Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks Sings Karaoke?
Backcourt star Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks is often referred to as being ‘multi-talented’ and also being able to ‘do it all’ out on the court. But apparently that’s where it stops. On the court. We want to give a big hat tip to J.E. Skeets over at Ball Don’t Lie for this golden nugget he shared from YouTube.
What was going through Joe Joe’s mind when he allowed someone to record him singing karaoke? Considering he is singing MJ songs, maybe he got soo amped about Michael Jackson’s latest concert tour he just wanted to show his support for the legend and king of pop?
Without further ado, check the video, and please lose as much respect for Joe as we did (but not ‘on the court’ respect):
Are the Cavaliers Now a ‘Step-up’ on the Lakers?
This is the first post on The Hoop Doctors by Alex Curtis-Slep from NBA Tipoff.com fame, who many of you may also know as the founder/writer of the basketball blog Basketball Notes by Alex. Alex will be bringing you analysis of current NBA issues as well as some entertainment pieces from The Hoop Doctors. In his first piece he takes a comparative look at the top powerhouse from both the Eastern and Western Conferences.
With the Boston Celtics struggling with injuries right now, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers are clearly the two teams to beat as we wrap up the regular season. With that said, Cleveland currently seems to be even a little more refined than Los Angeles. The Cavaliers seem to have a couple things going for them that the Lakers still have yet to perfect, intensity and chemistry.
Overall Intensity
From game to game, the Cavs bring it more than the Lakers. If you’ve seen both of these teams play, you’ve seen the Lakers have some bad games against teams they should beat. The Cavs are doing what the Lakers should be doing and with less talent. The Cavs dominate teams. LA only does that occasionally; but they’re only truly awake for the big teams. That may not affect things when these teams play, but it will determine who gets the best record.
Chemistry
Everyone’s seen the Cavs friendship develop over the course of this season. It’s not just the pre-game routines, it’s the bonding on the bench, doing everything together on the road. I’m not saying the Lakers chemistry is bad, no team even comes close to matching the Cavs chemistry.
It’s not Kobe’s fault the Lakers aren’t at the same chemistry level; he’s a different kind of leader than LeBron. LeBron is more vocal, a guy who can always laugh. Kobe brings a more serious attitude anytime the ball touches the court. I’m not going to blame him for that, but it’s the little things like that that can give the Cavs an advantage.
Ultimately, the playoffs will be different from any regular season happening. These things may be big now, but they could totally change when the “other” season begins. A championship team wants to get any edge on the opponent it can; and currently, the Cavaliers are out performing their western counterpart.
2009 ‘Ball Up’ Streetball Tour Hit Los Angeles for Opener
The Hoop Doctors absolutely love and crave us some Street Ball. Playin’ in the streets is how it all began for pretty much all of us who ball on a regular basis, right? That’s why we figure a lot of you readers will be interested in keeping your eye on the new ‘Ball Up’ Street Ball Tour for 2009 that just kicked off. The Ball Up Street Ball Players tipped-off their new tour with an exhibition game against celebrities such as Manny Pacquiao and Donald Faison to launch the 2009 Ball Up Street Ball Tour season this past Sunday March 22nd at the LA Convention Center. From what we have heard, over 3500 people showed up to support the tour and watch the performances of the top street ballers in the country play against their favorite celebrities. The Ball Up Tour is as competitive a tour as you’ll find for playground style, and the tour now has some of the best-known street ball players worldwide such as Sik Wit It, aka The Professor, Bad Santa, AO, Go Get It, Escalade, Special FX, Air Up There aka MR.720, Hawk, Violator, Spinmaster and Assassin.
The Ball Up Street Ballers played a nail biting game against the celebrities, a team composed of competitive celebrities including, Donald Faison, Manny Pacquiao, Columbus Short, Tank, Jay Harrington and many others. Tyrese announced both the celebrity E-league and the Ball Up Players to a stadium full of onlookers and fans. Music Producer and Recording artist, Tank, opened the game singing the National Anthem.
The Ball Up Street Ball 2009 Tour will continue through the month of October hitting top cities including Memphis, Detroit, Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago, Atlanta and Houston. Open try outs for the competing team will be held in each city the day before. For specifics and more information visit: www.ballupstreetball.com.
Here is some video we found from the event with Tyrese, the Ballers, and Cedric The Entertainer:
Dr. Dime’s Top 5 Final Four Buzzer Beaters
With the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four less than a week away, I can’t help but get filled with anticipation of what the Final Four matches will bring. Every year there are huge personal performances by players, and great team plays. But nothing beats a good old fashioned nail biting buzzer beater, right?
