I live in China. I am working when most people are sleeping or just getting off work... So when Lebron James was carving an even deeper place for himself in the annals of NBA history I wasn't there to see it. I WASN'T a Witness... I didn't see the corenation of King James. And I'm jelious. Fortunatly I have youtube.
My favorite stuff is when he taking those off balance, off the dribble shots from 3-point range. Hard to describe the feeling a fan get's when he's watching an undeniable force on the court.
Links:
Simmons' Take
Broussard's Take
True Hoop's Take
Showing posts with label Basketball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Basketball. Show all posts
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Hollowed Be Thy Name...
I'm so giddy about the Sonics getting the second pick in the draft I can't even say something clever about it... All I want to do is watch this video and think about the next Decade+ of Sonics basketball (Be it in Seattle, Oklahoma City or even if luck permits Los Vegas!)
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Best Prank Ever
So I was wandering around the internet one day and I ran across this story. It is a story of the most successful subterfuge in sportsfan history and it demands a place in the echelons of time, as the benchmark of what people in stands can do to (non-violently) affect the outcome of a game.
Here is a blogger who got the main facts down and got 'em down well,
And here is the story in the Chicago Tribune, via the Los Angeles Times.
Pruitt backs it up Big Time Thursday night Baby!
Reaction: It shouldn't have taken a genius to come up with this evil plan but apparently it helps as was the case with these Berkeley fans.
Other things I'm thinking about:
1) Fantasy baseball is in full swing and I am going crazy studying up. Do you know who Erik Bedard is? I do. Take THAT!
2) At the same time work is ridiculous because we have the China Business Summit coming up. I stayed at work till 1am last night editing and what not. I'm about to fall over.
3) Just started reading this comic book called Berserk. Good stuff. You should try it sometime. They need to make more of the Anime though. It ends right in the middle of the story. If you want to make a difference go to here to petition the re-starting of the anime series.
4) Culpepper to Miami for a second round draft pick... I can't believe the Vikes have traded away their 2 best players in the last two years and they have virtually nothing to show for it. Troy Williamson and a 2006 second round pick don't compare favorably to Moss and Culpepper...
5) March Madness is coming up and I havn't even really looked at a bracket yet. I'm just bidding my time until I can see the National Bracket on ESPN. It's usually better than 90% of indiviual brackets. If you need more proof that groups are smarter than the individual, check out The Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki.
6) From the department of Predictable happenings: Mark Prior is feeling pain in his throwing arm. I almost drafted him in my pay league this year because it's not often you can pick up a pitcher of his caliber (even an oft injured one) in the 8th round. I'm glad I didn't.
7) Alex Rodriguez is on a tear at the World Baseball Classic. I think we need to start calling him Mr. March.
8) And finally, I don't want to hear anything more about Barry Bonds, unless it's about him hitting a Homerun. If you didn't already know he was taking steroids then you are naive. Thank you and goodnight.
Here is a blogger who got the main facts down and got 'em down well,
And here is the story in the Chicago Tribune, via the Los Angeles Times.
Pruitt backs it up Big Time Thursday night Baby!
Reaction: It shouldn't have taken a genius to come up with this evil plan but apparently it helps as was the case with these Berkeley fans.
Other things I'm thinking about:
1) Fantasy baseball is in full swing and I am going crazy studying up. Do you know who Erik Bedard is? I do. Take THAT!
2) At the same time work is ridiculous because we have the China Business Summit coming up. I stayed at work till 1am last night editing and what not. I'm about to fall over.
3) Just started reading this comic book called Berserk. Good stuff. You should try it sometime. They need to make more of the Anime though. It ends right in the middle of the story. If you want to make a difference go to here to petition the re-starting of the anime series.
4) Culpepper to Miami for a second round draft pick... I can't believe the Vikes have traded away their 2 best players in the last two years and they have virtually nothing to show for it. Troy Williamson and a 2006 second round pick don't compare favorably to Moss and Culpepper...
