Has Anyone Seen Lou Williams’ Escalade?

March 31, 2010 – Allen Moll

Philadelphia 76ers fifth year point guard, Lou Williams, is having a rough time of things lately. First off, he has missed his club’s last 3 games because of a back injury while rookie Jrue Holiday is doing a bang up job of auditioning for his starting point guard spot for next season. He has made a number of comments publicly that he is unhappy with the direction that the Sixers are heading and has not agreed with a number of head coach, Eddie Jordan’s player rotations or in-game decisions. He even was forced to miss 12 games earlier in the season because of a broken jaw he sustained by accidentally running face first into an opponent’s shoulder. Now, as reported by the 700level.com, Lou let everyone know via his twitter account, that his Cadillac Escalade was stolen.

Surely this disastrous season cannot end quick enough for the former 1st round pick of the Sixers from back in the ’05 NBA Draft, straight from HS. He originally was drafted as an eventual replacement for Allen Iverson, whom the Sixers were planning on moving out of Philly while he still had some trade value left. Things didn’t go as smooth as planned for the former 30+ ppg high school scorer, as he played limited minutes off of the bench until he finally was given a chance as a 6th man during the ’08 season. Last year, he was forced to play behind current Trailblazer, Andre Miller, until he was not resigned this past off-season. Williams was finally given his shot at the start of this season before the club re-signed fan favorite and future Hall of Famer Iverson, for one last go around in Philadelphia.

While on the court, Williams has shined by putting up averages of 14.4 ppg, 4 assists, 1.3 steals, and has shown a knack for getting to the free throw line and converting them at an impressive 83% clip. Unfortunately for him, rookie Jrue Holiday has started to blossom by notching a number of 20 point scoring games and has taken excellent care of the rock. In March, Holiday has averaged 15 ppg, 7 assists, 2 steals, and has shot 50% from the field, and 40 % from behind the arc. One has to wonder if Holiday will be given the reigns as the starter at the point next season?

Also unfortunately for his Sixer teammates, they had won back-to-back games over the Bucks and Hawks before losing to tthe Thunder, thus stealing away valuable chances at landing more ping pong balls in the 2010 NBA Draft. After inexplicably not making any major deals before the trade deadline, the Sixers are mired as the 6th worst record in the league at 26-48, making them horribly bad but yet unlikely to get one of the decided difference makers John Wall or Evan Turner, coming out of college ranks this year.

As for the missing Escalade, Williams first reported over the weekend that a thief had stolen his ride by posting this on his Twitter account:

“Just got the news someone stole my escalade last night….oh boy, somebody is gonna get they a** kicked. He better hope police get him 1st!”

Don’t feel to bad for Sweet Lou since here was his next tweet:

“No worries…………Just got a new Escalade so I don’t want it no more. I want the thief…..”

Come play-off time, Lou will definitely have plenty of spare time to hunt down the man who stole his ride!

Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.

Flip Murray’s Insane Half-court Shot

March 31, 2010 – Dr. J-Water

The Chicago Bulls are fighting for their playoff lives right now as they are in 9th place in the Eastern Conference, and just 1.5 games back of the Toronto Raptors for that 8th and final playoff spot. The Phoenix Suns on the other hand just clinched a playoff berth in the Western Conference and are hot, having won their last 8 games straight.

Ronald ‘Flip’ Murray of the Bulls last night hit a spectacular shot at the end of the third quarter in their matchup against the surging Phoenix Suns. Although he got it off just shades of a second too late so it didn’t count, it was worth taking a second look. The Bulls went on to lose the game 111-105, but it was close down the stretch, and the Suns were bailed out once again by the spectacular clutch shooting and passing of the veteran point guard Steve Nash. Check out the third quarter buzzer shot from ‘Flip’ where he truly lives up to his nickname and flips it up over his head from half-court:

West Virginia May Get Use Of “Truck” For Final Four

March 31, 2010 – Allen Moll

For most teams, losing your starting point guard heading into the NCAA Tournament would be a death nill, but for a team as talented as the West Virginia Mountaineers, it only served as a speed bump on the way to making to their first Final Four since 1959. News that sophomore floor general, Darryl “Truck” Bryant broke a bone in his right foot caused a soft panic among WVU fans at the start of March Madness, but junior Joe Mazzula filled in admirably in his absence, especially by putting up 17 points in the Mountaineers win over the favored Kentucky Wildcats last Saturday.