Just thinking about the possibility of seeing the next great buzzer beater has me amped for the weekend. Let’s take a look at some video replay of what I believe are the Top 5 NCAA Final Four Buzzer Beater’s of All-time:
#5 – Tate George: UConn vs. Clemson in 1990
#4 – Rip Hamilton – UConn vs. Washington in 1998
#3 – Keith Smart – Indiana vs. Syracuse in 1987
#2 – Lorenzo Charles – N.C. State vs. Houston in 1983
#1 – Christian Laettner: Duke vs. Kentucky in 1992
Daily Dimes: Where Calderon is Wining, Dining, and Serving up Dishes…
| Monday, March 30, 2009 |
Prescribed NBA reading from all over the world wide web
Too late for the Raps this year, but Calderon is dishing to the tune of 19 helpers…
Calderon Wines and Dines
Bust a Bucket has a great 2008 NBA Draft ‘Do-over’…
NBA Draft Redux
How can you pass up a link to this kind of Jordan Classic vid…..
Jordan Posterizes Ostertag
Agree CP is a heady player….but TP did foul him well before the heave….tsk tsk Refs….
Smartest Player in the NBA Today
Funny stuff in the NCAA….Check this hilarious replay
MSU CENTER JEDI MIND TRICKS THE OPPOSITION
If you’ve got stories you think our readers should know about for our Daily Dimes links, please email them to us at (admin@thehoopdoctors.com)
‘Sneak’-a-Peek: Nike Hyperize, Summer 2009
A lot of you sneaker heads out there are probably huge fans of the Nike Hyperdunk because of how light they are. Well Nike has decided to improve the design of the Hyperdunk which has led to a shoe that is even lighter and more comfortable. Not possible you say? Meet the Nike Hyperize! You may have heard of it previously as the Nike Hyperlite.
The colorway is a sick combination of Red, White, and Black. And of course the shoe has the cool Nike Flywire Technology panels to bring it together. One side reads “Hyperize”, the other “Nike Flywire Technology”, and on the tongue “Dream”. Nike is planning to release these this summer. I can’t wait to get my pair!
H/T to Marquee Sole for the pics below of the Hyperize:
For a listing of shoe release information on the latest kicks check out our “KICKS” section.
Video of the Day: Lebron James gets KO’d by Referee
Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are quickly establishing themselves as the team to beat coming down the home stretch of the regular season. They were on an 11 game winning streak coming into today’s game against the Dallas Mavericks. After a slow start for the Cavaliers they were down two at the halftime break. But they came out HAWT in the second half and blew out the Mavericks by 28 points in the game.
Lebron James is unstoppable as they come, right? He takes hits on an almost daily basis from some of the biggest, strongest players in the league and often fights through them. Rarely do you see Lebron get knocked down without him popping right back up like he didn’t even notice or feel it. Well today he got knocked down hard and didn’t get back up so quick. What might surprise you is who knocked King James down…
In the third quarter of today’s game Lebron James collided with NBA Official Derek Richardson. They both went tumbling to the ground, but Lebron didn’t get up for several minutes. The shocking part was how fast the official popped back up. That guy is fierce! Lebron is a freight train in the open court…
Good to see both Derek and Lebron are okay, i’m sure all of Cleveland can breathe again:
First Time for Everything, Even for Stephon Marbury
I’m a hater. That’s right y’all, anyone close to me knows that i’ve been completely OFF the Stephon Marbury bandwagon (if there ever was one) for quite some time. The odd time I may still rock a pair of retro And 1’s playing some streetball, but that’s about as close as I get to anything Marbury related. Let’s face it, he’s never been a winner, he’s always been selfish, and he’s left a sour taste in the mouths of fans in each city of Minnesota, New Jersey, Phoenix, and New York, after leaving town.
So what about his new home in Boston? What’s different this time?
While watching the Boston Celtics @ Atlanta Hawks last night, I started to see some strange things out of Marbury. He was hustling on defense. He was moving without the ball. He was playing the team game. Making the rotation. Moving the rock. He even seemed to be communicating with teammates on defense. I must be seeing things, right? Wrong.
On one specific play I even saw Stephon Marbury pass up an open look from three-point range in order to swing the ball one more rotation to Ray Allen who was open for three in the corner. Ray put it up clean, and bam! The pass wasn’t anything out of the ordinary or impressive. However, it was what the pass represented to me that had me thinking Marbury may have finally changed for the better. It was seeing him pass up an open look for himself, recognizing that Ray Allen is a much better outside shooter, and kicking the ball for the betterment of the team that surprised me.
