The title of this cute little book is – “Get ready, get set, get healthy by Andray Blatche”. This sure seems strange. Maybe he is also the author of the goofy cover art which can be seen in the picture above.
2) Delonte West applies for a job in a furniture store.

Even though it is obvious that nobody likes being without a job, it is still hard to imagine that someone who has earned more than 14 million dollars in salary over the past few years would apply for a job in a furniture store. I am still not sure if it is for real or not but it is definitely hilarious.
3) Marcus Camby continues the Jail Blazers traditions.

It seemed like the Bad Boy image of the Portland Trail Blazers has been starting to fade but Marcus Camby made sure that it doesn’t stay that way. Police found marijuana in his car which was reeking of it, so it seems funny that Camby acted like he was surprised about the pot in his car and said that he has no idea how it got there.

4) Steve Nash shoots a freaky commercial.

This one is Nash at his best. The commercial is strange but also very funny. The best line is – nash the f*** up!

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The layup is one of the key shots when playing basketball. It’s also one of the first techniques that players learn. It’s sometimes called the easiest shot, but this isn’t necessarily true. You need to have the ability to block the players of the other team and perfect timing to make a good layup. When executing a layup, push off the ground with the opposite foot from the side of the hoop you’re approaching. So if you’re doing a layup from the right side of the hoop, push off with your left foot. Following this rule will help you have the best balance and momentum for your shot. Also, focus your eyes on the square above the hoop and not on the ball. Back aches and body pain are a common problem for every sports person and visiting a massage therapist or spas can possibly be a pricey matter. This is where a back massager can be an ideal purchase and it can offer you a great massage at your suitable time and place. So what are you waiting for? Go and buy one.

Although basketball is an extremely powerful and physically demanding game, you can learn to shoot better by becoming more comfortable and controlling the ball in more gentle manner. Quite naturally, you want possession of the ball so that you are holding it tight enough so that no one can rip it from your hands. However, when they are taking a shot, plenty of players will apply too much pressure or hold it too tightly when they are making a basketball shot. You can see evidence of this when the ball bounces hard off the rim. Try to give the ball spin and follow through with your fingertips. This is so that your shot lands where you want it to and not just in any area.

While shooting a basketball involves your whole body, the position of your hands and arms is especially important. Use your fingertips when shooting because that is what really gives you control over the ball. Using your palms gives you less control which will make it hard to shoot accurately. Another thing to keep in mind is keeping your arm as straight as possible, with the elbow under the ball. You can distort the shot and send the ball veering off in the wrong direction if your elbow sticks out to the side, even a little. Use a fluid motion when shooting the ball, with your fingertips, arm, and elbow forming a single unit.

In summary, there’s no simple way to instantly become a great basketball shooter. It requires plenty of hard work and practice. Identify the areas where you need the most help and focus on those. You will start to see improvement in your shooting skills when you use the above tips to help you.

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Shawne Williams 0.545 (36/66)

Shawne wasn’t known as a good shooter until this season but he has been a great one so far this year. Of course some may say that he is having one of those fluke starts and that he isn’t as good as it looks now and only time will tell if it’s true but for now he is on a pace to set a Knicks all-time record for single season 3-pt percentage.

 

 
Matt Bonner 0.504 (60/119)

Bonner has been one of the best shooters among big men for many years but this season it seems like he has improved even more. He has never made more than 44% of his threes in a whole season but this year he is making them at a 50% clip. It looks like he is going to set a personal and franchise record this year if he keeps it up. 3-pointer is his niche – almost 70% of his points come from beyond the 3-point line.

 

 
Ray Allen 0.451 (93/206)

Ray is not just a 3-point specialist – he gets less than 40% of his points from shooting (and making) 3-pointers. However besides being a really good scorer Allen has always been known best for being one of the greatest shooters of all-time. This year he shoots 3-pointers very well and he is on a pace to break the franchise record for a single season 3-pt percentage set by Eddie House in 2008-09 (0.444).

 

 
Mike Bibby 0.463 (95/205)

Mike has a 38% 3-point percentage for his career and he has been a very persistent shooter over the years. It seems that his shooting touch has improved with age. Bibby shoots a lot of threes (4.6 a game) and stills makes them at a very high rate. Mike has remained a very persistent shooter this year too – he has made 95 threes in 45 games but not more than 4 in a single game.

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The Indiana Pacers were among the elite teams of the Eastern Conference in the mid-late 90′s and made the NBA finals in 2000. The next few seasons were not very successful because Indiana was rebuilding but they did it very quickly and the Pacers were again among title contenders in 2003-04. They had the best record in the league (61-21) but a loss to the Detroit Pistons in the Conference Finals ended their season sooner than they would want to. Indiana started the 2004-05 season in a very strong fashion but their championship hopes once again died in Detroit even though it was only November…

 
Here is what happened on November 19, 2004 in The Palace of Auburn Hills in a nutshell:

1) Artest committed a hard foul on Ben Wallace;

2) Wallace was furious and pushed Artest;

3) Artest laid on the scorer’s table in order to avoid an altercation with Wallace;

4) A fan threw a cup of Coke (not beer as previously stated) at Artest;

5) Artest went into the stands;

6) Stephen Jackson followed him;

7) Jermaine O’Neal also punched a fan in the jaw;

 
By that time it had already become a huge brawl with many fans and players involved. Pacer players were escorted from the court shortly after.

The Pacers-Pistons brawl is easily one of the most infamous incidents in the history of American sports.

 

 
The Indiana Pacers franchise:

The Indiana Pacers were championship contenders in the previous season and they would have been contenders in 2004-05 as well if not for the Pacers-Pistons brawl. They still managed to get 44 wins and make the playoffs. They even advanced to the second round of the postseason but lost to the Pistons. They had bad luck with Detroit as both of their playoff runs ended in Detroit and the infamous brawl also happened there. In 2006 they advanced to the playoffs but lost to New Jersey in the first round. They haven’t made the playoffs since then. The Pacers franchise still hasn’t recovered from that brawl.

