le basketbawl: The NBA Basketball Blog

Win $100 with your Basketball Blog...

2008-07-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

There is an interesting site that I have been a part of for a while called NBABasketballOnline.com that if subscribed to, will check your feed for new posts and link them to you to get some more exposure to your site.

The service used to work really well for me, but after the first couple of months of blogging I had forgotten about it as it seemed to be dying off. Well just the other day, they hit me up with an email which looked like they were trying to make some sort of a comeback and start back their growing nature.

So yesterday I got a second email from them about a contest they are putting up:

To try and motivate our bloggers to get inbound links we're going to have a contest to see which blogger can get the most inbound links to their blog. The winner gets $100. The contest starts now and goes until July 31st, 2008. To learn more about the contest go here:
http://www.nbabasketballonline.com/bloggers/weblog/2984.html

Sounds interesing enough and could give you a little incentive as a small or even mid-sized blog to earn an extra $100 bucks. Start writing those linkbaiting pieces so you can put that $100 towards your new basketball hoop!

Should we feel bad for Baron Davis?

2008-07-09T10:08:00.000-07:00

Baron Davis' return home may be a sign that retirement is on the horizon and now I feel bad for Fear the Beard. The guy packs up from Golden State (a program that can actually win) and heads to the dump of the NBA while chasing those damn dollars. And who knows, he could have actually thought Brand would be returning to help him out and possibly restore or resurrect or...is there a word for "sucking forever" and finally being good? Maybe he really took this deal because he thought they had a chance next year!

He definitely took this deal knowing that Maggette was on the "outs" and that Brand supposedly had made workings to free up space to bring in help. Well that came out to be just another NBA lie with Elton heading his movie making behind to the east coast to the league of "a couple of acquisitions can win you a championship!" (Look out for the Sixers!) Now Davis is stuck, as I mentioned before, in the "dump" of the NBA with the worst supporting cast of his career.

LA isn't a bad place to end a pretty decent career though, right? He may not be a hall of famer and may never reach an NBA Finals or win an MVP, but at least we've seen some lovely dunks, clutch performances, and the most magnificent beard of all time from the guy. (I'm almost surprised this guy never tore down a basketball goal.) So do I feel bad for B-Diddy? Not really. I'm sure he already knew that Brand would be heading out and that this was just the last step to wind up back in his home town of Los Angeles.

At least now he's in LA and can focus all of his off court efforts on that booming movie business of his!

Jenkins to Europe? NBA Officials go Military? Kemp brings the Heat!

2008-07-06T13:58:00.000-07:00

First time a top recruit heads straight to the Pro's rather than College?

It's true that Brandon "Mr. Hair" Jennings might not make it into college even if he actually wanted to. The kid can't pass the SAT's! Well, he failed on his first try, supposedly cheated on the second and is now waiting for his third attempt to be scored.

Jennings - ranked the No. 1 incoming recruit by Scout.com, Rivals.com and ESPN.com - is considering playing professionally in Europe for one year instead of attending the UA. He would then enter the 2009 NBA Draft.

Today's news won't skew Jennings' decision-making process, family friend Kelly Williams said today. He said he was "sure (the decision) will come after the 11th."

Just think though, KG didn't pass those SAT's and he just won a championship!

Kemp sort of sticks up for the Sonics

Sean Kemp is back to gaming it up, only this time with a minor league team? Or is it just a rec. league? Either way he had some interesting things to say about Seattle losing the Sonics and I've got to say that I agree with most of it.

"This is what I think, man," Kemp says. "I'm afraid that if they bring the Sonics back, what kind of team are they going to put on the court? Are they going to put the effort out?

"If they bring the team back, are they going to really put a good team out there? Or do we just want any team? You've got to at least try."

What I would give to see the "Reign Man" bring home just a few more dunks like these.

NBA Officiating goes Military!

It's about time isn't it? Thank you David Stern for pulling your pompous head out of your you-know-what and doing something publicly about this ridiculous referee scandal.

The decision to put a two-star general in charge of N.B.A. referees was not necessarily about restoring integrity, regaining public trust or creating a fresh, independent vision for a besieged officiating program.

The fact that he has zero NBA ties is probably the best part of this article.

Saturday Review: Pay Per Post

2008-07-05T18:50:00.000-07:00

You probably noticed the "Saturday Review" I just ran for the iPhone and MacBook protective coverings? Well this will be a new type of post you'll come to see on weekends here at Le Basketbawl. Saturday and Sunday during the off season will most likely be lacking basketball chatter, so we thought it was a great time to use our newest service, Pay Per Post.

Pay Per Post is a site that gives you an opportunity to earn some money from all the hard work that you've put into your blog. The service is free to sign up for but may not allow you to actually make any money at it until your blog is established and has a solid PageRank. Luckily for us, we put in enough work to have Google grant us a PR of 5 which also allows us to take on most of the opportunities at Pay Per Post.

We may not be in the blog marketing business on this blog, but we have done a ton of work in this field on other blogs. Pay Per Post offers you all kinds of offers to take on or decline and you may even find some that are sports related. We'll try to keep our reviews to products or services that we believe in or would actually use. Like I said, the beauty of Pay Per Post is the power to choose which reviews you would like to take on.

And who doesn't like to earn a little cash on the side? Isn't that one of the reasons we all keep doing this blogging thing? I've seen posts that pay over $150 while the majority are around the $20-25 range.

Thanks for your time!

LINKBAWL: 7/5/08

2008-07-05T18:20:00.000-07:00

Chris Duhon really wasn't lying about going to the Knicks. It's official!

Lakers Nation with a great read on the culture of the game and Kobe Bryant.

Oh lord...the new Olympic shoe is here! Thank you Carolyn!

Red's Army of course, loves him some Paul Pierce. I guess I can't blame him, even though my boy Ray should've won that MVP!

Hoops Addict with a look at Jerry West being underrated?

I know that Chris Kaman jumping ship to play for Germany seems un-American, but I could care less. The guy can barely hack it in the NBA anyway.

Thanks Ethan for this post on the Olympic Team's conspiracy photo.

The defensive mind of Bill Russell.

Why do these two crazies keep getting married again?

An unseen MJ dunk?

This made me laugh, the title anyway and then seeing LeBron with some lions.

Chris Mullin, watch out for that wall!

Saturday Review: invisibleSHIELD by Zagg

2008-07-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

For those of you elite enough to carry around a new Apple 3G iPhone then you may want to check out these iphone 3g cases. Zagg has put together these really nice invisibleSHIELD protective covers for your iPhone or MacBook.

The film is military grade and scratch-proof resulting in a lifetime guarantee from Zagg. They also help improve grip on your phone and unlike other protectors are completely invisible allowing the same functionality as if it weren't on there. Pretty cool stuff and I've seen them first hand through my brother.

4th of July Mini-Vacay?

2008-07-04T15:38:00.000-07:00

What's up! It's the Fourth of July weekend and I'm not sure there will be many posts...sorry!

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a chance to relax and put together some new stuff but with all the festivities, you just never know what's going to happen. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful night! Leave the Roman Candles with the big kids!

Peace.

The Next SLAM Cover?

2008-07-02T05:40:00.000-07:00

A tribute to Mr. Odenized and his latest amazing achievement as the new Online Editor for SLAM online. Congrats Ryne!

LINKBAWL: 7/1/08

2008-07-01T22:52:00.000-07:00

Wow...LINKBAWL just returned! For whatever reason, I hadn't found much time for LINKBAWL but the time has come for it to make it's come back and start dishing out some link love to the amazing-ness that is the NBA basketball blog-o-sphere!

Baron Davis turns down $18 million...then hours later signs up for well over $100 million! Rough day huh?

Dwyane Wade looks at the Olympic team from behind the scenes and then gives you some commentary on it.

Here are your top free agents of 2008 breakdown. Someone had to do it right?

Everyone thank the On Deck Circle for putting together a quick reference guide to the NBA's free agency.

Duhon headed out of Chicago? You can breathe now Bulls fans!

Someone explain to me why a guy that has 2 knee surgeries in just a few months, plays 13 games in a year, and is not missed by his team is worth over $100 million?

Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!

Are the Knicks finally going to get rid of Steph?

Sports Tsar wondering if being happy as a Clippers fan is possible.

Chris Paul is here.

Not surprising, but a the NBA may reach record sales for this years' NBA Finals.

Someone please shoot Ralph Nader.

How can Bynum get an extension if there's a chance of him never playing again?

Napoleon complexes in sports? New basketball hoop goal?

The NBA Draft Witnessed From Section 305

2008-07-01T06:35:00.000-07:00

Posted written by the newest Le Basketbawl writer, Olivier Gibbons.

My annual trek to the NBA Draft, started, as always, somewhere toward the back of the line outside the Madison Square Garden Box Office. Rumors were running rampant that only several hundred tickets were being sold for entry into the WaMu Theater at MSG, which sits up to 5,600 people.

Deciding not to risk being shut out, I darted toward the front, cutting the line to assure myself a ticket. In past years, the Garden sold up to four tickets per customer but this year, that number was cut to two to help reduce scalping. Still, a few enterprising teenagers purchased tickets and offered to sell them for $100 each for people who were shut out. And on craigslist, one guy attempted to sell a pair of tickets for $400.

The NBA Draft has gotten bigger and bigger each year. And fewer tickets are seemingly reserved for the hardcore fans. The lower section of the WaMu Theater is reserved for players' families, agents, girlfriends, and the very entourages the NBA warns its players about. Michael Beasley, the second pick, now of the Miami Heat, had a busload of people sporting T-shirts with his name on it.

The attire of people attending the draft is as diverse as the people themselves. You have team jerseys favored by basketball enthusiasts (the most popular jersey seemed to be the Knicks number 42 worn by David Lee). Then you have the suits worn by anyone affiliated with the Draft, from agents to players and their families. And of course, you have the beautiful ladies in tight dresses looking to impress.

All of the beautiful people sit below, closer to the stage. The rest of us sit atop, the most boisterous of us in Section 305. The hardcore fans come to boo as much as cheer. And Commissioner David Stern certainly got an earful as he walked onto the stage to open the 2008 NBA Draft and declare the Chicago Bulls are now on the clock.

But no one received as much harsh treatment from the fans as the Knicks' pick Danilo Gallinari, a 19-year-old Italian kid. "You *&%$# suck," yelled one fan. Said another, I *&%$# hate you." as Gallinari exited through an aisle within earshot of his tormentors.

Welcome to New York, Gallinari. I actually felt sorry for the kid. To be subjected to such vitriol in front of his family on the most important night of his young life, I thought to be unfair. At least he'll be well prepared for the day he misses six or seven straight jumpers in front of the home crowd.

Following Gallinari's selection, a rumor floated around that David Lee had been traded for the Charlotte Bobcats' point guard, Raymond Felton, and a future first round pick. The rumor was completely believable. The Knicks were reportedly shopping Lee. And since they drafted another forward who could shoot, Lee became even more expendable. Not to mention, everyone knows the Knicks are looking for a new point guard to run Coach Mike D'Antoni's high octane system.

Rumors like this one are a product of sitting in the upper section of the Theater. The biggest complaint I have is that you cannot hear the ESPN crew comment on the draft picks or report breaking news like a major trade. Occasionally, you could hear Stephen A. Smith blurt out a question, but that's about it. In other words, you're kind of in the dark.

Until the second round, at least. That's when the bottom section of the theater empties. And the hardcore fans slip down, toward the front. The seats that once occupied the beautiful people, suddenly start sitting guys like me. From the new vantage point, you can not only see better, but actually hear what's going on as the speakers pick up ESPN's coverage.

Now you almost feel like you're at home watching the draft on television. Every year I tell myself that I'm going to sit this one out and watch it on TV like almost everyone else. But come Draft Day 2009, you can probably find me sitting in Section 305 atop the WaMu Theater.

The NBA Store by Le Basketbawl

2008-06-30T13:16:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the new and easy to use NBA store from Le Basketbawl! Easy access to your favorite jerseys, shoes, and apparel straight from Amazon without actually have to go over to Amazon.

If the small frame is annoying you, feel free to use the link to our external site on the sidebar.

Let me know if you have any specific product requests. Enjoy!

Top 25 NBA Basketball Blogs: July 2008

2008-06-30T05:38:00.000-07:00

The July 2008 results are in...

Cuzoogle cracks the top 25 with a big jump to #18! Congrats to Cuzzy as I think we can all give a nod to the amazing work he's done over this past month. We also made the jump into the top 25 which I'm sure comes as no surprise. (Hah, bout time!) Here are the March, April, May, and June results if you would like to compare any of the previous results or big jumps some of these blogs have made.

*Remember that tie-breakers are decided based upon a blog's Technorati authority.

Enjoy!

Top 25 NBA Basketball Blog Rankings: July 2008


#1	FreeDarko.com	6	9	9	10	34
#2	Celtic's Blog	4	10	9	10	33
#3	Hardwood Paroxysm	5	8	9	9	31
#4	Basketbawful	5	9	9	8	31
#5	TrueHoop	6	10	10	3	29
#6	Need4Sheed	4	10	7	7	28
#7	Detroit Bad Boys	3	9	8	7	27
#8	Forum Blue and Gold	5	9	7	6	27
#9	Odenized	4	9	9	5	27
#10	Basketball Jones	4	8	8	6	26
#11	Blog A Bull	4	8	8	6	26
#12	Hoops Addict	5	8	6	5	24
#13	Bullets Forever	3	7	7	6	23
#14	Sactown Royalty	3	9	6	5	23
#15	Blazers Edge	3	9	6	5	23
#16	Lakers Blog	5	10	5	3	23
#17	Hornets247	3	8	7	4	22
#18	Cuzoogle	2	9	4	6	21
#19	Golden State of Mind	3	9	3	6	21
#20	3 Shades of Blue	3	7	7	4	21
#21	And One	5	10	4	2	21
#22	Cavalier Attitude	3	10	0	7	20
#23	Le Basketbawl	5	7	2	5	19
#24	The Blow Torch	4	5	8	2	19
#25	Jones on the NBA	5	6	6	2	19

Las Vegas Sues the NBA! Barkley Gambles!

2008-06-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

Hey NBA, Pay your Bills!

Yessir! The Wynn in Las Vegas has filed suit against the NBA claiming it still owes them $50,000 from the All-Star weekend they held back in 2007. According to reports, the NBA owes for unpaid bills stemming from meetings and convention spaces used by the NBA, NBA Entertainment and Alonzo Mourning Charities.

Wasn't the big argument last year that the NBA should have a team located in Vegas? Rubbing the Wynn the wrong way is probably not the best way to take on this task. And what the hell is Alonzo thinking? Maybe he should stop playing pool and drinking Tiger Gatorade and focus on his charities' bills. It never looks good when a charity run by a ga-gillionaire isn't paying its bills on time.

*UPDATE* and *CORRECTION*

The Wynn has just come out and removed the NBA from the lawsuit claiming that the only money owed is actually from Alonzo and his charity. "Wow" is all I can say at this point. Nice work Zo! At first I thought the $50,000 was split up between all parties and instead that was just your cheap ass not paying the bills.

Barkley, you Liar!

In a related note, Charles Barkley is also back on the gambling trail! He anted up for a charity poker event just a month or so after claiming his was done for "the next year or two." The NBA is killin' it on the strip! At least Barkley is doing it for charity purposes, but who knows where that could lead or what he's doing away from this charity tourney while in Vegas.

Option to Monetize your Sports Blog: Clickbooth

2008-06-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

What's up everyone! I know that this post seems sort of "off topic" but it's definitely one that many sports bloggers should look at if they aren't already. The whole idea of monetizing your sports blogs has become a hot topic as of late and the Clickbooth CPA Network is one of the options you have out there.

Clickbooth is one of the major CPA networks that offers you all kinds of options to monetize a blog with. It gives you options for email programs, on-site publishing, and search engine marketing. (It is also there if you are looking to advertise your blog, but I wasn't sure that any of us have budgets large enough to worry about advertising!)

Does this network mesh well with the sports world? I guess that is really for you to figure out for yourself. They aren't offering programs for sporting goods stores just yet, but they do offer programs for Apple iPhones and video games which we all know fit well with sports fans.

I definitely use Clickbooth on another blog of mine that is geared towards making money with sports blogging and it has worked well at times for me. If you have any questions, shoot me an email or give them a shout.

Top 10 Biggest Draft Steals of All-Time

2008-06-27T09:09:00.000-07:00

This post was written by the half drunk, often belligerent, New York sports addict who goes by houroc over at sportfiends. He indulges in most of life's guilty pleasures but never misses the games and still knows more about sports than you. You can check out more of his daily ~~ramblings~~ posts over there.

So the NBA draft was yesterday and despite the fact that many are calling this a very mediocre NBA draft, you really just never know. Don't be one of those pathetic people who is sad that their favorite NBA squad is not in the draft lottery because this is the NBA. That means that top picks don't always pan out and you can find some real gems with lower picks if you know what you’re doing.

With that said, lets look at some of the top NBA draft steals of all time. This list includes all of the top players in history who were drafted after the top 14 draft lottery picks and some of the losers who were picked before them. I bet you didn't even know that these guys would turn out like they did.

10. Rajon Rondo (21st Overall, 2006 Phoenix Suns) - You may be wondering why this guy is on the list. It's very simple, he's a champion. When you are the floor general on a championship squad like the Celtics, as long you don't mess it up then your in the clear but Rondo did more than just not mess it up, he played pretty damn well for a young gun. In game 2 he had 16 assists and in the clinching game 6 he had 6 steals, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 21 points to help the Celtics to the blow out win over the Lakers. Not too shabby young fella.

Notable Scrubs picked before him: Mouhamed Sene, Patrick O'Bryant, Hilton Armstrong

9. Manu Ginobili (2nd round, 57th overall, 1999 San Antonio Spurs) - Despite that fact that he is often accused of being a serial flopper (which he is), you'll be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn't love to have this scrappy Argentine on their team. The Spurs got away with highway robbery by getting him 57th overall in 1999. Since adding him to the team, they've won 3 championships. He has also won gold with his native Argentina and despite the fact that he's getting older and he is coming off the bench (why??), he set personal records in points per game, assists per game, rebounds per game, 3 point field goal percentage and free throw percentage on his way to winning the Sixth Man of the Year award.

Notable Scrubs picked before him: Jonathan Bender, Trajan Langdon, Aleksandar Radojević

8. Tony Parker (28th overall, 2001 San Antonio Spurs) - The second Spur on our list is the Spurs point guard Tony Parker. This three time champion has career averages 16 ppg, 5.5 apg, and 3.1 rpg. Not ridiculous but he is a great floor general for the Spurs. He is a tremendous slasher and seems to always be able to get to the rim. Without him, there's no way they would've won all the championships they did and I'm sure Jason Kidd still has nightmares about getting owned by a younger Tony Parker en route to his first championship. Besides all that though, he pulled this chick. That alone should be enough to get him on the list.

Notable Scrubs picked before him: Steven Hunter, DeSagana Diop, Rodney White

7. Shawn Kemp (17th overall, 1989 Seattle SuperSonics) - Before being riddled by all sorts of legal issues, this guy was a superstar for the Sonics. Together with his PIC Gary Payton this high flyer led the Sonics to a team record 64 wins in the 1995-96 season and a trip to the NBA finals. They faced off against the 72 win Bulls that season and well... you know what happened.

Notable Scrubs picked before him: Stacey King, Randy White, Tom Hammonds

6. Dennis Rodman (2nd round, 27th overall, 1986 Detroit Pistons) - In his day, Dennis Rodman was like a rich mans Ben Wallace. Year in and year out he led the league in rebounding. He won 5 championships over the course of his career as well being known as one of the leagues top defenders. The only reason he wasn't ranked higher was because I still have recurring nightmares of him in a wedding dress. I wake up in cold sweats. Very traumatizing.

Notable Scrubs picked before him: Mark Alarie, Harold Pressley, Brad Sellers

5. Steve Nash (15th overall, 1996 Phoenix Suns) - It took Steve Nash two trips to Phoenix but he finally seemed to have found his niche in 2005 when he was named the NBA MVP. Steve Nash is the closest thing we have today to John Stockton. He is deadly with the pick and roll, a sharpshooter from the 3 point line and the free throw line, and he always seems to make the right decisions. If only Mark Cuban had resigned him instead of letting him go to Phoenix, maybe they wouldn't get beat so bad in the playoffs every season.

Notable Scrubs picked before him: Erick Dampier, Todd Fuller, Vitaly Potapenko

4. Nate Archibald (2nd round, 19th overall, 1970 Cincinnati Royals) - Nate Archibald was one of the NBA's all time great point guards. He is the only player ever to lead the league in both points per game and assists per game in the same season. In that crazy season he averaged 34.0 points per game and 11.4 assists per game. He won the MVP award that season. He also helped lead the Celtics to one of their many championships in 1981.

Notable Scrubs picked before him: Jimmy Collins, George E. Johnson, Jim Ard

3. George Gervin (3rd Round, 40th overall, 1974 San Antonio Spurs) - George Gervin was known as the Iceman back in the day because his demeanor on the court was so cool. He had a swagger about him that was unmatched at the time and he was considered one the best guards of all time. He set numerous scoring records for guards (that would later be broken by Michael Jordan). He was also known for being one of the first guys to use the finger roll to perfection. He was known for shooting finger rolls from as far away as the free throw line.

Notable Scrubs picked before him: Len Elmore, John Shumate, Glenn McDonald

2. John Stockton (16th overall, 1984 Utah Jazz) - John Stockton was as tough as they come despite being a small guy in a mountain of men, he wore the daisy duke short shorts long after everyone else stopped, and was the best point guard ever in my opinion period. He is the record holder for career assists and career steals and it's not even close. He was a 10 time all star, 2 time NBA finalist and a 2 time all NBA first team player. He was the ultimate floor general.

Notable Scrubs picked before him: Melvin Turpin, Lancaster Gordon, Leon Wood

1. Michael Jordan (3rd overall, 1984 Chicago Bulls) - Ok so I know I am cheating on this one because MJ was picked in the lottery but even so, he was still the biggest steal of all time. I won't waste your time by telling you all of his accomplishments, if you don't know by now you have no business reading this article. In the 1984 draft he was the 3rd pick. The Houston Rockets took future hall of famer Hakeem Olajuwon so you can't knock them, even though I wonder if they would've changed their pick if they knew how everything panned out. The Portland Trail Blazers took Sam Bowie with the second pick leaving Michael Jordan on the board to fall right into the Bulls lap. This is quite possibly the worst pick in the history of sports. Bowie averaged 10.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.78 blocks per game and Michael Jordan won five NBA MVP Awards and winning six NBA Championships. Enough said.

Notable Scrubs picked before him: Sam Bowie

So what have we learned today? A high pick doesn't necessarily mean that your team will come away with a great player and it's the same vice versa. If your team has good scouts and is a little lucky, they may come away with some gold in the draft. Good luck!!

Blazers "Pritch-slap" the NBA Draft...Again

2008-06-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

They did again! The Portland Trail Blazers came into the draft without a lot of noise and left making all kinds of racket. This would be the 3rd year in a row that the NBA Draft was owned by this up and coming franchise from the northwest. They may not have made the playoffs since 2003, but those days will soon be over as they added yet another remarkable piece to what should be a future dynasty to watch out for.

So what did they do?

They started the night with the 13th overall pick in a draft that really only had 10-11 players worth much. From there, they waited and waited all the while knowing what they were about to do. Yes, swindle another team for basically nothing while snatching up what appears to be a future star in the league.

After Indiana drafted Jerryd Bayless 11th overall, some questions came out that with TJ Ford also on his way, that Tinsley may be on the outs. Little did anyone know that the Blazers had most likely orchestrated Indiana's draft choice into a trade almost immediately after Portland picked up Brandon Rush at #13.

In the deal the Blazers receive Ike Diogu and of course, Jerryd Bayless while they only have to send Brandon Rush, a "bust" in Jarrett Jack, and a "who cares" type of player in Josh McRoberts.

Jerryd Bayless will fill up the point for the Blazers and likely make an immediate impact that I'm not sure anyone else in the draft could have. Their smoke signals on DJ Augustin worked well as no one in the entire NBA figured Bayless was on their radar. In fact, Bayless said himself that Portland didn't even work him out and was surprised by the deal.

As a guy living in Portland, I'm not surprised. Welcome Jerryd! You can thank Kevin Pritchard for getting you out of that midwest garbage can. (Yeah that was harsh, but it pretty much is right now.)

25 Ways to Guarantee Yourself as an NBA Draft Bust

2008-06-26T03:42:00.000-07:00

Please welcome this list of ways to guarantee that if drafted into the NBA, would make you into a surefire bust!

1. Grow a pornstache.
2. Then tear your ACL without anyone touching you.
3. Become white and get drafted #1 overall.
4. Carry handguns with you on road trips and hide them in pillow cases.
5. Find a barber that will give you this haircut.
6. Have a top notch NBA blog named after your pathetic career.
7. Gain weight...gain a lot of weight.
8. Ride a motorcycle and then wreck it into a telephone pole.
9. Better yet, just play the point at Duke.
10. Drive this car and love strip clubs.
11. Have a solid nickname like "Big Country" that includes a flat top.
12. Play college ball at the University of Oregon.
13. Get drafted by Isiah Thomas.
14. Come from Hartford.
15. Grow to 7'6" and set the record for number of times being posterized.
16. Wear ridiculous bow-tied suits on draft day and pick fights with "Big" Ben Wallace.
17. Follow the work ethic of Kwame Brown.
18. Put on an amazing NCAA tourney performance without having any real skill.
19. Become the most hated college basketball player of the last decade.
20. Demand to be moved from your draft city because it's lacking Asians.
21. Change your last name to Olowokandi.
22. Play a total of 71 games in your first 3 years.
23. Get lots of tattoos.
24. And wear a pony tail.
25. Get drafted #2 overall by the Portland TrailBlazers in 1984.

2008 NBA Draft: Worst in History?

2008-06-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I took the time to do Yardbarker's mock draft and only because it could possibly win me a Greg Oden jersey. Woohoo! The thing is, during my prediction process, I started looking at the guys that are projected to be in the lottery and I just started shaking my head. I definitely know who they all are and watched all of them play a ton of college ball last year, but none of them really stood out to me as the next NBA superstar.

Sure Beasley has a ton of talent, Rose seems like a no-brainer, and of course we all know that Mayo may have the most potential out of anyone, but what about everyone else? Most drafts include 2-4 guys that actually turn out to be a star and the rest tend to become solid roles players for years, but I've got to tell you that I don't see this being the case this year. None of the players in this draft compare to past drafts which included guys like Dwyane Wade, Melo, and Chris Paul. I'm seriously wondering if this is the worst draft we've seen in a long time.

Here is the projected lottery coming from the latest of Chad Ford's mock drafts:

1. Derrick Rose
2. Michael Beasley
3. OJ Mayo
4. Russell Westbrook
5. Eric Gordon
6. Danilo Gallinari
7. Jerryd Bayless
8. Joe Alexander
9. Kevin Love
10. Brooke Lopez
11. DJ Augustin
12. Mario Chalmers
13. Alexis Ajinca
14. Kosta Koufos

So after looking at that list, tell me how many of those players stands out as a future NBA star? Do any of them? I'm talking you, sitting down, thinking about these guys matched up against big time NBA ballers and then in 3-4 years turning into an All-Star. Forget about what they've done in college because once you get to the NBA, your college experience means absolutely nothing especially as most of these kids played only one year anyway.

I'm going way out on a limb here, but I feel pretty confident in saying that Mayo, Rose and Beasley are the only guys in this draft that stand a chance at being a perennial All-Star. And I'm squirming in my hot pants by even giving that prediction because none of these 3 is really thrilling me either.

I can tell you with confidence that Alexander, Love, Lopez, Chalmers, Ajinca and Koufos will all be 100% busts. They don't stand a chance in hell against NBA talent. Think back to Mark Madsen dominating the college game and then think about the type of NBA career he had. You can throw all of these kids in that category.

Watching this year's draft is still a decision I need to make. None of these players has that "LeBron" type of buzz and I could care less about the teams they could be going to. Not one of these players will likely make anyone better right off the bat. Let's just get straight to summer league so we can see how my bust predictions are adding up!

Poll Results: Our Mature NBA Fans

2008-06-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

I've got to give it up to you all for taking the high road on our most recent poll! We asked the question, "Who gets the blame for the Lakers loss to the Celtics?"

We gave you some random, out of the blue choices that heavily leaned towards the Lakers and then gave you one "mature" choice as to why they had lost in the NBA Finals. To our surprise, out of the 69 total votes, you all decided that the "mature" response was correct!

Here are the results:

Kobe "26 pts/game" Bryant: 11% (8 votes)
Phil "Pow!" Jackson: 7% (5 votes)
Sasha "I'm complaining again" Vujacic: 2% (2 votes)
Pau "Are my knees shaking?" Gasol: 10% (7 votes)
Lamar "In dis club, hey!" Odom: 4% (3 votes)
The Boston Celtics: 63% (44 votes)

From those results you can tell what the "mature" vote was right? Nice work people and thanks again for making another one of our polls very successful. Now go hoop it up on your backyard basketball goals!

10 Reasons: Kevin Garnett Pounds the Hell out of Himself

2008-06-23T05:09:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've all noticed that Kevin Garnett continually pounds the hell out of his chest after a big play, momentum swing, or to just get his team jacked up and frankly, it’s obnoxious as hell. The chest pound usually includes puckered lips and his signature evil eyes which of course makes it that much more inescapable.

So as we watched him whack away during the NBA Finals with the potential to break a sternum, we asked ourselves solemnly, “Why KG? Why do continue to beat yourself in a way that makes Sasha Headbandcich seem less obnoxious? Why sir? Why must you give us a reason to start discrediting everything you've done in your illustrious career? Why must you make us talk like the annoying preacher kid from 'There Will Be Blood'?”

This is what we could come up with:

10. After spending 12 years with the T-Wolves he has to make sure his heart is still beating. Fortunately, it is!

9. He’s really excited that his goatee is slightly better than Paul Pierce’s.

8. He’s just reminding us of his starring role in the smash hit Super Mario Brothers.

7. Because it's the only way to get away with wearing these bad sweaters.

6. Because pulling your team’s name up from your jersey is even more obnoxious.

5. It's his way of saying, "Danny Ainge, you da man! Now let me choke you!"

4. Because he has to live up to hits like these.

3. He's making up for sideways visors and Stephon Marbury.

2. To play with that kind of passion and heart, he’s got to have a way to keep his heart from bursting out.

1. After 20,378 points, 11,197 rebounds, 4,390 assists, 1,665 blocks, 1,382 steals, 37,873 minutes, and 998 games…he has finally won that trophy.

NBA Season Over, What Now?

2008-06-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

The season has wrapped, the draft is just around the corner, and we are entering our first off season as NBA bloggers! This should be interesting enough but I'm hoping we'll have more fun with our writing like we did in the early stages that gave us the motivation to want to keep doing this.

Our goal is to get back to do some fun lists, possibly pushing some people's buttons, and bringing as much breaking news as possible.

In case some of you weren't aware, we have brought on a new writer named Olivier Gibbons who is our east coast voice that has a very nice take on the NBA and some of its inter-workings. You can check out his first 2 posts here and here.

So to finish off our first regular season, we'd like to put up the list of our top posts and some statistics to go with them. These are the types of things you should be expecting from us in the near future!

Top 7 NBA Pretty Boys - 22,852 pageviews
Top 6 Worst Hairstyles in the NBA - 15,319 pageviews
60% of NBA Players Broke within 5 Years - 9736 pageviews
2008 NBA Oscars - 6375 pageviews
Shaq's New Phoenix Uniform - 4950 pageviews
11 Year Old Sports Phenom: Jashuan Agosto - 2008 pageviews
"Michelle you look great tonight girl!" - 1496 pageviews
NBA Draft History: White Boy Busts - 1022 pageviews

Thanks to everyone who has helped this blog succeed in its first year! Don't forget to subscribe to our feed to get those instant updates on the latest from Le Basketbawl!