There are many differences in Marbury’s situation in Boston in comparison to his situation with the other NBA teams he has played for. But I think the most glaring difference is Marbury seems to be trying hard to fit in because the Celtics don’t rely on him whatsoever to succeed. They are championship team, chalk full of veterans and talent. In Minnesota, New Jersey, Phoenix, and New York, Marbury was the focal point of the team’s offense with a lot of expectations for him to somehow turn around the team’s fortunes and success rate. For a guy like Stephon Marbury, that kind of pressure and praise proved to only further inflate his ego to the point where he would alienate teammates, coaches, and fans with this ‘me-first’ attitude and style of play.
But if Marbury continues to gel with these Boston Celtics and play the ‘team game’ he may just be able to salvage some small part of his legacy to appropriately reflect a guy who had loads of talent but was ill equipped to handle the pressures that come along with being an NBA franchise player. A few more games like last night against the Atlanta Hawks, where Stephon puts up 11 points on 4-5 shooting, and 2 assists in only 17 minutes of action and people may even start to consider Marbury to be a welcome edition to the Celtics.
Knowing the ‘pack mentality’ of most NBA Fans, I would predict that Celtics fans are probably starting to warm up to Marbury already. It will be more telling though to watch in the weeks ahead how the veterans like Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett approach their relationship with Marbury on the court. When the Celtics hit their first real playoff adversity they will need to have a united front with all players in the rotation, and they will need to have faith in Marbury’s ability to play the ‘team game’ when it counts.
There is a first time for everything though right? And people can change? I’m sure there are some more cliche’s we can believe in when it comes to Starbury…
Rudy Fernandez Scores 5 Points in 3 Seconds!
There was a lot of hype heading into last night’s game between the Phoenix Suns and the Portland Blazers, as the playoff hunt in the tight Western Conference has hit it’s most critical point. The Suns are battling hard coming off a 6-game winning streak to knock either the Dallas Mavericks or Portland Blazers out of the 7th or 8th spot in the West. After last night’s very important win for Portland, the team gave themselves a little more breathing room.
If any of you tuned in to the game last night in the 4th quarter you would have interpreted the game as blowout. Phoenix was getting spanked. But if you tuned in during the first, second, or most of the third quarter it was a different story. While the Blazers still led for the majority of the game, it was more of a slug fest back and forth with very little defense, lots of run and gun, and high percentage shooting from both teams. So what happened to the Suns then in the fourth?
Rudy Fernandez happened. The Spaniard is good, damn good.
But the critical sequence that led the game to become an easy blowout for the Blazers wasn’t actually in the fourth quarter, it was in the final seconds of the third quarter. Coming off a series of games where the Blazers have been criticized for not closing out quarter’s well, Rudy Fernandez made sure that didn’t happen last night. In the final seconds of the third period he scored 5 points in 3 seconds! That’s right, 3 seconds.
It wasn’t just the fact that he scored them though, it was HOW he scored them. The first was an inside score on a sweet no look back door pass from fellow Spaniard and teammate Sergio Rodriguez who delighted the crowd with the nifty pass. Immediately after that bucket, Rudy anticipated the inbounds pass perfectly and stole the ball launching a three pointer at the buzzer to break the game wide open heading into the fourth. The crowd went nuts.
I’m pretty sure the inbound passer, Jason Richardson, layed into the rookie Goran Dragic in the intermission for not ‘coming to the ball’ on the inbounds play. But regardless of who was at fault, Rudy Fernandez is everywhere, and was stroking the outside shot last night on every critical play. Every time he scored, Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard smiled more and more. Happy with himself for landing arguably the most cost-effective player in the league in Rudy Fernandez. What a gem:
Highlight Video of Marcus Jordan, Son of God
When people talk about MJ and Basketball in the same breath, you have to automatically assume they are talking about the great Michael Jordan. Well sooner or later there may be a new ‘MJ’ in conversations pertaining to the hardwood, but this time they would be referring to Marcus Jordan, son of ‘his airness’. As may have already heard, Marcus Jordan and his high school team Whitney Young this month won the 4A State Championship. Marcus hasn’t yet picked a school to play for at the collegiate level, however his game is certainly improving from year to year and would certainly warrant attention from some big name schools, with or without the influence of his father.
For those of you as curious about Marcus’ game as we are at The Hoop Doctors, we thought we would share with you a special treat. Here is a highlight video of Marcus playing hoops this season in the 2008 Peach Jam Tournament and the 2009 Hoop Hall Classic:
