6881032#2Celtic's Blog696930#3Golden State of Mind597930#4TrueHoop61010430#5Need4Sheed3 99829#6Sactown Royalty3810728#7Detroit Bad Boys588728#8Basketbawful498627#...
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LINKBAWL: 4/1/08
2008-04-02 04:10:00
It looks like Marco Belinelli really is headed back home. What the hell?Empty the Bench breaks down the Mavs, Nuggets and Warriors; all teams on the NBA "bubble." At least in the NBA you get to prove whether or not you deserve to be in by winning games.Give Me the Rock's day 154 of 170. That leaves only 16 days, what are we to do!?Slam Dunk Central on the possibility of Wilt Chamberlain on a stamp by 2010. I love Wilt, sort of. He had a ton of...err.Sports Sayers NBA power rankings!Milt Palacio takes an MVP March award in Europe. Another guy fresh out of the NBA and dominating the Euro game.Is Yao really returning for the playoffs? Mr. Asian Injury? I'll believe it when I see it.A nice blog on the Blazers learning as they are playing. Allowing young guys to play and make mistakes has been the sole reason the Blazers have had success this year.LA Ball Talk agreeing with Rich Bucher? Congrats Rich, I never thought I'd see that happen.The fall of Larry Harris in Milwaukee....

NBA Article Reflecting: Episode 2
2008-04-01 17:18:00
Article 1: Kevin Durant and Jeff Green headed back to school?The Seattle Times reported today that Jeff Green and Kevin Durant will head back to school…in the off season.I actually think this is a pretty impressive move by these two youngsters. We heard about Shaq and Vince Carter returning to receive their degrees but that was after years of playing in the NBA. Green is 24 credits shy of receiving his and could have a degree in Business or Sociology within a couple years. Durant on the other hand only attended one year and will likely take much longer at his “2 classes a summer” pace.These are good signs for the young wave of players heading into the NBA. Let’s hope that others will follow and start to set a standard for players leaving college early. There is no downside to a young kid furthering an education and growing mentally as he is handed millions of dollars. Darius Miles sure could have used a few more ethics classes couldn’t he?On a side note, the two admit to m...
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LINKBAWL: 3/31/08
2008-04-01 04:22:00
Cuzoogle putting together the best ankle busters in the NBA.The final four is set! No not that final four.Blazer's Edge held down an interview with Blazers assistant coach Monty Williams.The Association is not a fan of the Lakers' training staff.NBA fans are getting ejected these days. This is actually pretty damn funny.Mike Bibby is suing a former NBA player in an attempt to get one of his cars back. Come on Mike, just pay the bill!Shaq's new chick?Celtic's Blog with 5 reasons to follow the run to the east playoffs.Andruw Jones on his new Jordan baseball shoes. (Basketball themed of course)Michael Jordan looking at a Jupiter Island home?Str8 Hoops with his Star and Goat of the week.Kevin Garnett down on all fours? Some defense says Red's Army.Matt from Blog a Bull wondering why he is still watching the Bulls this season.

NBA Article Reflecting: Episode 1
2008-03-31 22:50:00
Article 1: LaMarcus Aldridge as the NBA’s most improved player.The first article today hit home as a Blazers fan and avid Aldridge supporter. The idea of LMA winning this award should come as no surprise to anyone with any sort of basketball IQ. The Blazers could still be considered the front runners for “Story of the Year” even with a sort of dismal second half. They have endured a few sore spots since the break including a possible season ending injury to team savior, Brandon Roy followed by a nationally known trip to 24 Hour Fitness by heralded rookie Greg Oden. The one bright spot however has been Aldridge. Hitting the 20 point mark in 9 games since the All-Star break should give this second year player the edge over some of the competition. Are Hedo Turkoglu and Beno Udrih really worthy of such an award? Who the hell is Beno anyway?Article 2: The art of the NBA nap.Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune threw out my favorite article in quite some time yesterday on NB...
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5 Reasons that Four #1's is Great
2008-03-31 18:02:00
For the first time in NCAA tournament history we have all 4 number 1 seeds making the Final Four. I couldn’t be more excited about this and this will surely be a championship to remember for years to come. Three of the four teams are from a big time conference and one for an aspiring conference; how can you ask for more? Here are the top 5 reasons that having all four #1’s is the best thing for the tourney (and my life).1. We don’t have to hear that bulls%&t talk about “re-seeding the Final Four.” How annoying is that year after year after year? Every time the Final Four rolls around, Dick Vitale opens his ridiculous mouth and starts jabbering about having to re-seed the entire Final Four to make it more competitive. And from there, someone argues that maybe we should re-seed in the Elite 8, and so on down the entire tourney. It takes on a life of its own and I absolutely cannot stand it. A giant “Thank you” to Kansas, North Carolina, Memphis and UCLA for saving me...
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Friday Deep Basketball Thoughts
2008-03-28 23:06:00
Greg Oden and the 24 Hour Fitness DebacleAn injured Oden decided with his team out of town that it would be ok to head on down to the local 24 Hour Fitness last night and tear up some local kids in a pickup game? I actually laughed a little out loud when I heard this and a few people gave me the “umm….weird guy!” look. I don’t really need to go into how absurd this idea of his was because it really speaks for itself here.What really makes me laugh is the fact that he went into a public facility to play a pickup game of basketball and actually thought no one would find out? Maybe this is one of the reasons David Stern would like to extend that college rule to 2 years? The guy signs multi-million dollar contracts with who knows how many companies, hasn’t played a single game yet, but thinks it is ok to play an unauthorized pick up game with some local folk?Come on Greg! At least you didn’t have the fro-hawk when Nate McMillan called to destroy your ego and make you feel li...
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The Best Sports Blogs
2008-03-28 15:10:00
In case you may be interested, we are running the top 50 sports blogs over at The Sports Dollar. The ranking system is almost identical to our top 25 NBA basketball blogs.
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