Now news came out that coach Bob Huggins may again have the services of his starting point guard for their Final Four match-up against Duke. Bryant has been fitted for a special fitted shoe which should minimize the pain and help to prevent further injury to the injured foot. Having Bryant, who averaged more than 9 points and 3 assists during the regular season could prove valuable in case the rejuvenated Mazzula gets in foul trouble and to spell the former back-up.

Although Bryant is a shoot first floor general, he helped to solidify Huggins high powered offense and guided the Mountaineers to a 24-6 regular season mark and a Big East Conference Tournament crown. In fact, West Virginia heads to Indianapolis on a 10 game win streak, which ranks 2nd to only Butler’s 24 game streak out of the Horizon League. Now with news that the “Truck” may finally be allowed out of the garage, the Mountaineers, even though they will once again be underdogs, stand a decent chance to beat the Blue Devils and make it to the National Championship Game next Monday.

Darryl “Truck” Bryant came to the West Virginia campus in 2008 out of St Raymonds HS in New York, as a highly recruited point guard who chose the Mountaineers over USC and the University of Pittsburgh. Until this season, Bryant had probably made more news off of the court rather than on it. Last Summer, Bryant was involved in two “minor” traffic incidents where he was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and failing to give proper information and render aid. He later had another incident where his car struck another WVU student in front of a nightclub. Even though in both cases he served no jail-time, Bryant was suspended indefinitely for his actions by coach Huggins. He eventually was cleared by the university and Huggins to again participate in all team activities prior to this season.

Getting “Truck” back against the Blue Devils, who feature 3 talented ball handlers in John Scheyer, Nolan Smith, and Kyle Singler, could be a difference maker for the Mountaineers. Let’s hope he finally gets to put his wheels back on the ground in Indianapolis.

Josh Selby Wins 2010 Powerade High School Dunk Contest

March 30, 2010 – Allen Moll

The winner of the annually held Powerade Jamfest Dunk Contest is all but destined for stardom on the NCAA and NBA levels. The yearly contest, held as the main event of the evening, showcasing this year’s McDonald’s All Americans, has been won by a number of current NBA stars like Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James, and Vince Carter. This year’s field was loaded with a combination of freakishly athletic guards and forwards led by Perry Jones(Baylor), Josh Selby(Undecided), Patric Young(Florida), Tristian Thompson(Texas), Ray McCallum(Undecided), Joe Jackson(Memphis), Jereme Richmond(Illinois), and CJ Leslie(Undecided).

In one of the most talented group of participants in recent years, a number of contestants had trouble finishing off dunk because in my view, they were trying to pull off a show-stopping jam on every attempt. A number of stand-out performances were provided by the 6’11 Perry Jones, who is a Baylor commit and ranked #6 by Rivals, who pulled off a 360 Reverse Windmill and the 6’1 point guard, Ray McCallum, fresh off winning a state title for Detroit County Day in Michigan, who showed that whomever secures his services will be getting an explosive, yet silky smooth floor general. McCollum is rated as only the #60 player on Rivals.com, and is being heavily recruited by a number of top tier schools, even though he may wind up playing for his father, who is coach at Detroit Mercy. McCollum definitely helped his future prospects by putting on a show reminiscent of Nate Robinson during this year’s NBA Dunk Contest.

The showdown between the event’s two favorites, Josh Selby(#4 overall, #2 PG) and Kevin Garnett clone CJ Leslie never materialized since Leslie, although showing a ton of imagination and degree of difficulty on his attempts, was only successful on his second dunk , thus falling short of making it to the finals.

