Kevin Love: Players Got “Great Amount of Joy” from Heat Losing to Mavs

Tell us how you really feel, Kevin. We know that many NBA fans dislike the Miami Heat and you could assume the same for player in the league as well. But to have a respected player like Kevin Love say it speaks volumes. Check out Love’s response to a radio interview…

 

LeBron is Back For Another Game of Knockout at Kids Camp

What a year LeBron James has had. It would take a week to relive everything that happened pertaining to him. If nothing else, although it didn’t end the way he would’ve liked, I’m sure he’s glad the season is over because the spotlight isn’t shining nearly as bright on him now, even though he did help in bringing the NBA back. And he certainly hasn’t gone into hiding. So far this summer, he has made appearances at many clinics with kids, at the Drew in Los Angeles and even made a return trip to Cleveland to play in a local game.

Recently, he made another appearance at a clinic with kids where he participated in a game of knockout with two small campers. I give him credit for participating in anything involving young kids and basketball because he’s in a lose-lose situation. If he wins he’ll probably get criticized for beating little kids and if he loses, he’ll get laughed at for losing to kids. But he really doesn’t have a choice. He has to participate being the public figure he is.

It looked like he was having fun out there. He even misses on purpose at one point to give one of the kids another chance to make the shot and prolong the game. Even though he dunked in this video, it ended a differently than his last game of knockout with kids.

If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook

Better Player: Allan Houston or Michael Redd?

A few days ago, I took two players from yesteryear and posed the question: who was better? Now let’s turn to another pair: Allan Houston and Michael Redd. I think this is an interesting comparison because these two have alot in common: they were best known for their jumpshot, they were grossly overpaid and sustained unfortunate injuries.

You may notice that I referred to  Michael Redd in the past tense even though he’s an active player. That’s because it’s very clear that his best days are behind him and he has injuries to thank for that. I almost fell out of my chair when I looked up some of his numbers and saw that he is only 31 years old. For some reason, I would’ve guessed that he was roughly 36. Apparently, I allowed his absence on the court to be confused with age.

Hypothetically speaking, if Redd was healthy, and with Brandon Jennings, Andrew Bogut and now Stephen Jackson on the squad as well, that could be a very good core. But of course, Redd isn’t Redd anymore. But he used to be. He was a perennial 20 point scorer, once Ray Allen got out of his way by heading to Seattle, and actually averaged 20+ for six straight seasons (although one of those years he played 53 games and 33 in another). He had a quick release, was deadly from behind the arc and could put the ball on the floor if he needed to. His shot wasn’t the prettiest, but it was plenty effective.

After the 2004 – 2005 season, Redd was given a 6-year, $91M deal by the Bucks. Due to injuries, he never lived up to that contract and has only played in 61 games in the last three years.

Similar to Redd needing to get out of Ray Allen’s shadow in order to flourish, Allan Houston had to get from behind Grant Hill. In his three years in Detroit, his scoring average climbed every year. But the expiration of his rookie contract would be the end of him in Detroit. He would then relocate to New York where he was garner much more attention and exposure. He had a solid first couple of years for the Knicks which was highlighted by his game-winning runner in Game 5 (the first round was only a best-of-5 then, of course) of the first round of the 1999 playoffs against the Heat, where the ball hit front rim and the backboard before finding the bottom of the net. And just like that, Allan Houston’s stardom went through the Garden roof.

For his first couple of years of solid play in New York, he was rewarded with a 6-year, $100M deal in 2001. And that’s when the problems began. Injuries set in in the worst way. He certainly tried very hard to return to the court but only managed to play in 70 total games in his last two seasons combined. He attempted a comeback since his final season (2004 – 2005) but has never appeared in a regular season game since.

But during his glory years, Houston was as smooth as they came on the court. He also possessed a quick shot, the ability to put the ball on the floor and could score from anywhere on the floor. He only had one season of 20+ ppg, but had several in the 19ppg range. Not to mention that he is one of the most beloved Knicks ever and is still very involved with the organization.

In my opinion, neither Redd or Houston were worth the contracts that they received, even at their very best. Their injuries, more so than their respective game, are what helps in contributing to why most feel that they were overpaid. But you can’t take away the fact that they were great scorers and had many similarities. They also each have a 50+ point game on their resumes. At their best, who was better?

If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then you’ve come to the wrong place, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook

Trailer for New Dwyane Wade Documentary: Making of a Fashion Icon

After the jump check out the recently released trailer for the new Dwyane Wade documentary called “Making of a Fashion Icon”. If you’re looking for a compilation of Wade’s hoops highlights, look elsewhere. This film focuses on Wade’s off the court personality as it relates to his interest in fashion and the related industries.

Manute and Spud: Different Worlds

New Nets Arena Takes Shape in Brooklyn

It’s been more than 6 years since we first heard that the NJ Nets franchise was making the move to Brooklyn. After several false starts that made all of us just think it was a rumor, the time is almost here to witness professional basketball in another NYC borough besides money makin Manhattan.

While New York’s other resident NBA team, the Knicks, jumped way ahead of the curve in the rebuilding process by acquiring Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony last season, the Nets are still trying to figure out who will be on the floor of the Barclay’s Center once they begin play there for the 2012-2013 season.

No doubt, being able to resign All Star PG Deron Williams as the face of the franchise going forward would be a good start. After missing out on landing Lebron last Summer and Melo during this season, having a Top 5 floor general like Williams is undoubtedly a great fallback option.

Surely new owner, Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, isn’t to happy with the recent news that Williams may be headed to Turkey to play during the NBA Lockout.

As far as the rest of the roster, the coach Avery Johnson has many holes to fill. Outside of promising 4th year center Brook Lopez and the newly drafted scoring wing MarShon Brooks, who just dropped 48 points in Summer League, the remainder of the roster is made up of good but not great role players who may put in heavy minutes but are hardly capable of getting the best of opponents on a nightly basis.

The Nets are reportedly trying hard to honor Williams demands that they upgrade the current roster in order to retain his services going forward. Once the Lockout is officially over, New Jersey will reportedly make a heavy play for Nuggets big man Nene and disgruntled Pistons forward Tayshawn Prince. Of course, resigning rebounding specialist Kris “Mr Kardashian” Humphries at a reasonable price will also be a top priority.

As for the new arena in Brooklyn, the team officially broke ground on the state of the art Barclays Center in March of last season, and by all accounts on their website, construction is on schedule and should open on time in 2012. Tickets have already gone on sale and are selling like hotcakes as New York’s elite crowd are all trying to be one of the first fans to watch a game inside of the reported $1 billion arena.

It appears that all that is left to do is decide on a new team name upon arrival in Brooklyn. With the NBA Lockout at an improbable impasse, could the next Nets home game be in New York?

Check out some pics on the progress of the Barclays Center:

Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania.  Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.

Turkish Team to Meet With Kobe Bryant Tomorrow

The Turkish club that has been in pursuit of Kobe Bryant, Besiktas, is not giving up. They will meet face to face with Bryant tomorrow in Washington D.C.

“At the moment there’s a 50 percent chance that Kobe may come to Turkey,” said Seref Yalcin, head of basketball operations for Besiktas, on Tuesday. Yalcin made the comments to reporters in Turkey, according to Reuters. “Everything will be clearer after the meeting on the 30th [of July].”

Read more about tomorrow’s meeting at ESPN.com.

Labor Talks to Resume on Monday

The NBA hasn’t even been locked out for a month but it already feels like an eternity. Players and owners will resume talks, in person, this Monday in New York.

Commissioner David Stern, union director Billy Hunter and their top lieutenants have agreed to resume collective bargaining discussions, sources told ESPN.com Wednesday, for the first time since talks broke down hours before NBA owners imposed a lockout July 1, shutting down the league for the first time since the summer of 1998.

The sides remain far apart on the parameters of a new deal, but the decision to meet face-to-face again is one of the first possible signs of progress after four weeks of stagnancy.

Read more about Monday’s meeting at ESPN.com.

Kentucky Fan Has Ultimate Big Blue Wedding [Pics]

We all know that no matter what the sport, Kentucky Wildcat fans are as fanatical as any fan base in the country. I’ll argue that they support their teams as well or better than most professional teams across the country.

Just last year, Big Blue fans flocked all the way to Hawaii to both route on their beloved Wildcats and to watch new recruit Terrence Jones’ ridiculous two-handed flush on UConn in the Maui Invitational. Anyone who watched those games from Hawaii surely noticed that most fans in attendance were decked out in blue in support of Big Blue Nation.

Some might say that whether you were homegrown in the Bluegrass State or you are a transplant, Kentucky fans bleed blue. In taking that premise a step farther, one lucky couple who decided to tie the knot recently decided to incorporate the Kentucky Wildcats into their wedding night.

Lifelong Kentucky fan Landon Bishop had somehow already convinced his wife to be Towanda, to let him incorporate blue and white into the groomsmen’s tuxedos by wearing blue pocket scarves, vests, and ties. Just for him, Towanda also decided to wear blue high heels and a Kentucky logo’d garter for the blessed occasion.

But what really stood out at the reception was the cake. In addition to a blue and white frosted, 3 tier cake, guests were pleasantly surprised to see two other cakes, one in the shape of a basketball, and the other as an all blue #11 John Wall jersey. Guess we all know who his favorite player is…..

Check out a few more pics of the Kentucky Themed Wedding

 

Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania.  Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.

Two Unreleased Air Jordan XIV Samples

As with most numbered Jordans, the Air Jordan XIV holds its own special place in the career of Michael Jordan. If you remember MJ was wearing the XIV when hit that iconic crossover against Bryon Russell and drained a shot from outside the 3-point line to win the ’97-’98 NBA Finals helping the Chicago Bulls to their 6th championship while on the team, also marking his second retirement from the game of basketball. Even though he briefly returned to league play with the Washington Wizards he never gained another ring so the Jordan XIV will be remembered as the last winning Jordan. The ‘Light Graphite’ Air Jordan XIV made our list of the top 6 Air Jordans to be released this year and as its release date gets closer, we bring you a look at two samples of the Jordan 14 that never made it to production.

Our first sample comes from the 2005 which, if you can remember, was the last time that the Jordan XIV had its last release. The upper of this shoe is entirely wrapped in Chambray suede with the color also seen on the laces, top of the tongue, and Ferrari-inspired badge on the side. Black compliments this hue of blue on this sneaker by being used on the inner lining, Jumpman on the toe, and with the midsole and sole blacked out.

On this second pair, traditional leather is used with the perforated lanes seen on the paneled lines throughout the shoe. This time around the Chambray is used as the secondary color, seen on the midsole panels and branding. This pair also dates back to 2005 just like the last one.

[via JumpmanSneakers]

Next Page »