What if the brawl had never happened?
It was very likely for Indiana to win the championship or at least the Eastern Conference that year. If they would have kept their nucleus together for a few seasons then maybe they would have made multiple NBA finals in the following years. The Eastern Conference was pretty weak until 2007-08 season and Indiana’s main rivals would be the already familiar Pistons, the Heat and maybe the Cavaliers. That doesn’t look like an unbeatable bunch, does it?

Ron Artest

Ron Artest was already a bad boy but after the brawl he became the baddest of them all. His image sometimes earned him extra technical fouls and a lot of bad reputation. After missing the whole 2004-05 season he played for the Kings and the Rockets until 2009. Although he had good numbers and he was selected to a couple of NBA All-Defensive teams, Artest wasn’t really considered a winner and has never made an All-star game appearance since the brawl. His season with the Lakers, however, turned out to be successful as they won the NBA championship title and Artest really stepped his game up in the decisive game 7 of the finals. So it took more than 5 years for Ron Artest to finally redeem himself.

What if the brawl had never happened?
After averaging 18.3 PPG and making the All-star game in the 2003-04 season, Ron Artest started off the 2004-05 season even better. Throughout the first 7 games of the season he was averaging more than 24 points and 6 rebounds per game while shooting almost 50% from the field. If Indiana would have continued winning games and Artest would have continued to play at that level then he would definitely had a good case for winning the MVP trophy. Jermaine O’Neal played the leading role for the Pacers until 2007 but if the brawl had never happened Artest could probably surpass the injury-riddled O’Neal as the new leader of the team and lead Indiana deep into the playoffs year after year instead of winning a championship at age 30 while being a third or fourth option on the team.

Reggie Miller:

The heart and soul of the Indiana Pacers and their longtime leader – Reggie Miller, still remained a productive player and a key element of the team until the very end of his career. His Pacers teams always played in the Playoffs and were among the elite of the league but they never won a championship title and made it to the NBA finals only once. After going through a rebuilding phase in the early 2000′s, the Pacers were title contenders once again and Reggie had a chance to finally win his first ring but the Palace brawl ruined all hopes.

What if the brawl had never happened?
Reggie showed that he still had a lot of basketball in him and played really well in 2004-05. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to make up for the damage that the Indiana-Detroit brawl did to the Pacers franchise. If the brawl had never happened then Reggie could finally get his championship ring and complete his resume. He joins Karl Malone, Charles Barkley and other ringless players who are NBA legends but will also always be remembered for their inability to win a championship.

Jermaine O’Neal:

Coming off a successful 2003-04 season, Jermaine, who had just turned 26 at the time of the brawl, was ready for a big year but because of the brawl he participated in only 44 games in 2004-05. He was battling injuries for the next few years and his production started to decline. His last All-star level season was 2006-07 and since then he has never averaged more than 14 points or 7 rebounds.

What if the brawl had never happened?
The Pacers-Pistons brawl isn’t the most important reason why O’Neal’s career didn’t turn out the way it could but if you believe in bad luck than you may think otherwise. O’Neal has been dealing with injuries ever since the brawl and didn’t become the dominant force that everyone expected him to be.

Others:

Stephen Jackson has bounced back. He played really well for Golden State and Charlotte but still has a bit of that hooligan image left.

Ben Wallace left Detroit in 2006 and he hasn’t been the same dominant force since then.

Rick Carlisle (the Pacers coach) left Indiana in 2007 and has been coaching the Dallas Mavericks for the last few years.

Jamaal Tinsley was a really good point guard back then but now he isn’t even in the NBA anymore after dealing with injury problems.

Other aftereffects:

• The security in NBA arenas has improved.

 

• The use of alcohol in NBA arenas has been limited.

 

• Players get suspended more.

 

• A dress code was established in 2005.

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There are a lot of Carmelo Anthony trade rumors out there. Many hypothetical deals have emerged but nothing is official yet.

 
One of the big questions is:

 
Where does Carmelo want to play?

Carmelo is from Baltimore and if he moved to New York or New Jersey he would be close to his home, to his family and his loved ones. Not to mention that these two places are attractive destinations for free agents because of the big market. If he went to the Knicks than he would finally have an opportunity to have a premier big man playing alongside him. Nets have an advantage of their own – a very ambitious and very rich Russian owner. Both of these franchises have big future plans. NJ also has a good, young core of players including one of the best young centers in the league – Brook Lopez. The fact that they are going to move to Brooklyn in two years is an important factor as well.

Melo obviously wants to be surrounded by a good supporting cast and that’s why Chicago is one of the teams that he could go to. There are rumors that Denver is going to trade Anthony to the Bulls and receive Joakim Noah in exchange. Denver apparently wants Noah and if this deal goes down then Chicago could become a serious title contender. They would have their own big 3 consisting of Rose, Boozer and Anthony.

Houston Rockets is another team that is supposedly in the hunt for Carmelo but you should question whether there is enough star power on that team to make them title contenders even with Anthony on their roster because they will have to give away some of their best players (most likely that would be Kevin Martin) if they want to get Carmelo. However, Houston is not the worst choice as it still has a good roster with players like Brooks and Scola. Add in Carmelo and that’s a very respectable team.

A great point guard on your team can help you to land the league’s elite scorers. Every scorer loves to play with a good pass-first point guard. If Melo could somehow get on the same team with Deron Williams or Chris Paul then he would be happy. It is rumored that if Anthony goes to NY or other big market team with enough cap space then Chris Paul could join him later on.

Maybe he wants to stay in Denver? It’s not like they have a bad team there. They reached the Conference Finals in 2009 and have been one of the elite teams in the Western Conference for the past few seasons. However, it looks like Anthony is ready for a change and wants to try his luck elsewhere. Trade rumors don’t appear without a reason, do they?

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Miami big 3 enjoying the spotlight (picapp.com)

 
Who likes the Miami big 3 and who hates them?

You are about to find out!

 

 

Let’s start with the Van Gundy brothers because their opinions are very similar. Both Jeff and Stan think that the Miami Heat is not just a very strong team and a serious championship contender. They expect them to become one of the best teams in the history of the NBA. Jeff says that they are going to break some NBA records while his brother compares them to the legendary 1996 Chicago Bulls.

Jeff Van Gundy

“They will break the single-season win record of 72 and I think they have a legit shot at the Lakers’ 33-game winning streak in 1971-72, as well. And only the Lakers have even a remote shot at beating them in a playoff series. They will never lose two games in a row this year. They have put together a much better roster than anybody could ever have expected. There is now no good way to defend them. They are unguardable. They are indefensible. They are just too good and have added so much shooting and are so versatile that they will score at will. And with Erik Spoelstra coaching, they will be in the top three defensive teams in the league, as well. The other 29 teams better hope the lockout gets moved up a year.”

Stan Van Gundy

“If I look at what the Bulls did winning 72 games and I look at the Heat roster, I am going to tell you that the Heat roster is better than any roster that Michael Jordan played with the Bulls. I don’t think that people predicting them breaking the win total and being in the 70s and the whole thing, I don’t think those are expectations that are out of line based on their roster… Dwyane Wade is certainly, in my opinion anyway, as good as he was, is better than Scottie Pippen. Chris Bosh is better than Toni Kukoc. Mike Miller is every bit as good a shooter as (John) Paxson or (Steve) Kerr or anybody they put there. Plus, he’s 6′8″. If you start going down the list, I don’t think there is any question that the roster the Heat have is as talented a roster if not more so as any roster there has ever been in the NBA.”

Eddie House is also excited but he plays for them so his thoughts could be biased. It would be interesting to hear his opinion if he played on another team (especially if he had stayed with potentially Miami’s biggest rival – the Celtics)

Eddie House

“I’m extremely excited about this opportunity. In Boston, everybody was after us every single night. We were playing hard-fought games every night. This is going to be even crazier. We’re anointed champs from the beginning, and we’re not the champions. I compare it to the year I went to Boston when the Big Three got together in 2007, but this is going to be even bigger. This is going to be Boston on steroids.”

Another person who is excited about this situation is …………
none other than rapper Lil Wayne. Being in jail didn’t stop him from expressing his thoughts.

Lil Wayne

“I believe that this Miami team will be explosive as intended. Anything less than an NBA championship title will be uncivilized. 72-10 anybody?. Well with Wade at the 1 and Lebron at the 2 or vice versa even, or Mario Chalmers at the 1, Wade at the 2, and Bron at the 3… Wow! Not to mention that I didn’t mention Bosh, who can live at the 4 or 5. Zone defense will be a must against this team. That’s 3 players on the court that commands a double team. Just imagine those guys on a fast break, the defender back peadaling… Wade can take it to the hole or throw it up and you know Bron. Bron is going to get it… or dish it back to a trailing Chris Bosh who will definitely finish at the rim… again, wow! Or how about Wade at the 3-point line, Bosh setting the pick, and Lebron in the passing lane. And if you collapse on them, don’t forget that Chalmers can knock down the shot. I bet that they lead the league in alley-oops. And they’re all young! Scary! Hey, what if Pat Riley returns to the sidelines and it ends up being the Lakers vs. Heat in the finals? Riley vs. Jackson! Epic! Gasol on Bosh, Ron-Ron on Bron-Bron, and Kobe on Wade… wow!”

Steve Kerr believes they are going to be good but he doesn’t want to believe that they are going to beat the 1996 Chicago Bulls 72-10 record (obviously because he was on that team).

Steve Kerr

“I’m not trying to be Mercury Morris and root against anybody, but I don’t think it will happen again. There are too many variables, too many meaningless games, too many bad shooting nights, too much playoff preparation.
If anybody has a shot to do it, Miami does. If everything comes together perfectly, maybe they get to 70.”

Not everyone is predicting that Miami will take the league by storm but there are many who are happy with this situation and think that the new-look Heat can get it done. Ramon Sessions for example.

Ramon Sessions

“I was happy for those guys. I mean, LeBron, he’s been in the league for a while and has done everything that’s been asked of him. It was his decision and I’m not mad at him, ending up with D-Wade and Chris Bosh. I’m happy for them. Miami is gonna be really good. Fan-wise they’re probably the favorite, but they’re going to have to work for it. It’s gonna be a great season, man. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Jason Kidd is on the same page with Sessions but he still thinks the Lakers are the favourites.

Jason Kidd

“Well, I think it can work you know. Everybody is going to sit back and wait and watch but the big thing is we are all professionals so for us we have to be ready to play in Miami. I think everybody knows they will be the favorite but you cant look past the Lakers. I mean they are the champs and LeBron, Wade and Bosh got together and came up with this idea and we will all sit back and wait and see if this idea works.”

Just like Magic Johnson

Magic Johnson

“You got to give him credit. He wants to win a championship. When you put LeBron James with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, you put yourself in a position to do that. The Lakers still have the most talent. They’re the best team in the NBA. You’ve got to remember they’re going to have new guys. They lose this year; Lakers win. I think that team may win two or three in a row” later.”

But when he was asked whether he would have joined with Bird to form a superteam back in the days:

“We didn’t think about it because that’s not what we were about. From college I was trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird”

Jerry Reinsdorf (the owner of the Chicago Bulls) defends the Miami super-trio but he is not afraid of them and believes that his team is more than able to beat them.

Jerry Reinsdorf

“Those three guys apparently had a dream where they wanted to play together and it’s their privilege to do it. I don’t side with the people who are critical of them for getting together. I think it was clearly their privilege to do it and I don’t think there was any obligation on LeBron’s part or Chris Bosh’s part to stay where they were. I believe we will be better than Miami this year”

Pudge Rodriguez is excited. He doesn’t talk about wininning a championship (championships) though.

Pudge Rodriguez

“I’m a Heat fan and I love to watch the games, and I go to the games. To see LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh there on the same team it’s going to be unbelievable games to watch. For me, and the whole city of Miami, it’s great. It’s great for basketball.
When you’re at that level, when everybody wants to hear from you so those things (criticism) are going to happen. Tiger Woods get some coverage like that, A-Rod, Jeter. Big-time players get some coverage like that. He’s a superstar. He’s an unbelievable player. Everybody around the globe knows who LeBron James is, and wants to hear from him so I was fine with it.”

Then there are some who are trying to stay polite with their statements and just admit that the Heat is good but we should wait for the season to actually start. Paul Pierce is one of them.

Paul Pierce

“You know it could come together right away for them, like it did when we brought our whole new team together, but it’s all about the sacrifice, it’s all about dropping the egos, and it’s all about communication.”

Kevin McHale kept it as short as possible

Kevin McHale

“There’s every bit a chance this doesn’t work as it does.”

Then there is Spike Lee who is upset that the Heat has the super-trio but his team has not. He, just like many others NY residents, thought that Bron should have chosen the Knicks.

Spike Lee

“This is nothing but a pure Corleone gangster move. It was laid out. This didn’t happen by happenstance. They made people look like idiots. They had the thing planned out two years ago.
The man did not want to come, so how can you be disappointed? He wanted to be in Miami with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. These guys get in front of Pat Riley, and he shows them those rings and they lose their mind. Pat Riley gets people in his spell, and it’s, ‘Whatever you want to do, Coach.’
He’s a self-appointed king. We’re not bowing down. Uh-uh. Not bowing. I don’t care who they got.”

While Clyde Drexler, who has never won a championship, isn’t surprised about what happened in South Beach. He says that these kind of things are nothing new and similar trios are the reason why he never won a ring back in his playing days.

Clyde Drexler

“Basically what they’ve done is what the Celtics and Lakers have done for years, assemble four or five great players at the same time who can compete in the prime of their careers. If you look back on that, history will tell you that those are the team that have the most championships. I used to tell Magic all the time in the ’80s and ‘90s, when they were ‘Showtime,’ that if we switch teams, you would see what it’s like over here. I told Bird the same thing. … They had four or five Hall of Famers playing with them at the same time. C’mon. You gotta win when that happens. That’s what Miami has done. There’s nothing new about it.”

Gary Payton talks about his experience playing together with both Wade and Bryant. I guess he is not overly optimistic about Miami’s chances but he is not bashing them.

Gary Payton

“The pressure is on Dwyane, LeBron and Chris to show it was worth all the trouble of getting them together. I’ve played with Dwyane and it’s no knock on him but if you compare him with Kobe , there’s a big difference in their work ethic. I played with Kobe, too, and he’d be more from my era. Kobe knows how to be humble. If Kobe loses a game, you’ll see him the next day in the gym, working extra hard to make sure he’ll be better. I don’t know if it’s the same with Dwyane. They’re both great players but Dwyane is more the show type. There are high expectations for the Heat. It’s up to the Big Three to show they deserve to be up there with the best.”

Former NBA super-stars like Micheal Jordan and Larry Bird are stating that they would have never done anything like that.

Micheal Jordan

“There’s no way, in hindsight now, I would have never called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and say, ‘Hey, let’s together and play on one team,’ but things are different. I can’t say that’s a bad thing. That’s the opportunity these kids have today.
I mean, in all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys. I don’t know if they would have been on my team. If they had been on my team … then obviously, if you look at the dream team, they were on my team and it wasn’t too much of a competitive thing.”

Larry Bird

“There is no way I would have joined Magic or Michael and play with them. The only time I ever wanted to play with Magic was on the Olympic team, and even then our practices were hard, and we beat each other up in practice.”

Current Boston Celtics players don’t seem to be intimidated by Miami’s new team…

Ray Allen

“We look forward to playing Miami. We feel like we’re the better team – the team to beat in the East. We definitely look forward to that matchup.
That’s what happened here, and so much is being pointed to what we did here. The question is are they ready to sacrifice, make the ultimate sacrifice. It’s not about numbers. It’s not about accolades. When we did this in ’07. That’s what we all knew. That’s what we all said.”

Rajon Rondo

“As far as the East, we’re the champs. I do look forward to playing against them.”

Nate Robinson

“I don’t think anything of The Big Three. We have the original Big Three. We got a nice solid team. WORD AAPP!”

…just like Dwight Howard…

Dwight Howard

“The Miami Heat is another team like any other, and they all need to win games. They put together an amazing team, and they’ll win a lot of games, but nobody in the league is a sure winner.
You don’t build teams to beat a single team (like Miami). You build teams to win championships.”

…and Jerry Buss (Lakers owner).

Jerry Buss

“The Lakers aren’t scared of LeBron James and his Miami Heat Superfriends. I didn’t pay much attention to (Thursday’s announcement from James). I was curious to see where he went, and once I found that out that was that…
Somebody in the East will come out, and our job is to beat them, whoever it is. There are a lot of good teams over there. I don’t automatically hand them the title. I think Orlando is very good. I think Chicago is going to be better. Boston, certainly, is tough. We know about that. So let’s wait until things get going.”

Wally Szczerbiak is even more negative with his statements and he predicts that this Heat team will fail.

Wally Szczerbiak

“Wade/James pairing is not going to work. No way. When Wade’s dribbling the ball up top, calling for a high pick-and-roll, and LeBron’s standing in the corner, no one’s going to guard LeBron. He’s not a floor spacer. He’s not a guy you have to pay attention to at the three-point line. He needs the ball in his hands . . . and there’s only one basketball. As an opposing player, I would be so motivated to kick these guys’ butts.”

And then there are some who are very upset with what LeBron has done, for example, Nick Saban.

Nick Saban

“The way (LeBron James) managed what he did just speaks volumes about who he is and whether he is a team guy – not because he left Cleveland, but the way he did. That’s not the kind of trust and respect you’d like to have in a team organization.”

And most notably – Charles Barkley.

Charles Barkley

“He’ll never be Jordan. This clearly takes him out of the conversation. He can win as much as he wants to.
There would have been something honorable about staying in Cleveland and trying to win it as ‘The Man’ … LeBron, if he would’ve in Cleveland, and if he could’ve got a championship there, it would have been over the top for his legacy, just one in Cleveland. No matter how many he wins in Miami, it clearly is Dwyane Wade’s team.

I heard about LeBron’s little tweet today that he’s remembering everybody who said anything bad about him. And he said ‘everybody.’ Well, I want him to make sure that he puts my name on that (list) … I thought that his little one-hour special was a punk move. I thought them dancing around on the stage was a punk move, and I thought he should’ve stayed in Cleveland. Him joining Dwyane Wade ‘s team was very disappointing to me.

He’s got enough people kissing his ass with his family and all the people who work for him. We don’t have to tell him what he wants to hear all the time … That one-hour special, them jumping around on stage like punks, that wasn’t cool to me. From a basketball standpoint, I wish he had stayed in Cleveland, and if he takes that as criticism, so be it. He knows where I’ll be, I don’t run. I’m on TV every week, I’m easy to find.”

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Allen and Lewis led the Sonics

 
In the 1990s Seattle was one of the elite franchises which always posted great regular season records and then battled each other in the playoffs. The highest point for SuperSonics came in 1996 when they advanced to the NBA Finals where they eventually lost to the Chicago Bulls. The last season when they were title contenders was 1997-98 and since that they had become a mediocrity. There were no huge expectations in the fall of 2004 just before the start of the regular season. In 2003-04 Sonics posted a 37-45 record and their biggest additions in summer were Danny Fortson and Robert Swift so not a very promising situation. In their first game of the season on November 4, 2004 they got beat by the Clippers and the margin was 30 points…

 

 
What was the core of that 2004-2005 Sonics team?

Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis were the leading scorers. Jerome James was their starting center, he led them in blocked shots although he saw little playing time. Reggie Evans was the best rebounder of the team and started at forward. Luke Ridnour started at point guard and he led the team in assists. Vladimir Radmanovic and Antonio Daniels were key players for the Sonics and they played more minutes than James and Evans. Danny Fortson, Ronald Murray (missed almost half a season), Damien Wilkins (missed more than half a season) and Nick Collison also contributed and played about 15 – 20 minutes every game. Then there was the reserve center Vitaly Potapenko who also saw some playing time and that’s about it.

 
At first sight – a good lineup but it lacks interior players in order to make some noise in the playoffs.

 

 
After they lost the opening game, Sonics just went nuts. They started to blow out teams. First, they defeated the mighty San Antonio Spurs by a margin of 19 points and then went on to crash Denver and Sacramento. The winning streak continued and they had won 8 out of their first 9 games. Ray Allen won the Player of the Week Award and Seattle continued to pile up wins. With shooters like Allen, Lewis and Radmanovic on their lineup, Sonics had become the best 3-point shooting team in the league. After 3 weeks played, Seattle climbed up to the top spot in nba.com power rankings.

 
Even though the Sonics were red hot, not everyone believed that they are for real but as they continued to play extremely well, haters started to shut up. The Texas road trip, during which they defeated both the Mavericks and the Spurs, converted many into believers. Seattle started the season with a 17-3 record but then cooled of a little bit and entered 2005 with 20 wins and 6 losses.

 
SuperSonics managed to defeat Shaq and the Miami Heat twice in the first 10 days of 2005. It was common that they beat the title contenders but lose to teams with subpar records – they had already lost twice to both Boston and LA Clippers. They were still one of the best teams in the league and in February Scottie Pippen picked them to come out of the Western Conference.
Long distance shooting was still the Sonics main weapon.

Go Sonics!

Ray Allen and coach Nate McMillan missed some games in February and there were some trade rumors swirling around Allen as well. There were people who thought Seattle should trade Ray Ray to make the Sonics better in future. However nothing like that happened and both Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen participated in the All-Star game. At this point it was about 99% clear that they will win the divison title.

 
As the regular season was getting older, Sonics remained the biggest surprise of the league. They didn’t break down as many expected but continued to win and they were 40-16 (3rd best record in the NBA) in early March. Both of Seattle’s scoring leaders really turned it on in March – Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen combined for seven 30-point games in that month. Jerome James was playing really good also and had the game of his life against Detroit (16 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 25 minutes). On 25th of March Ray dropped a season-high 40 points on the Knicks and 4 days later after a win over Memphis, Seattle finally clinched a playoff berth.

 
Then Seattle started to struggle. Their record worsened from 48-20 after the game against Knicks on March 25 to 52-30 at the end of the regular season as the SuperSonics won just 4 out of their last 13 games of the regular season including a 6-game losing streak. It’s certainly not a good sign to hit a slump just before the start of the playoffs but Seattle was ready for the first round of the playoffs in which it would face the Sacramento Kings.

 
For the Sonics the 2005 NBA Playoffs started on April 23 in Key Arena. Seattle was in front for all of the first and the second half. They even had a 21-point lead in the second half but in the end they won only by 5. It seemed that the game was over by the time Seattle was up big in the third quarter but instead it came down to the wire. However, win is still a win and the fact was that, by taking game 1, the Sonics had taken control of these first round series. 3 days later Sonics increased their lead by beating the Kings in the second game as well. The scenario was quite similar to that of the first game – Seattle once again blew a big lead towards the end of the game but this time Sacramento didn’t come as close as they did in the previous game. Ray Allen and Jerome James were undoubtedly the two best players in those two wins. Ray combined for 54 points while Jerome also scored at least 17 points (on great percentages) and grabbed at least 9 rebounds in each of the two games. He also had 5 blocks in the first game. Everyone on Seattle’s roster was contributing and they were going to the West coast with a commanding 2-0 series lead.

 
Ray (33-5-5) and Jerome (22-9) played extremely well once again but it wasn’t good enough to win as the Kings took game 3. Mike Bibby and Kenny Thomas both had huge performances and the Sonics lost this game by 12 points. So now game 4 had become even more important because there is a big difference between going back to Seattle tied at 2-2 and being up 3 games to 1. Sacramento was up early in game 4 but Seattle fought back with Ray Allen leading the way. Allen’s brilliant performance (45 points on 60% shooting) allowed the SuperSonics to take a 3-1 series lead.

 
Jerome James had another big game with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Rashard also chipped in with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Still this game was all about Ray Allen as he was simply unstoppable. So Seattle needed just one more win to advance to the second round for the first time in many years. The mood was great as they returned home for a game 5 against the Kings. Sonics were leading for basically the whole first half but then Sacramento made a 19-3 run in the third quarter. However, after that the SuperSonics made a run of their own and the score was close late in the 4th quarter. Ultimately, a clutch layup by Ray Allen sealed the deal and the series were over.

 
So the Sonics had advanced to the second round and everyone was celebrating. Ray Allen carried most of the offensive load and the performance of Jerome James was the biggest surprise. By the way, he celebrated the win by waving around a garbage bag after the game what seemed kinda odd. Lewis and Ridnour had their ups and downs in these series but they also played quite solid. When San Antonio Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets in the first round, it became obvious that Seattle will have to face the Timothy Duncan squad in the second round. That’s scary!

 
If Kings were a respectable playoff opponent then Spurs were something else – a real powerhouse and also NBA champs as recently as 2003. Game 1 turned out the way that it was supposed to. Spurs went in front early and never looked back to win this game by 22 points. Even worse was that Radmanovic and Ray Allen both injured themselves. Suddenly it felt that all the hopes were gone not to mention that they were already little even before game 1.

 
However, at least Ray was back for game 2 and played quite well. Rashard Lewis and Antonio Daniels also had solid performances but once again San Antonio was just too much for the Sonics. Their big three (Parker, Duncan and Manu) combined for 75 points on 60% shooting. Radmanovic didn’t play and that hurt the team because he was one of the guys who was able to produce 20 or more points if his shot was falling. It was obvious that those Sonics weren’t playing to their full capability and they returned to the Northwest being down 2 games to zero.

 
Seattle couldn’t afford to lose three games in a row so they had to turn it on this time. Unfortunately their leaders weren’t able to carry the offensive load – Allen and Lewis both shot very poorly. Fortunately it was Seattle’s defense that allowed them to finally win a game against the Spurs. SuperSonics just outrebounded and outhustled the Spurs. This game was very close for almost all of the time and the final possession belonged to San Antonio but Tim Duncan missed his shot and Seattle luckily came away with a victory. Anyways, now they were back in the series but still it was crucial for them to win the next game too. The bad news: Rashard Lewis injured his toe late in the game.

 
Sonics made a nice little run early in game 4 and were leading for basically all of the first half. They were up 6 at halftime. It was the third quarter when Seattle, behind huge shots from Allen and Ridnour, extended their lead to 16 points. They closed it out in the 4th and the final result was 101-89. Great game for Allen (32 pts on 60% shooting), Ridnour (20 pts, 6 ast, 3 stl), Damien Wilkins (15 pts, 6 reb, 5 stl) and Antonio Daniels (19 pts, 7 ast). Seattle, even without their second and third leading scorers (Lewis and Radmanovic weren’t playing), was able to beat San Antonio pretty convincingly. Not many expected that the Sonics would be able to put up a good fight with the Spurs, especially when shorthanded, but they proved all the haters wrong and the series were now tied.

 
San Antonio started to show who are the favourites in game 5 by getting in front early but then the Sonics put together a very good second quarter and tied the game. Unfortunately for them, this game was all about Manu Ginobili as he played spectular – Manu collected 39 points and had a great all-around performance. No one stepped up for Seattle like that. Nick Collison provided a spark off the bench but that’s about it. Allen and Daniels both played decent but apparently not good enough. Also San Antonio took care of the ball very well – they made only 9 turnovers. Sonics lost by 13.

 
Rashard Lewis was in street clothes as game 6 tipped of. Seattle led after the 1st but then there was a lead change in the next quarter and San Antonio was leading after two quarters played. Then the Sonics got back up again and it came down to the last minute of the game. Antonio Daniels was having a great game and Ray Allen had scored 25 (just an average game for him) …Seattle knew that if they let San Antonio win, their season is over… The game was tied with 14 seconds left and it was Spurs ball. Ginobili made a nice pass to Tim Duncan who was open down low. Tim made the basket and SuperSonics were down two with just 0.5 seconds left. Then Ray shot a difficult turnaround 3-pointer and it almost went in…

This is how their season came to an end…

 

 
So how did Seattle manage to put together such a great year? 52 wins in the regular season, beating a respectable Kings team in just 5 games and giving the next NBA champions a good fight in 2nd round even without some of the key players.

Last time they had a winning record was in 2001-02. Only Lewis, Radmanovic and Jerome James remained on Seattle’s roster from then until the 2004-05 season. Sonics also never had a winning record after the 04-05 season. They didn’t even come close to 52 wins.

It is interesting that Ray Allen didn’t play his best in 2004-05. 23.9 points per game seems a lot but he averaged more points in 05-06 and 06-07 – in those seasons Seattle never won more that 35 games. Even more shocking is that he shot a career-low .428 percentage from the field. Also he has made 90% or more of his free throws every year from 2002 until now, except 2004-05 when his free throw rate was 88%.

However, 2004-05 was the breakout season for Rashard Lewis as he averaged more than 20 ppg for the first time in his career. On the other hand – Lewis played just as good or maybe even better in the next two years which he spent in Seattle.

The same here with Antonio Daniels! Yeah, it was the only season in which he scored more than 10 points a game (11.2) but scoring was the only area of his game which he improved. Radmanovic played slightly worse than he did the year before and this wasn’t the best season for Ridnour as well. Also Ronald Murray performed worse than he did in 2003-04 and in 2005-06. Even for Jerome James it wasn’t really a breakout season if we don’t count the playoffs.

 
So why did this miracle season occur? I would say – defense, hustle and heart. Also rebounding, good free throw shooting and taking care of the ball. And maybe some luck as well.

 

 
The 2004-05 season was the lone bright spot in the last few years of the existence of SuperSonics franchise. In 2008 they were moved south and transformed into the Oklahoma City Thunder. The fact that the Sonics franchise doesn’t exist anymore makes me want to end this story on a sad note.

I found this qoute on The Seattle Times

Ray Allen’s layin sealed Seattle’s playoff series victory over Sacramento in 2005.

Danny O’Neil, Seattle Times staff reporter

 

 
Technorati tags:
nba, seattle supersonics, ray allen, rashard lewis, luke ridnour, jerome james, nate mcmillan

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• Best 3-point shooters of all time | Dale Ellis

One of the best “catch and shoot” players of all time, Dale Ellis dropped a lot of long distance bombs on opposing teams throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

 
3-pt field goals made: 1719 (3rd all time)

3-pt %: .403

 
When Dale Ellis entered the NBA in 1983 shooting from downtown was way less popular than it is now. The 3 point shot was introduced only a few seasons ago and it took a while for it to gain popularity. Dale Ellis was one of the first players who started using three ball as one of his main weapons.

 
Dale wasn’t known as a shooter while playing for University of Tennessee but he always had the 3 point shot in his arsenal – he was just forced to play center as a youngster because of his height. He spent his first 3 seasons in Dallas and never averaged more than 10 points per game. In his 2nd and 3rd season he combined for 1175 points and 315 of them came from 3-point shots. In those two years only 3 players (World B Free, Bird and Hodges) hit more threes than Ellis.

 
In 1986 he was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics and it turned out to be a career changing trade for him. He had suddenly become one of the league’s top scorers as he averaged almost 25 PPG. It didn’t come as a surprise that he also won the NBA Most Improved Player Award that season. Surprisingly, Seattle went all the way to the Western Conference Finals after missing playoffs the previous year.

 
Next season Ellis was one of three Seattle players who averaged more than 20 points (Ellis at 25.8 ppg, McDaniel at 21.4, and Chambers at 20.4). It was the first season when Dale made more than 100 threes but still he proved that he has become a much more versatile scorer – only 16% of his points came from threes. Unfortunately, SuperSonics lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.

 
1988-1989 was probably his best season. He made his only All-Star game and won the 3-point contest. Only Micheal Jordan and Karl Malone averaged more points in 88-89 than Ellis (27.5 PPG). That season he made 162 3-pointers while having an outstanding 0.478 percentage from behind the 3-point line. Sonics made it to the second round of the playoffs in 1989.

 
He played only 55 games in the following season and then he was traded to Milwaukee. Dale’s playing time was significantly reduced there but it was still solid – close to 30 minutes per game. His minutes went up again when he was playing for the San Antonio Spurs from 1992 to 1994. Dale was a very effective scorer in San Antonio shooting nearly 50% from the field but he wasn’t getting any younger.

 
After these two seasons in San Antonio, at age 34, he signed with the Denver Nuggets. Many players retire when in their mid-30s but Ellis still managed to put together a string of 3 solid seasons in Denver. In 1996-1997 he averaged almost 17 points every night and that was his second best scoring season since leaving Seattle in 1990. However, he wasn’t shooting very well – 0.414 from the field. Dale really fell in love with the three ball that season as he made career high 192 3-pointers.

 
In the twilight of his career, Ellis returned to Seattle to play there for two seasons. Dale was just a couple of years removed from his 40th birthday but he was still good for 10 points every night. 1999-2000 was his last season in the NBA.

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Every week one player from each conference gets awarded. Awarded for being the best player during that 7 day time span. I guess it’s unnecessary to say that only the very best are able to stand out enough to be recognized as the best players of the week. It doesn’t really award consistency because as few as 3 great consecutive games might be enough to get rewarded, but still, if a player wins that award frequently, it shows what kind of a player he is – a dominant player.

 
The first NBA Player of the Week Award of the previous decade was given to Chris Webber on January 2nd 2000. Then after the 2000-2001 season NBA started to reward two players every week – one from the Western Conference and one from the Eastern. Last awards of the decade were given to LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, less than 2 months ago.

 

 
Who didn’t make the top 10?

16.-18. Ray Allen, Gilbert Arenas, Chris Paul (7 times)

15. Steve Nash (8 times)

12.-14. Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, Vince Carter (9 times)

 

 
10./11. Dwyane Wade (10 times)

Dwyane entered the league only in 2003 but that didn’t stop him from making the top 10. He won the award 10 times and he would probably manage to do it a few more times if not for his injuries. Wade is one of the best shooting guards of the decade and his most important accomplishment is the championship he and the Miami Heat won in 2006. Not to mention that Dwyane was the leader of that Heat team and his importance couldn’t be overrated. Still he’s often overshadowed by another stud from the 2003 draft class. Although not everyone agrees that DW isn’t as good as LBJ.

 

 
10./11. Dirk Nowitzki (10 times)

Dirk was one of the most consistent players of the 00′s. He rarely missed any games and always delivered. He has been a perennial All-Star since 2002 and won the MVP in 2007. Nowitzki has never won the Player of the Week award more than 2 times in a single season but his consistency lets him jump in to this top 10 (top 11)

 

 
8./9. Shaquille O’Neal (11 times)

He has accomplished much and if this article would be called “top 10 players of the decade” than Shaq would definitely be higher, probably top 3. Big Diesel was absolutely dominant during the first few seasons of the decade but then his game slowly started to fade. 2005-2006 was the last season in which Shaq averaged at least 20 ppg and the last time he won the Player of the week award was in December of 2004. Still his career has been nothing short of amazing as he is 5th on the all-time scoring list.

 

 
8./9. Jason Kidd (11 times)

Jason has been playing in the NBA since 1994 and he’s already 36 years old. Just like O’Neal, Kidd played his best ball at the beginning of this past decade and is probably going to retire some time soon. He managed to be the best player of the week for 11 times from 2000 until 2010, including 3 times in 2001-2002 which could be his best season as he finished second in MVP voting that year.

 

 
6./7. Paul Pierce (12 times)

I don’t know about you but I’m a bit surprised about this. Not that Pierce hasn’t been good, he has been great but I didn’t expect him to be higher than Dirk and Shaq. I guess this is just a proof of how underrated he has been. For a large part of this decade Pierce wasn’t recognized as one of the NBA’s elite players but his game was up there with the elite. Paul got rewarded in 2008 when he finally lead the Celtics to NBA championship.

 

 
6./7. Tracy McGrady (12 times)

T-Mac’s career has been affected badly by injuries. When he was putting up MVP-like numbers at the beginning of the 00′s, many thought he will become an unstoppable force for years to come. He averaged 32.1 (!!!) points per game in 2002-2003. Unfortunately Tracy fell short of the expectations. He was an All-Star caliber player but he missed a lot of games and never got pass the 1st round of the playoffs. He won the NBA Player of the week 4 times in 2004-2005 season.

 

 
5. Kevin Garnett (16 times)

From season to season Kevin Garnett continued to put up monster numbers for the Minnesota Timberwolves but he got pass the first round only once. For 13 times he was recognized as the best player of the week from the year 2000 until he was traded to the Boston Celtics. He then won the award 3 more times in 2007-2008 and finished the season off by winning his first NBA championship ring.

 

 
4. Tim Duncan (17 times)

Tim is arguably the best player of the decade but he made his name mostly by winning championships not Player of the Week Awards, yet he still managed to win 17 of those during the past 10 years. His best two years were 2001-2002 and 2002-2003. He won a staggering amount of 11 Player of the Week Awards in those two seasons and also was the NBA Regular Season MVP in both of these seasons.

 

 
3. Allen Iverson (21 times)

One of the best scorers in NBA history. Iverson has averaged more than 30 points per game several times in his career. AI isn’t the 3rd best player of the decade but he’s certainly top 10 material. He is in the twilight of his career now but Allen still averaged 26 ppg as recently as 2008.

 

 
2. LeBron James (22 times)

Nowadays it seems that LeBron is named Eastern Conference player of the week at least once every two weeks and it is not very far from the truth as he won the award 7 times in 2008-2009 and 5 times this season already. LBJ is arguably the best player in the NBA right now, although still without a ring, he’s in a good position to win one this year.

 

 
1. Kobe Bryant (27 times)

Wasn’t very hard to guess the winner eh? The start of the decade was extremely successful for Kobe – 3 consecutive championship titles. The middle part of the decade was tough for him (rape allegations, Lakers not making it further than the 1st round for 3 consecutive years) but now he has returned to glory. During his illustrious career he certainly has been a “love me or hate me” type of player.

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Is Jamison going to Cleveland?(picapp.com)

The Washington Wizards had high hopes entering the 2009-2010 NBA season but so far it has been just another disappointing year for them. Injuries, chemistry issues and Arenas gun case – there were a lot of distractions that stood in the Wizards path to glory. Their veteran power forward Antawn Jamison has been playing very good as usually (20.6 PPG; 8.9 RPG) but as Washington is nowhere near to being a contender, it’s probably time to rebuild and that could/should include trading Jamison away.

 
Earlier this decade Washington was making the playoffs almost every year but as those days have come to an end they should consider going for a fresh start. Antawn Jamison isn’t getting any younger at age 33 and maybe Wizards could get something valuable in exchange for him that would help them to start the rebuilding process. He’s making a lot of money and he’s not an expirer so probably only contending teams looking for a last minute help would consider signing a deal with the Wizards. That’s why Cleveland Cavaliers is the most likely destination for Jamison. But do they need him?

 
Cavaliers are really doing very well right now and they are arguably the best team in the league right now (11 game winning streak). Do they really need to change anything? J.J. Hickson has been playing good for them and the most likely of all trade scenarios is Hickson, Ilgauskas and maybe a 1st round pick for Jamison. First of all, they should be loyal to Big Z who has dedicated his career to the Cavaliers franchise and it would be really sad if the Cavs trade him away and then after just a few months they win the championship trophy without him. In other words – it would be a classless move on the part of the organization. And you can argue that Cavaliers current chemistry is just too good to be disrupted. But still Jamison could be a very valuable asset for a championship contender like Cavs so it’s really hard to say if Cleveland should or should not go for Jamison.

 
Jamison has seen very little team success over the course of his career and I think that he deserves to have a chance to win a championship but what seems quite strange is that Antawn says he wants to stay in Washington: “A lot of people here would like to escape, try to find a better situation, but I signed a contract to be in Washington for four years and I want to finish here,” he said. “I plan to be here for two more years after this one.” Also those GM’s who have talked with the Wizards front office say that the team is reluctant to move Jamison. So if it’s true than the Antawn Jamison trade talk will remain to be nothing more than rumors and we won’t see a trade go down. Maybe Wizards just hate Cavs so much that they don’t want to help them in any way?

 
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