The night belonged to the sensational Josh Selby, hailing from Baltimore, MD, who at 6’4, was one of the shortest competitors in the contest. What he lacks in height, he more than makes up with a flashy combo of pure hops, skill, and swagger as he pulled off the Eastbay dunk, as made famous by Vince Carter in the very same event, nearly 15 years ago. He also pulled off a 360 left handed alley-oop to himself to secure the win. Selby is currently undecided between Kentucky, Arizona, UConn, Kansas, and Tennessee. Undoubtedly, some lucky school will be getting an explosive sparkplug of a player for next season.

Don’t forget to watch the actual McDonald’s All American Game, showcasing the best high school players in the country on Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 on ESPNU at 8PM.

Highlights of the ’10 McDonald’s All American Dunk Contest (via Hoopmixtape)

Nets Win 10th Game; Avoid Record Season

March 30, 2010 – Dr. Anklesnap

Well they did it folks. The 2010 New Jersey Nets are not your worst team of all-time. Don’t get me wrong, they stink pretty bad, and I can’t be too confident that if the 2010 Nets played against the 1972 Sixers that they would win in a head to head match. But after last night’s win against the Spurs one thing is now certain, they will not go down in history as having the worst record ever posted by an NBA ball club. For now that distinguished honor remains with Fred Carter and the ’72 Philadelphia Sixers.

The Nets won their 10th game of the season tonight, and never mind that the victims — the mighty San Antonio Spurs — were missing two of their best players.

The ancillary benefit: The 1972-73 Sixers – owners of that 9-73 record – still stand alone in NBA infamy.

“It got that monkey off our back,” reserve guard Keyon Dooling said. “I mean, it’s just a relief to not have your name in the history books. When you think of Fred Carter and guys like that, that’s still on his resume. No matter how good of an analyst he is, no matter how good a player he was, that’s still a stain on his resume that you don’t want to have.”

Yes, even though 10-64 looks a lot better than 9-73.

“Everyone’s happy for 10 wins, but don’t get us wrong – we’re still mad about the overall season,” said Terrence Williams (13 points, seven boards, three assists). “But we’re not in the record book.

“It’s exciting to get to 10 wins,” Harris agreed. “But then again, it is 10 wins.” {Via}

Joakim Noah Posterizes Jason Maxiell

March 30, 2010 – Allen Moll

In case you missed it over the weekend, Chicago Bulls center/power forward Joakim Noah gave notice to his opponents that he is back from an extended stay on the bench due to injuries by serving up a facial dunk over Pistons forward, Jason Maxiell. This will also surely make coach Vinnie Del Negro and his Bulls teammates happy since the Bulls are in a dogfight with the Toronto Raptors for the 8th and final playoff spot in the eastern Conference.

Noah had missed 10 straight contests due to plantar fascitis in his foot where consequentially the Bulls lost every one of those games he missed. He had been providing a much needed low post presence for Chicago by having arguably his best pro season with averages of 10.3 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks, while shooting over 50% from the field. The former lottery pick out of the University of Florida has played limited minutes(10-15) in his return from injury off the bench and has yet to either score or rebound in double figures in the 5 games since his return on March 20th against the Sixers.

The posterizing dunk came in a game against the Detroit Pistons on Sunday in which the Bulls won 110-103, keeping them within 2 1/2 games of the 8th place Raptors for the last Eastern Conference play-off spot. Hopefully Noah continues to get back to his stellar rebounding and shot-blocking play that we saw during the first half of the season where he was at least in the conversation for an Eastern Conference All Star spot.

Noah’s ferocious dunk may have come as payback for Maxiell’s two rejections of James Johnson on the Bulls previous offensive possession. This is also one of those plays where the announcers make the play even more spectacular. Listen to these analysts hype up the play.

Does this mean Joakim Noah is back?

Check out Noah’s poster dunk vs the Pistons:

Does LeBron Always Have the #1 Spot?

March 30, 2010 – R.S. De France

By now, we’ve all heard the latest LeBron James quote, a line perhaps better reserved for someone like Michael Jordan, who won eight consecutive scoring titles. “If I really wanted to,” James said, “If I really wanted to be the scoring [champion] every single year—every single year—I could really do it. But it doesn’t matter” (“James Says Scoring Title Unimportant”).

