Just saw the Hanes commercial with His Airness sitting in first class.
I don’t know about this look — what do you think?
He looks pretty sketchy, but if there’s one guy who can get away with it, it’s MJ.
Category: Fantasy Basketball (Page 117 of 274)
Much has been written about that Game 7 against the Suns four years ago, where the Lakers became just the eighth team to lose a series after taking a 3-1 lead. Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com watched the game with fresh eyes to see if Kobe really did quit on his team.
The Suns won the game 121-90. But they didn’t win because Bryant took just three shots in the second half.
The Lakers, as a team, shot poorly and were routinely beaten by the Suns’ pick-and-roll sets on offense.
L.A. decided to switch on the screens, leaving Nash free to shoot over big men who didn’t close out fast enough to harrass his shots. Marion, Thomas and Boris Diaw were free to either shoot over smaller Lakers guards or roll all the way to the rim. When the Lakers did close out fast enough, they often over-pursued, leaving Nash and Barbosa opportunities to use their quick first steps to blow by unbalanced defenders. There was even one possession in the third quarter in which Parker was picked and George stayed with Diaw instead of switching, leaving Nash wide open as he traipsed in for a layup.
Lost in the “Kobe tanked” narrative was the fact that Barbosa and the Suns’ bench outscored the Lakers’ reserves 50-21. And obscured by the idea that Kobe didn’t do enough to help his team win was the fact that the Suns shot 61 percent from the field, while no Lakers player (other than Bryant, who finished 8-for-16) shot 50 percent or better.
I tend to agree. Kobe wouldn’t quit, but he wears his emotions on his sleeve, so if he’s following the game plan — in this case, getting his teammates involved — and it’s not successful, then his body language might make it look like he has quit.
Remember, this is all pre-Gasol stuff, and Kobe’s frustration was mounting. He often glared or screamed at his teammates and was generally an a-hole to play with.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
It’s early, but what the hell? The lottery is behind us, so let’s take a stab at our first consensus mock draft. I’ve pulled in the latest mocks from ESPN, DraftExpress, NBADraft.net and SI.com to come up with a consensus of the first 14 picks.
If a player is picked by two or more sites, they’re the consensus, unless there’s a tie. In that case, I’ll make the pick. The same goes for when there are four different players listed.
The first three picks seem settled already, though much can change in the next month. Wall-Turner-Favors makes a lot of sense, especially for the teams in question. John Wall seems to be a no-brainer for the Wizards. If they hold onto Arenas, he can play the two. I think they’ll eventually move Agent Zero and build around Wall.
Celtics 95, Magic 92
Well, we can pretty much stick a fork in the Magic. When a team loses the first two games of the series at home, they aren’t coming back. They’re just not. It doesn’t happen. Well, maybe it’s happened once or twice, I don’t know. (Update: Teams that win the first two games on the road have won the series 22 of 25 times, per John Hollinger.) It would take a miracle…or maybe an injury.
So barring that, the Magic have to be left wondering what happened. They cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs, winning eight straight games, and ran into a brick wall in the form of the Boston Celtics. The difference in this series is that the C’s are simply a lot better than the Bobcats and Hawks. In fact, I think you could combine the rosters for the Bobcats and Hawks and Boston would still beat them in a seven-game series. That’s how good the Celtics are playing now.
Ray Allen lit it up in Game 1, but was quiet in Game 2. Paul Pierce picked up the slack, posting 28-5-5. Kevin Garnett (10-9) struggled shooting the ball once again, but there was Rajon Rondo with a timely 25-5-8. Quick — name five point guards that are better than Rondo right now. I bet you can’t.
Dwight Howard (30-8) played a lot better in Game 2, and even hit his free throws (12-of-17), but the rest of the Magic shot just 19-of-58 (33%) from the field for 62 points. Jameer Nelson (4-of-12), Vince Carter (5-of-15) and Rashard Lewis (2-of-6), who combined to make $42 million this season, shot a collective 11-of-33 from the field. At home.
I’ll wait until the Magic actually lose the series before I write their offseason piece, but at this point the entire region of Central Florida has to be regretting that Vince Carter move. In the final period, Carter went 2-of-5, turned the ball over once, and missed back-to-back free throws with 0:32 to play that would have cut Boston’s lead to one. Luckily for Otis Smith, Hedo Turkoglu’s play fell off a cliff in Toronto, so it’s not like Smith’s detractors can point to Turk as a no-brainer re-signing.
As for Boston, what has spearheaded this rejuvenation? To me, it’s a combination of several factors: 1) Rondo is now a Top 5 point guard, so it’s the Big 4 instead of the Big 3, and at least two are showing up every night, 2) Garnett’s knee looks a lot better, 3) they’re playing arguably the best defense in the league, and 4) someone on the bench — Tony Allen, Rasheed Wallace or Glen Davis — seems to show up every game with an unexpected 8-15 points.
The Celtics are also made up of consummate professionals, so even though they have their ring, they’re going out every night and laying it on the line.
With the way both teams are playing, there’s a good chance we’re going to see a matchup of the last two Finals winners (Lakers, Celtics) and a rematch of the 2008 Finals.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
The Washington Wizards were the big winners tonight, as they bucked the odds and won the 2010 NBA Draft Lottery. The Wizards had a 10.3% chance of winning the top pick and leapfrogged four teams for the right to draft John Wall.
And Wall will very likely be their pick. This is the perfect opportunity for the franchise to truly start over after the mess that Gilbert Arenas made last season. Look for the Wizards to try to trade Arenas this summer, though it will be tough to find a taker.
The Wizards were represented by Irene Pollin, the widow of the Wizards former owner Abe Pollin, who died late last year.
The Sixers also leapfrogged four teams to win the #2 overall pick. I’d expect Evan Turner would be the pick there, which means that Andre Iguodala could be available this summer. The Sixers will also take a long look at Derrick Favors and DeMarcus Cousins as talented big men don’t come along that often.
The big loser? I’d have to go with the Nets and new owner Mikhail Prokhorov, who looked like his head was about to explode when he learned that his team was going to pick #3. I’d expect New Jersey to take whomever is available between Turner and Favors to play alongside Brook Lopez and Devin Harris.
See the entire lottery results here.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
FOLLOW US!
CATEGORIES
© 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