7-Year Old Gina Marie Incandela’s National Anthem is ‘Magic’

So i’m reading J.E. Skeet’s Yahoo basketball blog ‘Ball Don’t Lie’ yesterday, and I catch this video of a 7-year old autistic girl named Gina Marie Incandela singing the national anthem at an Orlando Magic game during their playoff series against the Boston Celtics. Talk about inspiration. This little girl has the type of powerful voice you would expect to be coming out of someone at least 3 times her age, and about 3 times her body weight at least.

Gina Marie was diagnosed with autism just before the age of 2. She could not even speak until she was 3 years old and now at age 7 she is singing National Anthems at professional sports games and concerts across the country. Her parents sent her to a school for kids with special needs as she had trouble forming words when attempting to speak. But her teachers at the school used music to help her with her language skills. I bet they had no idea what gift Gina had in store for them.

As for the Orlando Magic, it seems they are 4-0 now in games where Gina sings the national anthem. Maybe Rashard Lewis can donate some of his huge salary to Gina to become part of their official roster?

Even Michael Jordan was “The Next…” Someone

Some of you might remember a series I wrote called “The Nextology of Michael Jordan”. In the series I talked about the media hype machine, and that for some reason they always wanted to compare young rising stars to the G.O.A.T., Michael Jordan. Well when I saw this special on Michael Jordan being run by NBA TV, I just had to share it with you.

In this particular segment, James Worthy and Julius Erving himself discuss the comparisons the media were making in the mid 1980′s between the young rookie Michael Jordan and one of the NBA all-time greats ‘Dr. J’ (Julius Erving). It just goes to show you the comparing young rising stars in the NBA to their predecessors long precedes the whole “Next Michael Jordan” debates.

You will have a chuckle when young Michael tells the reporter that ‘he hopes he can have a career as good as Dr. J someday’. Umm….mission accomplished your ‘Airness’….

The Rashard Lewis Story

Michael Pina is a senior at the University of Delaware about to graduate with a BA in English concentrating in Journalism. Once he graduates in May, He’ll be living in his hometown of Boston.

What was supposed to be the most gratifying night of Rashard Lewis’ life ended up being one of his most uncomfortable. Sitting alongside 14 other NBA hopefuls at General Motors Place in Vancouver, Lewis obviously had high expectations as to where he’d be selected. His hometown team, the Houston Rockets, had picks 14, 16 and 18 in the first round and it looked like a dream situation might materialize. Instead of taking the 18-year-old, Houston selected Michael Dickerson, Bryce Drew and Mirsad Turkcan. To assume the Rockets would want one of those picks back would be like saying Rafael Palmeiro might like a mulligan with congress.

Lewis did what he thought was the unthinkable and sat in the green room for hours, waiting until the Seattle Supersonics selected him with the 32nd overall pick (with the 27th overall pick, Seattle picked Vladimir Stepania). He claims he can remember all 31 players picked before him.

After nine out of sight seasons in Seattle, Lewis signed a controversial max contract with the Orlando Magic that had basketball aficionados across the league scratching their heads. Why make someone who isn’t your franchise player your most highly paid? While he’s too old and one dimensional to be a true franchise player, against the Boston Celtics, Lewis was unquestionably the best player in a blue jersey. He played like a superstar, carrying his team offensively for extended stretches and the defending champions really didn’t have an answer for him.

In game six at Philadelphia, with no Dwight Howard and no Courtney Lee, Lewis scored 29 points; finishing 11-22 from the field and hitting 0 three-pointers. It was an incredibly impressive performance that allowed him to showcase his multifaceted offensive game. Like Shawn Marion and Reggie Miller, Rashard Lewis has an unorthodox shooting form. He cocks the ball back like he’s loading a catapult and fires the basketball like a flaming orb; it’s nearly unblockable, especially his turnaround on the baseline.

The two-time all-star has unquestionably answered all doubters and finds himself an essential piece on a possible champion. Lewis has put together one of the most improbable careers the league has ever seen, and other than Dirk Nowitski, he’s the biggest match up problem in the NBA. In the conference semi-finals, Lewis showed his ability to dominate on the offensive end, blowing by hefty, slower forwards and backing down smaller guards. Standing 6’10”, Lewis finished this past season as the tallest player in NBA history to lead the league in three-pointers made; he clearly can stretch the floor and with Ben Wallace and Anderson Varajao guarding him in the eastern conference finals, the mismatch factor goes into another stratosphere.

Looking extremely passive and almost disinterested through the first three quarters in game four, Lewis suddenly awoke in the fourth quarter, hitting several key jumpers down the stretch including a go-ahead, turn around three pointer with four seconds left. Not too many players can shake off a bad night and come up big with a series turning shot like that.

With the Orlando Magic taking a commanding lead against Cleveland and positioning themselves for their first finals berth in 13 years, expect Rashard Lewis to continue his story of resilience all the way to a championship ring.

NBA Photo Fun: Chris “Birdman” Andersen

Charles Barkley and Dwyane Wade Play a Game of One-on-one

Don’t ya just love the NBA Playoffs? Charles Barkley is a lot of things, but boring is NOT one of them. His big mouth might get him into some trouble from time to time, but it also makes for great YouTube videos. Barkley and Dwyane Wade have been close friends ever since they started doing the T-Mobile ‘Fave Five’ commercials together, but they never lack the friendly banter that gets borderline heated on occasion. In this gem, Charles Barkley and Dwyane Wade finally take their friendly rivalry to the court, and in front of the cameras.

How does the older and out of shape Charles Barkley fair against the young and athletic Dwyane Wade? Well you’ll have to see for yourself…

Minnesota Timberwolves: Timberwolves Dancers

If you want to get to know the Minnesota Timberwolves Dancers a little better head on over to their official site for more photos, video, and wallpapers. But for now, just enjoy our gallery of the lovely ladies.

The Blog-o-Burn: Orlando-Cleveland Game 4 Aftershock

After last night the Orlando Magic are on the brink of shocking the world. Can they close? Do they have that killer instinct necessary to put away King James and the Cavaliers who sported the best record in the NBA this season? My guess is that Lebron James isn’t going to go away quietly. In fact in three of the four games thus far, the match came down to a final buzzing beating shot to either win or lose the game. When people say “that series could have gone either way”, there is probably no more fitting candidates than this Magic-Cavaliers series. But at the end of the day, no one really remembers those sorts of fine details, because a win is a win, and the Magic are looking good to upset the Cavs and move on to the NBA Finals.

I think the Cavaliers will win the next game in Cleveland, but it may be a futile attempt at a comeback as the Magic are going to be tough to beat in a deciding game on their floor. Here is what some of the other blogs i’m reading have to say about the Magic-Cavaliers series after last night’s game:

Shoals at The Baseline – “But then again, how exactly is any team supposed to beat the Magic when they make almost half of their three-pointers, aren’t shy about shooting them, and then have Dwight Howard just go nuts in the paint in overtime? Forget about adjusting to keep Howard in motion; the big man just took it down in the post and overpowered Anderson Varejao. Oh, and Howard even made two key free throws late.”

Ben Q Rock at Third Quarter Collapse – “I know the Cavaliers are upset to be down 3-1, but they should at least take solace in the fact that they forced the Magic to overtime, on the road, despite yielding a whopping 17 made three-pointers. On the other hand, there’s really no excusing how wide-open they left the Magic on a lot of those threes. I suppose they can live with some of Alston’s looks because he is the Magic’s poorest outside shooter in the rotation, historically speaking, but they consistently left Mickael Pietrus open in the corners, his favorite places to shoot. Cleveland dared Alston to win the game for Orlando, and he delivered more often than not. 26 points on 10-of-17 from the field and 6-of-12 from three-point range. Taking what the defense gave him, which is to say taking a lot. Stellar play from Orlando’s deadline-day acquisition.”

CavsBlogger at Fear the Sword – “We live in a society, especially as sports fans that love to look for blame. It just has to be someone’s fault. Me? I prefer to give credit when it is due, even though it can be hard as hell to do. The Orlando Magic create matchup problems for the Cavaliers all over the floor. Having those matchup and taking advantage of them, however, are two different things. The Magic may not have LeBron James, but they have 6 guys that, individually, get just as hot, and be just as hard to stop. The Magic shot nearly 45% from 3-point land, impressive by itself until you see they did it on 39 attempts. 17/38 from behind the arc is other-worldly. The Cavs made 5-19, meaning the Magic outscored the Wine and Gold 51-15 on three balls. That deficit is hard to make up.”

Zach Harper at Talk Hoops – “Before the game started, Mo Williams guaranteed that the Cavs would win this series. Even though series/game guarantees are essentially worthless and stupid, I have no problem with Mo thinking that the Cavs are going to win this series. He should feel that way. But you put an unnecessary vibe and pressure over your entire team (not just you) when you guarantee stuff like that. And when you don’t come through, it becomes an extraneous drama that gets played up. Plus, it gives bulletin board material to the other team, which is something that doesn’t need to happen in the playoffs. These guys don’t need any extra motivation. So when you get down to his performance not only in this series but also in this game, the guarantee makes his performance (5/15 shooting) even more detrimental to the team.”

That NBA Lottery Pick – “My real issue with Mo Williams is the comment that he made saying that the “Cavaliers were the best team in basketball.” I think this comes up with an O RLY moment. The best team in basketball does not give away a game one at home and comes only a second away from being swept. I have personally never been someone who was for this “I guarantee this win” sort of individual especially when I was down in the series. Maybe all the mock-picture taking and baseball swings should have been saved when they actually get to the Finals. Mo Williams should back his play up on the court and not with his mouth.”

What are your thoughts on the Cavaliers chances to pull through now?

We have our 3 Winners for the May Create-a-Caption Contest!

“24 – 23 = There can only be 1″ by “Ray”

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The Hoop Doctor’s want to congratulate “Ray” on winning our latest contest for a prize package that included an adidas Toronto Raptors Hat, and an adidas Hoops Shirt, and a basketball gym bag from The Hoop Doctors. Ray has won the contest with the caption for the photo above of NBA Superstars Lebron James and Kobe Bryant.

Most of our contests only have one winner, but given its the playoffs and we are feeling generous this contest will have a top 3. Your second place winner of a Toronto Raptors full back adidas hat is Shane Kroeker with the caption from Kobe: “I dare you to crab dribble”. The third place winner of an adidas Hoops Shirt is Derek Charlie with the caption, Lebron: “I can smell the finals”, Kobe: “Sorry about that my cologne must be a little strong”.

The Hoop Doctor’s would like to thank everyone who entered the contest for your participation and innovative caption’s to the selected photo. Keep your eye on our contests page for the June Create-a-Caption where we will be giving away more great hoops gear.

‘Skool’ 4 Ballerz: Be Quick But Not in a Rush Theory

Each week in The Hoop Doctors “Skool for Ballers” we will bring you tips, analysis, or drills on various aspects of the game to help guide your training to be the best damn baller you can be! Don’t forget, being a GREAT baller takes as much work off the court as it does on!

In this edition of ‘Skool’ 4 Ballerz Coach Koran Godwin is going to talk about about how to be quick on offense but not so much that you are rushing things. It’s podcast time people! The University of North Florida All-Time Leading Scorer, Coach Koran Godwin in this podcast talks about how you can improve your offense drastically using this technique as a developing young baller.

If you enjoyed this podcast and can’t wait to listen to the next podcast from Coach Godwin on The Hoop Doctors ‘Skool’ 4 Ballerz, you can subscribe to his podcast feed by clicking here.

Coach Koran Godwin is the founder of JumpStartHoops.com, a basketball instructional website. He is the All-Time Leading Scorer at the University of North Florida and author of the book “Everyone Hates a Ball Hog but they Love a Scorer: The Complete Guide to Scoring Points On and Off the Basketball Court.” The Hoop Doctors are big fans of Coach Godwin, as we consider him to be one of the leading basketball minds when it comes to taking that step from being just an average player, to becoming the leading scorer. Everyone wants to be the big man on campus, well if you follow the directions of Coach Godwin, we are sure you’ll get there.

Marko Jaric and Adriana Lima are Expecting Child

It was announced today that NBA point guard Marko Jaric of the Memphis Grizzlies and his famous supermodel wife Adriana Lima are expecting their first child together. People is reporting that:

“Adriana and Marko are overjoyed that they are expecting their first child together and are excited to share the happy news and start their family together,” say reps.

It seems Marko Jaric has really turned his life back around in a positive way. After all it was only 2-3 months ago that Jaric was facing charges of sexual assault in Philadelphia stemming from an incident on a Grizzlies road trip to Philly to play the Sixers. After the investigation was completed the Philadelphia District Attorney decided not to file the sexual assault charges due to lack of evidence to make the case.

Jaric married Brazilian Adriana Lima in February of this year. The Hoop Doctors also featured Lima prominently in our hottest NBA wives and girlfriends post last year. Now that Jaric has improved his home life, let’s hope he can somehow translate that success to his life on the court as he only averaged 2.6 points and 1.4 assists per game this past season.

And we wouldn’t be doing you justice if we did a story about Adriana Lima without including a photo for your enjoyment. YOUR WELCOME…

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