At first, I actually kind of agreed with LBJ when he said that he could lead the league in scoring at will.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m an L.A. native and I bleed purple and gold. I appreciate the amazing scoring talent that is Kobe Bryant. From my vantage point, he was the best player in the league for a season or two.

But, between Shaquille O’Neil, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash, and now players like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, and Kevin Durant; Bryant has had great competition for the honor of “best player in the league.”

Since 2008, though, James has been taking over that whole conversation with crazy averages of over 7 rebounds a game, over 7 assists a game to add to his almost 30 ppg. This season, James has taken his assist-giving to a new level, currently 8.6 apg.

To put that in perspective, how many assists do the other top scorers dish out?

Player Assists per Game

Dirk Nowitzki 2.6

Kevin Durant 2.7

Carmelo Anthony 3.4

Kobe Bryant 5.1

Monta Ellis 5.4

Dwayne Wade 6.7

LeBron James 8.6

*all above players are averaging over 24 ppg during the 2009-2010 season

Now, LeBron James is the most well-rounded player in the NBA. His numbers speak for themselves. In the 2009-2010 season, James is averaging 7.2 rpg and 8.6 apg in addition to leading the league in scoring. No one else is even close to that, not Kobe (5.4 rpg and 5.1 apg), not Melo (6.7 rpg and 3.4 apg). If Chris Paul (19.4 ppg, 10 apg, and 4.7 rpg career) were healthy and motivated, maybe he could get close to a triple-double average, but not as easily as James could. So far, James’ career has been Oscar Robertson-like.

Now, according to James, he could lead the league in scoring any time he wants. I mean. Sure, he can make that claim. But, he is also a great passer and enjoys making his teammates better. The other looming factor in this debate is not Kobe Bryant, who is physically on the downside of his career, but Kevin Durant. Over Durant’s NBA career, his scoring has increased by almost 5ppg each season so far.

Highlights of Durant’s scoring streak of 29 games scoring 25 or more points:

Durant

2008 20.3 ppg

2009 25.3 ppg

2010 29.6 ppg

That’s not saying he’ll score about 35 ppg next season, but he has the potential to increase his scoring over 30 ppg. Let’s see James’ production over the same period:

2008 30 ppg

2009 28.4 ppg

2010 29.8 ppg

“It’s not important to me at all. I mean right now our team is in a position to try to clinch throughout the whole playoffs. That’s what position we’re in right now. If we can do that, that will be more important than a scoring title. I mean, individual accolades take care of [themselves],” James said when weighing the importance of a scoring title. Obviously, I’m not suggesting James has peaked, but even he realizes that he does not need to score more than about 30 ppg for the Cavs to be successful.

Currently in the 2009-2010 season, Durant falls right behind James in the scoring race. Durant 29.6 ppg, James 29.8 ppg. Unless James plans on scoring more, he might not even lead the league in scoring next season, let alone be far ahead of the pack (like Kobe Bryant in 2005-2006 with 35.4 ppg).

And, let’s not forget about Carmelo Anthony who has almost always played second fiddle to James. Perhaps, he may want to lead the league in scoring. He has a great shooting touch and is almost unstoppable around the hoop. What’s more, he is less than 1 ppg behind James with 28.9 ppg.

Carmelo’s 50-point game ’09-‘10:

So, sure, LeBron James could lead the league in scoring anytime he wants, but he’s not going to sacrifice his team’s success in order to do it. Durant’s team, on the other hand, is on the rise, but is not at the top. There’s a better chance that he’ll feel the need to keep taking his game to new heights to improve the Thunder even more.

Hypothetically, James’ comment has some merit, but there are plenty of great scorers lined up right behind James that may be looking to leapfrog him into that number one spot.

R.S. De France is a College and University instructor of English Composition. He has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing. One of his life-long pursuits has been writing and covering anything related to sports, specifically the NBA. Recently, De France, his wife, and another colleague started an internationally read magazine at Shwibly.com.