5) March Madness is coming up and I havn't even really looked at a bracket yet. I'm just bidding my time until I can see the National Bracket on ESPN. It's usually better than 90% of indiviual brackets. If you need more proof that groups are smarter than the individual, check out The Wisdom of Crowds, by James Surowiecki.
6) From the department of Predictable happenings: Mark Prior is feeling pain in his throwing arm. I almost drafted him in my pay league this year because it's not often you can pick up a pitcher of his caliber (even an oft injured one) in the 8th round. I'm glad I didn't.
7) Alex Rodriguez is on a tear at the World Baseball Classic. I think we need to start calling him Mr. March.
8) And finally, I don't want to hear anything more about Barry Bonds, unless it's about him hitting a Homerun. If you didn't already know he was taking steroids then you are naive. Thank you and goodnight.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Damn My Cold, Black Heart
Watch this -->
Now, I'm not a totally insensitive guy. I even might have shed a tear after seeing this video. Great story. Great kid. Great movie material. But it only took me a couple of minutes to ponder whether the meticulous nature of an autistic person would translate into success in a sport that requires more practice and habit formation than that of basketball. Yes, I'm talking about baseball.
Don't get me wrong, the compulsive tendencies of a person with autism might help in basketball. God knows that to have any kind of a shot you have to throw up hundreds of shots a day. But basketball is a fluid game where the most creative have success. Baseball is all about the bodies ability to remember form. The greatest pitchers ever to play the game have had stretches where their mechanics failed them. Hitters go into slumps because of the smallest change to their swing.
I really am just rambling. I shouldn't have even wrote anything for this post. I should have just shut-up and basked in this touching moment (right after trying to get the movie rights).
Now, I'm not a totally insensitive guy. I even might have shed a tear after seeing this video. Great story. Great kid. Great movie material. But it only took me a couple of minutes to ponder whether the meticulous nature of an autistic person would translate into success in a sport that requires more practice and habit formation than that of basketball. Yes, I'm talking about baseball.
Don't get me wrong, the compulsive tendencies of a person with autism might help in basketball. God knows that to have any kind of a shot you have to throw up hundreds of shots a day. But basketball is a fluid game where the most creative have success. Baseball is all about the bodies ability to remember form. The greatest pitchers ever to play the game have had stretches where their mechanics failed them. Hitters go into slumps because of the smallest change to their swing.
I really am just rambling. I shouldn't have even wrote anything for this post. I should have just shut-up and basked in this touching moment (right after trying to get the movie rights).
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Kobe's Sick Night
OK here is John Hollinger's great article on Kobe's downright sick night on Sunday:
It seems at first glance that Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point night in 1962 is far superior to Kobe Bryant's 81-point game Sunday. After all, Bryant still needed 19 more points -- roughly Pau Gasol's average -- just to catch the Dipper.
But if you stack the two games side by side, you'll come to the startling realization that Bryant's performance was actually far superior. Breaking the two games down by the numbers, it quickly becomes apparent what a dominant night Kobe had. Consider the facts:
Wilt scored 100 of his team's 169 points in the 1962 game.
Bryant was more efficient. Bryant needed 46 shot attempts and 20 free throws to get 81 points. Chamberlain needed 63 field-goal attempts and 32 free-throw tries to get his 100. Bryant's true shooting percentage for the night was 73.9 percent; Chamberlain's was only 63.9 percent.
Bryant's performance was more real. In Chamberlain's game, the Warriors intentionally fouled the Knicks in the final minute of play to get the ball back for another Chamberlain try at the century mark. Only on his third try did he get to 100. At the time, his team was comfortably ahead, as it was for the entire second half, and it won 169-147. Bryant, on the other hand, got almost all his points when they were desperately needed, as his team trailed by 18 early in the third quarter.
Bryant needed fewer minutes. If you want to really be amazed, consider the fact that Kobe sat out for six minutes in the second quarter. So Bryant scored his 81 points in only 42 minutes, while Wilt played the full 48 in his 100-point effort. Had he played for an additional six minutes and scored at the same rate (hardly an unreasonable assumption, given how much gas he appeared to have at the end), Kobe would have finished with 93 points. Yes, 93.
The game was different. Of all the differences between Bryant's game and Chamberlain's, this one is perhaps the biggest. Chamberlain's game ended up 169-147, Bryant's 122-104. Obviously, there was a huge difference in the speed of play, and that meant Chamberlain had far more opportunities to score than Bryant did.
Chamberlain's game featured 233 field-goal attempts versus 164 for Bryant's, and 93 free-throw attempts to 60 for Bryant's. We have no data on turnovers and offensive rebounds for Chamberlain's game, but based on the numbers I just mentioned, we can estimate there were 46 percent more possessions in the Chamberlain game than in the Kobe game.
If that's the case, we need to inflate Kobe's numbers by 46 percent to get an accurate idea of what it equates to in Chamberlain's era. The answer? An unbelievable 118 points. And if we add in six extra minutes for Bryant, we end up with the mind-boggling total of 135. By one player. In one game.
Another way to look at it is by deflating Chamberlain's numbers by a similar amount. If we change his currency into "2006 points," so to speak, the Stilt ends up with 68 points -- still an awesome performance, but clearly not on a level with Kobe's 81-point outburst. And once you adjust for the 48 minutes Chamberlain played vs. Kobe's 42, you end up with 60 points for Wilt -- or just a bit more than Kobe rang up in the second half.
So when our Marc Stein says this is the most amazing performance ever, believe it. Once you adjust for the differences in pace between the two eras and the fact that Bryant sat out for six minutes, even Chamberlain's monumental 100-point game pales by comparison. For basketball historians, Bryant's effort is now the scoring effort against which all others should be measured.
It seems at first glance that Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point night in 1962 is far superior to Kobe Bryant's 81-point game Sunday. After all, Bryant still needed 19 more points -- roughly Pau Gasol's average -- just to catch the Dipper.
But if you stack the two games side by side, you'll come to the startling realization that Bryant's performance was actually far superior. Breaking the two games down by the numbers, it quickly becomes apparent what a dominant night Kobe had. Consider the facts:
Wilt scored 100 of his team's 169 points in the 1962 game.
Bryant was more efficient. Bryant needed 46 shot attempts and 20 free throws to get 81 points. Chamberlain needed 63 field-goal attempts and 32 free-throw tries to get his 100. Bryant's true shooting percentage for the night was 73.9 percent; Chamberlain's was only 63.9 percent.
Bryant's performance was more real. In Chamberlain's game, the Warriors intentionally fouled the Knicks in the final minute of play to get the ball back for another Chamberlain try at the century mark. Only on his third try did he get to 100. At the time, his team was comfortably ahead, as it was for the entire second half, and it won 169-147. Bryant, on the other hand, got almost all his points when they were desperately needed, as his team trailed by 18 early in the third quarter.
Bryant needed fewer minutes. If you want to really be amazed, consider the fact that Kobe sat out for six minutes in the second quarter. So Bryant scored his 81 points in only 42 minutes, while Wilt played the full 48 in his 100-point effort. Had he played for an additional six minutes and scored at the same rate (hardly an unreasonable assumption, given how much gas he appeared to have at the end), Kobe would have finished with 93 points. Yes, 93.
The game was different. Of all the differences between Bryant's game and Chamberlain's, this one is perhaps the biggest. Chamberlain's game ended up 169-147, Bryant's 122-104. Obviously, there was a huge difference in the speed of play, and that meant Chamberlain had far more opportunities to score than Bryant did.
Chamberlain's game featured 233 field-goal attempts versus 164 for Bryant's, and 93 free-throw attempts to 60 for Bryant's. We have no data on turnovers and offensive rebounds for Chamberlain's game, but based on the numbers I just mentioned, we can estimate there were 46 percent more possessions in the Chamberlain game than in the Kobe game.
If that's the case, we need to inflate Kobe's numbers by 46 percent to get an accurate idea of what it equates to in Chamberlain's era. The answer? An unbelievable 118 points. And if we add in six extra minutes for Bryant, we end up with the mind-boggling total of 135. By one player. In one game.
Another way to look at it is by deflating Chamberlain's numbers by a similar amount. If we change his currency into "2006 points," so to speak, the Stilt ends up with 68 points -- still an awesome performance, but clearly not on a level with Kobe's 81-point outburst. And once you adjust for the 48 minutes Chamberlain played vs. Kobe's 42, you end up with 60 points for Wilt -- or just a bit more than Kobe rang up in the second half.
So when our Marc Stein says this is the most amazing performance ever, believe it. Once you adjust for the differences in pace between the two eras and the fact that Bryant sat out for six minutes, even Chamberlain's monumental 100-point game pales by comparison. For basketball historians, Bryant's effort is now the scoring effort against which all others should be measured.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
What Was He Thinking?!?!
The Following is from Darren Rovel's Sports business blog on ESPN.com.
On Monday, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Damon Jones was scheduled to hold a news conference in the ballroom of the Ritz Carlton Hotel to announce that he's the first NBA player to endorse Chinese shoe brand Li-Ning. There is supposedly going to be an advertising campaign in China featuring Jones, though I'm not sure the Chinese are as familiar with Jones as they are with his teammate LeBron James. "I'm an icon. I'm global," Jones told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "If I was on the All-Star ballot, I'd have a million votes in China. And none here, because everybody thinks I'm arrogant." You've also only started three of 31 games this year and you're shooting 5-for-32 (15.6 percent) in your last seven games played.
On Monday, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Damon Jones was scheduled to hold a news conference in the ballroom of the Ritz Carlton Hotel to announce that he's the first NBA player to endorse Chinese shoe brand Li-Ning. There is supposedly going to be an advertising campaign in China featuring Jones, though I'm not sure the Chinese are as familiar with Jones as they are with his teammate LeBron James. "I'm an icon. I'm global," Jones told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "If I was on the All-Star ballot, I'd have a million votes in China. And none here, because everybody thinks I'm arrogant." You've also only started three of 31 games this year and you're shooting 5-for-32 (15.6 percent) in your last seven games played.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Question of the Day
Are these NBA Hall of Fame numbers?
16 years
Games: 1134
Games Started: 979
Minutes: 33,838
FGM-FGA: 5,205-10,510
3PA-3PM: 100-426
FTM-FTA: 2,888-4,176
OFF REB: 2,881
DEF REB: 6,445
TOT REB: 9,326
AST: 3,541
STL: 1,288
BLK: 1,631
TO: 2,470
PF: 3,609
PTS: 13,398
16 years
Games: 1134
Games Started: 979
Minutes: 33,838
FGM-FGA: 5,205-10,510
3PA-3PM: 100-426
FTM-FTA: 2,888-4,176
OFF REB: 2,881
DEF REB: 6,445
TOT REB: 9,326
AST: 3,541
STL: 1,288
BLK: 1,631
TO: 2,470
PF: 3,609
PTS: 13,398
Saturday, November 19, 2005
NBA All Interview Team
KEVIIIIN! GAAARNETT!
Seriously though. This Award actually exists.
This is the worst fucking blog site I've ever seen. I can't even link things. If this is not true then please, someone, show me the light. I just want to prove the NBA All-Interview team actually exists without making it too hard on my readers (of which there are none). Is that too much to ask?
Seriously though. This Award actually exists.
This is the worst fucking blog site I've ever seen. I can't even link things. If this is not true then please, someone, show me the light. I just want to prove the NBA All-Interview team actually exists without making it too hard on my readers (of which there are none). Is that too much to ask?
Question of the Day
How many time has Kevin Garnett finished 1 assist shy of a triple Double? i know he did it about 6 or 7 times in his MVP season of '03-'04, and he just did it the other day. I've looked for sites that have game logs over a career and I would have put in the time to just look at ever game he's ever played but I can't even find this... Can anybody help me...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)