The Hoop Doctors Podcast: Episode 005

March 30, 2010 – THD Podcast

This week in THD Podcast, Kevin breaks down the NCAA final four, the NBA playoff picture, and some interesting events from the NBA this past week. Don’t miss who Kevin dishes his pump your brakes award to. *Hint – it involves the New Jersey Nets and some paper bag wearing fans…

If you often find yourself too busy to watch The Hoop Doctors Podcasts, get them on the go for your iPhone or iPod! Subscribe to our Podcasts in the iTunes Directory, free of charge. Also, if you have any questions you’d like answered by Kevin or any other member of The Hoop Doctors team, feel free to email them to admin@thehoopdoctors.com and we will be sure to select the best of the best to have answered by Kevin On-Air next week or in a future episode.

Kentucky Commits Recruiting Violation Over Star Player Named “Fetch”

March 29, 2010 – Allen Moll

If you haven’t had the chance to check out the quality content over at theOnion.com, you absolutely should for some pretty humorous pop culture commentary and especially for their comedic take on the world of sports. The Hoop Doctors are big fans of “The Onion” since we have showcased a number of their articles and videos before like their hilarious take on the Allen Iverson/Memphis Grizzlies fiasco earlier this NBA season.

Recently I came across one of their newest videos, spoofing all of the recruitment issues going on in the realm of college basketball these days. For some unforseen reason, they chose the #0000ff;”>University of Kentucky basketball program, who just finished a deep run the the Elite 8 in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Maybe it’s coach Calipari’s murky past on the recruiting front? Nonetheless, the video claims to have uncovered a number of recruitment violations for coach Cal’s star player, a star basketball playing dog named Fetch, who averaged 12.9 ppg and 9.2 rebounds during the season.

“The Onion” claims to have found out that the UK program arranged for extra grooming sessions, gave plasma screen TV’s, and even a University of Kentucky chew toy to the star recruit before he signed his Letter of Intent. They even claim to have undercover footage and photos of the supposed improprieties. The video takes a bit of sarcasm and comedy, wrapped around a trending topic and spin it into a spoof of the frenzied world of sports reporting. It’s definitely a must watch for any fan of college basketball.

Check out Kentucky Violated NCAA Rules For Recruitment of Basketball Playing Dog:

Kentucky Violated NCAA Rules While Recruiting Basketball-Playing Dog

West Virginia Players Mock John Wall Dance [Video]

March 29, 2010 – Allen Moll

Kentucky basketball. Opposing players and fans either love them or hate them. Apparently we found out that a number of West Virginia players, namely Da’Sean Butler and John Flowers, aren’t exactly fans of Kentucky freshmen John Wall or DeMarcus Cousins,…………or more specifically their dance moves.

After pulling off a pretty decided upset over the Wildcats in Saturday’s Elite Eight match-up and putting the Mountaineers into their first Final Four in the modern era, a few WVU players were caught on tape mocking dance moves made famous by Wall and Cousins during the post game celebrations. Flowers got the taunting going by attempting to do the now famous John Wall Dance, which has turned into a pop culture phenomenon after Wall debuted it during player introductions during Big Blue’s Midnight Madness before the season. Cousins also does his own little funky dance, which has become part of both players’ pre-game ritual. Cousins has even already compared himself to Shaq. Many players and fans either find it humorous or arrogant. I feel it’s just young guys having fun before games. Remember, we are talking about 18 year old kids.

For all the fans who don’t like the dancing, there’s some good news since Wall and Cousins have likely played their last collegiate game as they are most likely Top 5 lottery picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. Is it a bit classless for WVU players to mock their defeated brethren? Probably, but I get it, a majority of the Mountaineer roster are natives of the NY/NY metro area where we all have a bit a bravado and bragadocious nature about us. And we all know that Da’Sean Butler has a flair for the dramatic, as evidence of his 6 game winning shots already this season.

Nonetheless, congratulations to the WVU Mountaineers and good luck against the Blue Devils.

Check out the video as the KU Mockery begins at the 0:45 mark: