Harlem Globetrotters Tour Philippines May 2009

Ad ID: 14274
Date Posted: 2009-03-20
Transaction type: Offering / Selling / For Sale
Price: P105 to P1575

Experience firsthand the basketball prowess of the Globetrotters at the Araneta Coliseum on May 25, 2009, Monday 7:00PM

Affordable Prices:

Patron (Reserved Seating) - P1575
Lower Box (Reserved Seating) - P1050
Upper Box A (Reserved Seating) - P840
Upper Box B (Free Seating) - P420
Gen. Admission (Free Seating) - P105

Reserve thru:
http://www.ticketnet.com.ph/2006/detail.php?eid=1096&res=Y
or Call 911-5555


http://www.harlemglobetrotters.com/
Location: Metro Manila / NCR

SOURCE

N.B.A.’s Undercover Secret: Players’ Protective Pads

Many N.B.A. and college players wear thigh pads and chest pads beneath their loose-fitting uniforms, and their numbers have steadily risen. The quaint sport that Dr. James Naismith introduced to pass time in the winter has evolved into a full-contact sport requiring full-time protection.

“In the paint, basketball is very physical,” the Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard said. “You’ve got elbows flying, bodies flying, crashing, people fighting for position. I don’t think people see all of that. That’s why a lot of people have been wearing those.”

He pointed to his teammate Mickael Pietrus, who was sliding into a flak jacket before a recent game.

The padding pioneer was Shaquille O’Neal, whose 7-foot-1, 315-pound frame provides ample room for bumps and bruises. O’Neal had worn girdlelike protection for a while, but five seasons ago when he joined the Miami Heat, he consulted with Ron Culp, then the team’s longtime trainer, on how to best nurse a bruised rib while continuing to play.

“When I came in, people thought the best way to stop me was to be physical,” said O’Neal, an 18-year veteran. “It didn’t really hurt. The little knickknack bruises started to addup.”

Culp considered having O’Neal wear a bulletproof vest, but it restricted movement and weighed too much. Culp then approached Kevin O’Neill, the Miami Dolphins’ head trainer.

O’Neal may stand taller, but he weighs about the same as many football players. And after witnessing the contact O’Neal absorbed, Culp said, it was only natural to consult a football team about protection.

“Basketball is the most physical noncontact sport in the world,” Culp said. “There’s a conundrum. You’re putting 10 oversized people in an undersized place and telling them to run as fast as they can and jump as high as they can and to not get hurt while doing it.”

Soon, the Heat’s Dwyane Wade started wearing the padding because he “bounces off of people like he is on a pool table,” Culp said.

O’Neal, now with Phoenix, said, “I’m a trendsetter, baby.”

LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Amar’e Stoudemire are also among those who don padding during games.

The game’s most dynamic players, those who draw the most attention and absorb the most contact, are regular users.

The extra cushioning provided by padded compression shorts and a tight-fitting padded V-neck undershirt goes mostly unnoticed.

But players are convinced that these special undergarments can prevent injury.

“It works,” Philadelphia 76ers forward Thaddeus Young said as he held a protective shirt. “It depends where you get hit at. You want to protect some of the things in your body, and I’ve gotten elbowed a couple times in my ribs and they tend to be hurting for a while.

“This gives me a little more peace of mind.”

Because of O’Neal and others, McDavid, a manufacturer of protective sports equipment based in Illinois, modified its N.F.L. gear for basketball use. Its HexPad technology involves forming foam composites into hundreds of lightweight hexagonal pads that are bonded into fabric. Unlike most football pads, they do not have to be removed for washing.

The N.B.A. is happy as long as no one sees the extra padding.

“Whether they’re wearing padded or nonpadded compression gear, they can’t be visible while they’re at a standstill, and the compression tanks can’t be visible under the jersey as well,” said Stu Jackson, the league’s executive vice president for basketball operations.

“The compression items that are issued by the team are from our apparel partner, which is Adidas. They’re cut in a way that are not visible, so if a player chooses to wear another compression item, it must be so it’s not visible.”

But that makes it tougher to market to younger players.

“That’s the hard part of the product, that nobody sees it,” said Rey Corpuz, McDavid’s marketing director, who estimated that basketball padding for all ages could become a $15 million to $20 million business for his company. “It’s designed specifically not to be seen at the N.B.A. level.”

Other companies, including Nike and Under Armour, have also developed protective padding for basketball players.

“We really see this as the new modern-day uniform system,” said Todd Van Horne, a Nike creative director. “You’re not just using the jersey that’s wearing the number on the outside. The players are bigger, they’re stronger. They’re more competitive.”

So are the companies that have entered this burgeoning apparel category. McDavid sued Nike and later Adidas, citing patent infringement, and is seeking to have them cease manufacturing padded undergarments. Neither lawsuit has not been resolved.

Derek Kent, a Nike spokesman, said that the lawsuit lacked factual merit and that Nike filed for its own patent nearly two years ago.

“As an innovation-orientated company for athletes during the last 36 years,” Kent said, “Nike believes that athletes can decide which products provide the greatest performance advantage and that both should be allowed to compete in the marketplace unchanged.”

The popularity of the padded garments for basketball has been a coup for McDavid.

“If you go back into the ’70s, guys are wearing knee pads,” Corpuz said. “Padding isn’t outside of the culture. Our biggest challenge was changing the mind-set of the average basketball player that padding was already there.”

Still, some players bristle at wearing body pads, fearing that they may restrict movement or questioning the need for them in the first place.

“Those guys who use them bang a lot,” the veteran Nets guard Keyon Dooling said. “They get the ball a lot more than me. Over the years, I’ve learned how to avoid being hit by the big guys.”


I think the bulletproof vest is more effective, what do you think? LOL.

SOURCE

One giant leap for Tyler

One giant leap for Tyler
By Dan Wetzel

Jeremy Tyler has decided to forgo his senior year of high school and turn pro.
Yes, high school.
This isn’t some sign of the sporting apocalypse or a teenager with an overvalued sense of worth. It’s a daring, trailblazing yet well-thought-out move that challenges the bizarre way America develops amateur basketball players.
Tyler is an agile 6-11, 260-pound San Diego native, the nation’s top player in the junior class who already committed to the University of Louisville. He’s as close to a can’t-miss NBA prospect as there is; a tantalizing mix of size, speed and smarts. Scouts project him to be the No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft, when he’s eligible under the NBA’s age requirements.
In the meantime, Jeremy Tyler’s options were to:
1. Spend the next year at his local school, San Diego High, where he faces quadruple teams and isn’t experiencing much development; or
2. Transfer to a basketball factory in some rural outpost back East which has a big-time team but resembles a traditional high school in name only; and then
3. Play college ball for a few months dealing with NCAA limitations on practice time and coaching contact while competing against many of the same guys he has the last few years.
All for free, of course.

“I know I can do great things with my talent. My goal in life is to get better. Playing with the pro guys will get me a lot better faster. It will help me fulfill my dreams of playing in the NBA.”

– Jeremy Tyler

Instead Jeremy and his father, James, who owns his own home improvement company and is about to open a family restaurant, surveyed the traditional route, decided it made little sense, and went looking for a new plan. They called retired sneaker executive and hoops dealmaker Sonny Vaccaro and plotted a course for Europe.
It isn’t the easy way – hanging out in high school, AAU and college is safer and far less demanding – but it is what they believe will be the best way to prepare for the NBA. It’s exactly what a teenager of comparable talent would do if they were pursuing a career in music, acting, tennis, hockey or even academics.
“It may not be the best way to get to the NBA, but it’s the best way to get ready for the NBA,” Jeremy Tyler told Yahoo! Sports this week. His decision was first reported by the New York Times.
“I know I can do great things with my talent,” Tyler continued. “My goal in life is to get better. Playing with the pro guys will get me a lot better faster. It will help me fulfill my dreams of playing in the NBA.”
Over the next couple of weeks the Tylers said they will hire a financial planner and professional sports agent and pursue early feelers from professional teams in Spain, Italy and Israel. Jeremy Tyler is likely to receive a contract worth at least a few hundred thousand dollars a year and could sign endorsement contracts worth at least that.
The plan is to live abroad the next two years, with his father and an uncle taking turns staying with him. “He’ll never be alone,” James said.
Tyler will play against the grown men who can challenge a player of his size and potential. Away from the court he’ll be home-schooled, earn a GED and return in two seasons when he’s eligible for the 2011 draft.
By then, Jeremy Tyler figures, he’ll be a much better player and person; having learned from top coaches, enjoyed unlimited practice time and broadened his horizons in a foreign land. He calls it “a dream job” and isn’t the slightest bit nostalgic for homecoming, prom or missing out on college hoops.
And while he’ll earn a great deal of money, he says his chief motivation is to make himself the best prospect possible for the even greater amount waiting in the NBA.

---

In basketball terms, it’s a no brainer. The only risk is exposure at the hands of superior competition. Tyler could just stay in the States and hide his weaknesses against smaller, less-talented opponents.
“His game will be picked apart [by scouts], but long-term it’s much better for his development as a player,” said one Western Conference general manager, who can’t comment publicly due to NBA rules. “It’s a bold move, but I’ve seen tape and that kid could play in the NBA right now. He’s an incredible talent.”
Jeremy Tyler said he wants his shortcomings exposed so he can work on them in the same European professional leagues that have produced dozens of NBA players.
This June’s draft will bring more, including Brandon Jennings, a guard from Compton, Calif., who skipped his freshman season of college to play in Italy. Despite predictable challenges on and off the court, Jennings is returning as a projected lottery pick. NBA front offices said they value his experience more than that of a college freshman.

“He was bored in high school. He said that every game. [He’d] just get the rebound and shoot it back in the hole. I said, ‘we’re wasting this guy’s time. He’s not getting the challenge he deserves.’ As a parent, all you want to see is your kid strive to be his best.”

– James Tyler, Jeremy’s father

Then there’s Spain’s 18-year-old Ricky Rubio, expected to be the No. 2 pick in June’s draft. He turned pro at age 14 and at 17 was an Olympic starter holding his own against Team USA.
“For a 14-year-old overseas to be able to make money to play the same sport I’m playing, I think it’s only fair to have the same opportunity,” Jeremy Tyler said. “If you have a talent, you should be able to use it. If college is not going to help you at any stage, it’s a little unfair.”
The college is not going to help you part is where Jeremy, who is polished beyond his years, understands the criticism will come from.
He and his father are bracing for an establishment backlash that fails to appreciate their motivation, determination and appreciation of the intrinsic value of education. They think most of it will be designed to protect the billion-dollar business of amateur basketball.
“It’s just the old way of doing things and no one wants to swallow the pill of change,” James Tyler said. “Basketball is an American sport and they want the kids to go through the channels. And I think there is so much money generated in collegiate sports that they don’t want that interrupted.
“It’s a double standard.”
It won’t help the NCAA if top prospects flee to Europe to develop their games rather than add star power to March Madness.
College hoops was rescued from a long talent drain when in 2005 the NBA enacted an age limit that prohibited American players, but not foreigners, from entering the draft until one year after their high school class graduated.
That has led to a push of young stars in college basketball for one year, even if their commitment to being a “student-athlete” is often dubious. To be eligible for a season, a kid needs to earn just two D’s in the fall semester. He can fail, or not even show up for, every other class his freshman year and drop out immediately after the season.
Jeremy Tyler insists he’s on solid academic ground and isn’t going to Europe to avoid school work. The family informed Cardinals coach Rick Pitino about the decision.
“Education will always be there,” Jeremy said. “It doesn’t matter if I get it now or in three years. I can always go back. I’ll always have that to fall back on. I want to have a degree in business management.”
“Give me the day Harvard is going to close and then I’ll reconsider,” said James, who attended Mississippi Valley State but didn’t graduate. “He can always go back to school. It’s all learning. How is living in Europe not a learning experience?”

---

Sonny Vaccaro, 69, spent four decades as a powerful sneaker executive and basketball middle man, doing everything from signing Michael Jordan to Nike and Kobe Bryant to adidas, to creating what is now known as national grassroots basketball (high level AAU and high school teams).
He has little patience with college basketball, which after years with an inside view, he calls exploitative and dishonest. As a long-time fighter for player rights, he thinks the NBA’s age limit is criminal.

Jeremy Tyler at Day 3 of the LeBron James Skills Academy.

(Photo courtesy Kelly Kline)

A year ago he helped Jennings and his mother head to Rome and this winter fielded calls from at least a dozen families who considered doing the same.
That included James Tyler, who watched his man-child of a son get little out of high school ball, where his local school has few good players allowing defenses to descend on Jeremy. He contrasted that with the week Jeremy spent last summer at the Amare Stoudemire big man camp, where he was more aggressive and improved almost by the hour.
“He was bored in high school,” James said. “He said that every game. [He’d] just get the rebound and shoot it back in the hole. I said, ‘we’re wasting this guy’s time. He’s not getting the challenge he deserves.’ As a parent, all you want to see is your kid strive to be his best.”
Rather than choose to send his son off to a diploma mill with a killer basketball team back East – for some reason perfectly acceptable to the establishment – he and his son looked to Europe.
Jennings opened the door to Europe, Vaccaro said. Jeremy Tyler is taking it to the next level.
“I always wanted someone to do this,” Vaccaro said. “It’s amazing to me this kid from San Diego has the guts to do this, to take on all these establishment people like this.”
James Tyler said this isn’t about cashing in on his son. If he wanted to do that, he could’ve accepted under-the-table payments from agents or college coaches.
“Financially we don’t need anything from him. I can provide for him,” James said, before laughing. “And that’s saying something [because] he’s a seven-foot kid that eats a lot.
“If you know Jeremy, you know this kid is going to excel,” James said. “Why would we waste his time holding him back? Kobe [Bryant] was only 17 [when he went pro] and he blossomed. And LeBron [James] blossomed. [Dwight] Howard blossomed. Why not give my son that chance?”
Jeremy hopes others take a look at the European option and consider it. Why mindlessly follow a system designed to enrich and reward everyone but the player?
He said he didn’t set out to be a revolutionary. He is one anyway.
In the future the news of a kid forgoing his senior year of high school might not sound so shocking.

Let's wait and see him on 2011. :)

Source

Quick: D. Will vs. B.Roy ... and NBA is notified to revise my ballot

Whoa, people! Whoa!

Just got back from dinner, and boy, people must be bored tonight.

I will admit I made a huge mistake in my postseason ballot - a HUGE mistake - and I corrected it. There is no way I should have put Kevin Durant on the third team ahead of Tim Duncan. Have no idea what I was thinking. I have notified the NBA to change my ballot to reflect Duncan as third team forward in place of Durant.

Now as far as Brandon Roy on the third team behind Deron Williams ...

You all might be right. I never said it was an easy choice for me, and I never said it was the right choice.

I think most of you who follow my coverage of the team through The Oregonian, the Quick Chats on OregonLive and my segments on The Fan all know what I think of Roy. I think he is amazing. Exceptional. One of the best around.

I also happen to have as much respect for Deron Williams.

Now, there are a couple of factors that clouded my decision, which probably aren't fair, but as you all know, I'm pretty straightforward and not afraid to admit mistakes. I make them all the time.

First off, I will admit there was some extra caution in trying NOT to be a homer. I try to check myself throughout the year in whether I'm becoming biased toward a Blazers player, coach or front office personnel. Am I looking and evaluating these people as I would say, a person from the Lakers ... or Bucks ... or Nets? So yeah, there was probably an element - an element - of me not wanting to show favoritism toward Roy.

Second, I will admit that I probably allowed past performances to cloud my pick of Williams for second team. This honor, and vote, should be about this season.

But Williams won me over during the 2007 playoffs, when he led the Jazz to the Western Conference Finals while averaging 19.2 points and 8.6 assists. Then again, last season, he was brilliant in the playoffs, averaging 21.6 points and 10 assists in 12 playoff games. And he was an Olympian. All of that sticks with me when I think of him.

Also, I tend to think that a player who is among the NBA's top two in points, rebounding or assists needs strong consideration for high placement on the All-NBA teams. Of course, there are exceptions, like this season when Troy Murphy and David Lee are second and third in rebounding. But Williams is second in the NBA in assists at 10.6 while his main go-to-guy - Carlos Boozer - has missed more than half of the season. Williams is also averaging a steady 19.4 points.

And a third point, I should not have waited until the last second to do my ballot. In the past I have taken great strides to crunch numbers and weigh options. This season I was more rushed.

So I hear all of you saying the Blazers won more games, and Roy won more player of the week honors, and that Roy is an All-Star and Williams is not.

You may be right saying Roy deserves the second team before Williams. I may be wrong. But that's how I voted. And that's why I voted the way I did. And it wasn't an easy vote. But it's a vote I will stand behind.


I agree with you sir. Deron deserves it. :)
source

Now what Kobe?

Kirilenko will be charged with slowing down Trevor Ariza.

SALT LAKE CITY -- The venue isn’t the only thing that’s changing for tonight’s Game 3 (10:30 ET, TNT). Utah’s starting lineup is going through a transformation too.

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan told reporters today after shootaround that he is going to insert Andrei Kirilenko into the starting five and bring Kyle Korver, who had been starting at small forward, off the bench.

“[Trevor] Ariza has had great runs here on us in these games, I thought I’d try to start Andrei and see what happens,” Sloan said.

Through the first two games of the series, Ariza has skyrocketed his regular season production from 8.9 points on 46.0 percent shooting and 1.8 assists to 17.0 points on 81.3 percent shooter with 5.5 helpers per game.

Meanwhile, Kirilenko has yet to show up. His numbers are down from 11.8 points on 44.9 percent shooting in 27.3 minutes per game to 9.0 points on 38.5 percent shooting while playing 21.5 minutes per game.

“It’s just a different look,” Deron Williams said. “Hopefully it gives AK some confidence, we need him playing well.”

“He gives us a little more length out there. Ariza has been hurting us a lot starting ballgames out with his outside shooting, his defense and his hustle so hopefully AK can match that.”

Several members of the Lakers mentioned Kirilenko’s weakside shot-blocking ability as something to be aware of, but overall preferred to concentrate on their own team execution rather than any personnel moves by Utah.

“I don’t think it changes anything too much,” Ariza said. “We’re still going to have the same game plan and still going to do the same thing.”

**********

Whether Carlos Boozer knew that no team in the history of the NBA Playoffs has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit or not, he was sure he didn’t want to become the next team to try the feat.

“It’s a must win,” Boozer said. “We’re down 0-2. For us, this is the biggest game of our season to win tonight and get back in the series.”

He hopes that playing on their home court will be what the Jazz need to get over the hump.

“We’re confident at home. We play fast at home. We just … win … here."

**********

Utah will be without Mehmet Okur again as he continues his gradual recovery from a right hamstring strain.

**********

Sloan said that the Lakers size down low has been the biggest factor in L.A. getting easy looks outside. When Utah has to double inside, L.A.'s bigs have been able to kick the ball back to the perimeter for open jump shots.

“We’ve got to do a better job keeping them from scoring so many points in the paint and making three-point shots,” Sloan said. “We’ve given up 54 points at the three-point line in two games. That’s inside-out basketball at its best.”

Utah plays the 6-foot-9 Boozer and the 6-foot-8 Paul Millsap at power forward against the 7-foot Pau Gasol and the 6-10 Lamar Odom. Jarron Collins is 6-foot-11 and has to contend with the 7-foot Andrew Bynum.

“We’re playing Paul Millsap against a guy who is 7-feet tall, you give up four or five inches, it’s hard to get to him and block his shot. We’re talking about a size differential here of a huge amount,” Sloan said.

“I’m going to put them on the concrete stretcher and see if I can get them about 7-foot-6 tonight, everybody will stand in the lane, we’ll zone them and take them that way.”

**********

Williams on the key to preventing the Lakers to getting off to a quick start for the third straight game:

“It comes down to getting stops. We’re not stopping them. We have trouble stopping these guys. Until we figure a way out to stop them on the defensive end, we’re not going to win.”

For those scoring at home, that was four stops in one answer from Williams. Maybe he was saying the word once for every win the Jazz still need in order to beat the Lakers in the series.

**********

Sloan talked about the mental toughness that Kobe Bryant possesses, saying, “he just walks on the floor and a lot of people are intimidated by his greatness.”

I’m not sure if you can say that Jazz forward Carlos Boozer is intimidated by him, but he has what you could call a “Kobe consciousness.”

“Honestly, point blank, you have to spend so much attention on Kobe because he’s Kobe,” Boozer said. “Because of that, other guys are getting shots and he trusts his teammates.”

There is a different between being mentally tough and playing mind games though. When Matt Harpring was asked if he thought Bryant was one of the five best players in the league at getting in the heads of his opponents, Harpring strongly disagreed.

“No,” Harpring said. “I wouldn’t even put him in my top 20. I don’t think he’s a player that plays mental games.”

Bryant agreed.

“I don’t even know what mental games are,” he said. “I don’t even know what that is to be honest with you. I just go out there and I play. I compete, I play hard and just go from there.”

**********

Williams and Bryant traded friendly barbs through the media about their time together during the Beijing Olympics.

Williams said he identified with Bryant once he got to know him because of their shared competitive nature, but added that Bryant would stop at nothing to win ... even if it meant bending the rules here and there.

“We had a lot of shooting contests after practices of which he cheated,” Williams said. “We would be shooting shots and all of the sudden for the last shot when I’m about to win, he wants to come over and contest it or foul me or something like that.”

Bryant got the last word when a reporter told him about Williams’ accusation.

“He’s a liar,” Bryant said. “He’s mad I used to kick his butt all the time. He lost all the time … Well, he beat me once, but once out of two months is not very good. Tell him I said that.”

Yeah! 2-1! Go Utah! Dwill and Boozer will win the championship! ^^

Source

Basketball star Lebron James on the NBA playoffs and his new movie

Basketball star and giant of the NBA Lebron James explains why he’s currently at the top of his game, talks up the Cleveland Celtics’ hopes in the NBA playoffs and spills the beans on his new movie.

Q: Do you feel this has been your best season yet? And if so, why?

A: I do think this is my best season as an individual thus far and the reason why is that our team was really successful and we continued to play with a great deal of high intensity throughout the whole year. I raised my level also, so I would say this is the best season I have had in the NBA thus far.

Q: What is your reaction to the news that Kevin Garnett could be out for the Playoffs? That certainly opens the door for the Cavs. Also, if you do end up getting through the Celtics, does that mean it is going to be easier for you to pledge your future to Cleveland when you have a chance to sign an extension in July?

A: I think every team that makes the Playoffs is a threat. No matter what you do in the regular season, the top eight teams make the Playoffs, so your record is thrown out the window. Boston is a great team with our without KG, so they will still be in the running. There are other good teams like Orlando, Miami; the fist round opponent we play in Detroit, is a really good team. I’m excited to be in Cleveland and I’ve never given any indication of me leaving so this season has nothing to do with me leaving or staying. I am very excited about being part of this franchise.

Q: And about KG being out?

A: I think KG has to do what’s best for him at this point. He doesn’t want to do something that can hurt him for a long period of time for next season. I know the team may be a little bit down, but they still have a lot of veteran guys and they still have two All-Stars that can play the game of basketball really well, so they are going to be fine.

Q: You are 82 games into the season already, you’ve had a fantastic workload and now you have to peak again to go into, potentially, four series in the post-season. How do you prepare yourself mentally and physically to go again after such a long time, seven or eight months already?

A: We all know it’s a new season now. We had a great regular season and no one can take that away from us but that’s over and done with now. We have a bigger goal, and our main goal is to win an NBA Championship, so it’s relatively easy to get back focus for the postseason because we know it’s the best part of the season. The Playoffs is like taking a kid to a candy store – you don’t want to leave. So we’re really excited about it.

Q: How much has Pau Gasol improved the Lakers and how do you see them as a possible Finals rival?

A: I think the Pau Gasol trade goes down in history as one of the biggest trades in sports history along with some of the other great trades in the sport of basketball. He has definitely helped that team become the team they are today. He is a very, very good player and it will be a great matchup if we can get to The Finals, and the Lakers can get to The Finals, to face-off against each other.

Q: How did you manage to make your teammates better this season?

A: Well my game is geared around making my teammates better; it’s nothing I did differently. Maybe being more vocal or being more of a leader. The way I play the game automatically gets my teammates involved because I like to pass, I’m a very unselfish player, a very unselfish person, so it was very easy for me to get my teammates involved and get them better everyday.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about the Pistons? It seems like everyone is saying bring on the Celtics, bring on the Lakers and they are overlooking the first and second rounds. What’s your take on the Pistons?

A: There is no way you can overlook the Pistons. This is a team that has been to the Conference Finals like six years in a row. You can never overlook a team that has been through all the ups and downs of the Playoffs. We know how experienced that team is, and how powerful and dangerous that team is, so we are looking forward to the challenge just like we were in the Eastern Conference Finals. We know its going to be a good test for us.

Q: What’s the difference this year in the Cavs? Is it Mo Williams? Is it that the team adjusted to each other? Or has your game elevated so much to carry the team?

A: I think its all three. The addition of Mo in the offseason has really helped us. The team chemistry from day one, everyone was focused on the championship and getting better every day from the first day of training camp, and then just my game getting better through the off-season and bringing that to implement it in to our team. Everything you just said is the reason we are on top of the NBA and finished with the best record in the NBA, and we have to continue to play like we are one of the best teams in the NBA in the post-season.

Q: How much of a motivation is the 4-0 defeat in the ‘07 Finals for you?

A: It’s a big motivation to see how close we were, but how far we were from a NBA championship team. That motivated me a lot and that’s a lot of the reason I am the player I am today. You can only get better when you hit trials and tribulations or bumps in the road. I definitely used that as motivation and that’s why you guys see the player you see today in LeBron James.

Q: After such a great season, would you feel it would be an opportunity missed if you were not to be the champions this time around?

A: I feel like I’m at a point in my career if I’m not competing for a championship, I’m wasting my time and I’m wasting my teammates time. To be in a position to be in the Playoffs and fight for an NBA championship, I’m looking forward to it.

Q: What aspects of your game do you see that you still need to improve on and what will you be doing in the off-season for that?

A: Every part of my game needs improvement and its going to continue to get that improvement in the time I spend on the court in practices and games. There is not one distinct thing that I can look at and say you are drastically not improving in that area. I think everyday I practice I get better and I work on certain things. When you are playing the game of basketball, it really helps because when you are out there you are going against certain defenses and going against certain sets. Every part of my game is always improving every time I step on the basketball court.

Q: Are you going to wear new Nike sneakers for the Playoffs?

A: Yes, absolutely. The new Nikes are called the Zoom Soldier 3. They will be in stores this Friday and I will be wearing them in the upcoming Playoffs.

Q: How are they going to be?

A: They are going to be great. They are going to be like me.

Q: I heard wind about a movie that will be coming out in the fall, can you tell us a bit more about that?

A: The movie is called More Than a Game. It’s about me and my four best friends setting out with the dream of winning a national championship and not knowing that the game of basketball would create friendship and brotherhood. It will be coming out in October and I’m looking to do a world tour where I will promote the movie in a couple of cities in Europe -- in London and Paris, and one more city that is to be announced. It’s going to be great. I think every basketball team and everyone that’s in sports, parents; we should all go out and see it because it’s very inspirational.

Q: Can you give us a little more detail? Is a documentary type approach or is it film? Fiction or fact? How would you describe it?

A: It’s everything. It’s action because the game of basketball and people love to see highlights. It goes to peoples’ backgrounds. It goes through all of my four best friends’ backgrounds. It’s very inspirational so you look at the game of basketball different and you look at life different. Certain people are put in your life for a certain reason, and if you take that opportunity, you might be led in the right direction. And we were led in the right direction because we were put with this guy, Coach Dru Joyce.

Q: Are you excited about playing the Lakers since they were the only to beat you in Cleveland?

A: We lost last night at home also against the Philadelphia 76ers, so we lost two games at home. It doesn’t matter who we play against, at home or on the road, we take the challenge. If we go out there and play well and we lose, then we can be satisfied with that. One thing we try to do is control what we can do and hopefully put ourselves in a position where we can try to win ballgames.

Q: How do you feel about the MVP race between yourself, Kobe and Wade?

A: I think it was three great seasons by three great players. For me, it was doing the things that I did for my team and as an individual. The way D-Wade came back from injury a year ago and having 15 victories to making the postseason wining 40-plus games this year. I think Kobe Bryant is always arguably the best player in the world. He always made sure his team was playing at a high level. It was three great seasons and I commend those two guys on playing the game of basketball the way they do, it was fun to watch. It was fun to play and it was fun to watch those two guys.

Lebron in Hollywood? Why not? ^_^

Source

Celtics’ Allen Is Suspended One Game for Elbow Shot

The N.B.A. suspended Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen one game without pay for elbowing Cleveland Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao in the groin. Allen will be docked more than $167,000 in salary.
Allen sat out the Celtics’ game in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, a meaningless 100-98 victory for Boston. Kevin Garnett also missed the game to rest his strained knee.

Paul Pierce, who finished with 31 points, made the winning jumper as the Celtics hindered Philadelphia’s chances for the Eastern Conference’s sixth seed. Pierce made seven 3-pointers.

Andre Iguodala led the 76ers with 25 points and Thaddeus Young, who returned after missing seven games with an ankle injury, had 18.

The Celtics already had the second seed in the East locked up and could face the Sixers in the first round of the playoffs.

Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said he was surprised Allen was suspended, and said Varejao played a role in the incident.

“The bottom line to me is the foul before the incident,” Rivers said. Varejao and Allen were tangled under the basket after a free throw with 5 minutes 5 seconds remaining in the third quarter of the Cavaliers’ 107-76 victory on Sunday. Varejao flung Allen to the floor, and Allen responded with his elbow.

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NBA AWARDS 2009

It's April. That means it's time to hand out some NBA superlatives.

I have been writing these pick columns for 20 years now, and I offer the same disclaimer year after year, to no avail: these are my picks. They only have to make sense to me, not to you. So it is pointless for you to send me notes which "prove" through some amalgam of PER, formulas rejected as unsound by Daryl Morey and your grandma's home-spun philosophies that Anthony Morrow is a better player than Kobe. I will happily read your awards selections on your blog. But this is, at least for now, my column.

So, let's get to it.

Rookie of the Year

WINNER: Derrick Rose, Chicago

We don't really have to have a debate about this, do we? Rose has been the one outstanding constant in the Bulls' up and down season, which has ended with an unlikely playoff berth. To their mutual credit, GM John Paxson and Coach Vinny Del Negro didn't mess around; they gave Rose the ball from minute one. Rose has responded with rock-solid numbers (16.8 points, 6.3 assists) on 47 percent shooting, along with a flair for the dramatic in the last minute. Haven't heard a peep from him off the court, either -- and remember, Chicago is his home. He's a great building block.

RUNNERS-UP: O.J. Mayo, Minnesota; Michael Beasley, Miami; George Hill, San Antonio.

Sixth Man of the Year Presented by Kia Motors

WINNER: Jason Terry, Dallas

There were a lot of worthy candidates, but in the end, it came down to this for me: the Mavericks don't make the Playoffs without Terry's great season (19.5 points, 36 percent from 3-point range) in reserve. Yes, he's always on the floor at the ends of games, and he's a bench player in name only, but hey, he meets the criteria. And give Terry credit for embracing this role; think about all the former starters who've chafed at any thought of coming off the bench (AI, I'm looking at you). To my knowledge, Terry hasn't made a peep, or at least one that caused a distraction.

RUNNERS-UP: Lamar Odom, Lakers; J.R. Smith, Denver; Nate Robinson, New York.

Defensive Player of the Year Pres. by Kia Motors

WINNER: Dwight Howard, Orlando

A third easy call. Superman 2.0 is first in the league in blocked shots, which almost always end the opposition's possession, and first in defensive rebounds, which definitely ends the opposition's possession. Howard's control of the paint means fewer opponent drives to the basket that draw fouls (the Magic is 7th in the league in fewest free throw attempts allowed per game), more low-percentage perimeter shots (Orlando is tied for third in defensive field goal percentage) and gives his teammates the time to close out on shooters (the Magic is tied for second in 3-point field goal percentage allowed per game).

RUNNERS-UP: Shane Battier, Houston; Kevin Garnett, Boston; LeBron James, Cleveland.

Most Improved Player Pres. by Kia Motors

WINNER: J.R. Smith, Denver

Smith epitomizes what this award should be: a recognition of someone who came into the league with a certain amount of skill and who has not only added upon those skills, but has become a better basketball player -- not someone who we all expected to be great, like Kevin Durant. A true knucklehead when he came to Denver, Smith has matured on and off the court, reached a certain comfort with Nuggets Coach George Karl and has become an often lethal sixth man for the vastly improved Nuggets. "The first couple of years, he didn't know if he wanted to be 'Melo or Allen," a Nuggets insider divulges. "Now, he's just J.R. He's not perfect, but he's much more comfortable in his own skin than he's ever been."

RUNNERS-UP: Paul Millsap, Utah; Al Jefferson, Minnesota; Devin Harris, New Jersey.

Coach of the Year

WINNER: Mike Brown, Cleveland

Brown was honest enough when he came to Cleveland that offense wasn't his strength, so he often defers to his assistants. He is secure enough to let his players police themselves in the locker room. But he's been strong enough to demand more out of LeBron James with each passing season, and this season it's all come together. The Cavs are first in the league in points allowed and defensive field goal percentage allowed. They have the league's best record. They are disciplined and tough and together, what San Antonio has been all these years under Gregg Popovich. That's about as good a comparison as I can come up with for a coach.

RUNNERS-UP: Rick Adelman, Houston; Nate McMillan, Portland; Erik Spoelstra, Miami.

Executive of the Year

WINNER: Danny Ferry, Cleveland

Ferry looked at a team that was in the Finals two years ago and said 'nah, not good enough.' He's spent the last two years re-making that team built around LeBron James into an even better one. The Cavs had one legit shooter in '07 in Daniel Gibson; now they have four (Mo Williams, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and Gibson). He got rid of Larry Hughes three years after giving him $70 million once it became clear Hughes thought he should handle the ball instead of James. Last summer's trade for Williams was a gamble, and it paid off (and then some: Joe Smith, who was sent to Oklahoma City as part of the deal, came back to Cleveland for the stretch drive, meaning Ferry got Williams and Smith, in essence, for Damon Jones). And Ferry's tough negotiations with Anderson Varejao and Sasha Pavlovic in '08 have left the Cavs in very solid shape this summer to add another big piece.

RUNNERS-UP: Mark Warkentien, Denver; John Paxson, Chicago; Otis Smith, Orlando.

Most Valuable Player Presented by Kia Motors

WINNER: LeBron James, Cleveland

Is James a better player than Kobe Bryant? No. Has he been more amazing this season than Dwyane Wade? No. But his value is immeasurable: to the Cavaliers, to the state of Ohio, to the league. Look at the Cavs on the bench. They're clapping for one another, on their feet, enthusiastic, into the game. Which is hard enough to do at the pro level, but doggone near impossible when one player gets all the attention, all the adulation, all the money.

Two years ago, the Cavaliers put James on the opposition's weakest offensive player; now, he often takes the best one. Two years ago, James would break off plays before they started so he could sweep to the basket; now, he patiently runs through the options. He's always believed in the team, but now he believes in his teammates. Big difference.

You take Kobe off the Lakers and they're not a title contender, but they still are a playoff team, with Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom up front, and Derek Fisher at the point. You take LeBron off the Cavs, and, no offense, it's Secaucus Time. (You take D-Wade off the Heat, and, oh, my goodness. It's his best argument for MVP.)

The stats speak for themselves: Cleveland's defense, Cleveland's record (including its near-impregnable home mark), James's own individual numbers. But the most impressive number James has this season is this: he's tied for 10th in the league in assists per game.

Let me write that again.

LeBron James, who is asked to score 30 a game every night, and rebound, and defend at a much higher level than in the past, and sell out arenas across the country, and do every interview, and every commercial, and host every show, and help his country win the gold medal halfway around the world (so, too, were Bryant and Wade, to be fair) is tied for 10th in the league in assists per game.

Yes, he has the ball in his hands all the time. So do Tony Parker. And Devin Harris. And Andre Miller. And Chauncey Billups. And Derrick Rose. Any of whom you'd happily have run your team from the point any day of the week. And James has more dimes per game this season than all of them. (Kobe, by comparison, is 35th in assists per game. Which is not bad at all, considering how much defensive pressure he faces every night. But the other guy is 10th.)

Best of all, James allows Mike Brown to coach him. I'm not in Cleveland every day, and I'm not in the Cavs' locker room, or their huddles, or their practices. But it certainly seems like James has the same kind of relationship with Brown that Tim Duncan has with Gregg Popovich, and that Kobe now has with Phil Jackson. Mutual respect, mutual trust.

"For me, that's bigger than anything else," Brown told me Wednesday. "I'm not Phil Jackson. I haven't won titles. I don't have the credibility that [Jackson] has. For me to have a young superstar, who everybody's anointed as the best player in the game, for him to allow me to coach him, makes it that much easier for me to coach everybody else."

Two days after the Cavs lost to the Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals last season, James was back in the gym. Shooting. Lifting. Four or five hours a day. He was furious that the Cavaliers lost with the season on the line, and he was determined -- manically so -- that it never happen again. He has done everything possible this season to make that so.

RUNNERS-UP: Kobe Bryant, Lakers; Dwyane Wade, Miami; Dwight Howard, Orlando.

ALL-NBA FIRST TEAM
Guards: Kobe Bryant, Lakers, Dwayne Wade, Miami
Forwards: LeBron James, Cleveland; Kevin Garnett, Boston
Center: Dwight Howard, Orlando

SECOND TEAM
Guards: Chris Paul, New Orleans, Tony Parker, San Antonio
Forwards: Carmelo Anthony, Denver, Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas
Center: Yao Ming, Houston

THIRD TEAM
Guards: Chauncey Billups, Denver; Brandon Roy, Portland
Forwards: Paul Pierce, Boston, Pau Gasol, Lakers
Center: Shaquille O'Neal, Phoenix.

DUDES WHO'VE HAD GREAT SEASONS THAT FEW WILL RECOGNIZE
Guards: Jose Calderon, Toronto, Deron Williams, Utah
Forwards: Danny Granger, Indiana, Antwan Jamison, Washington
Center: Joel Pryzbilla, Portland.

BEST FANS: Chicago. Year after year, through good teams and bad ones, and years after Michael Jordan left town, Bulls backers still come out in the brutal cold winters of the Second City and fill up the United Center -- this year, they were second to Detroit in average attendance and filled their arena at 97 percent capacity.

BEST OWNER: Dan Gilbert, Cleveland. Yeah, he's got LeBron, but he hasn't just settled for sellouts -- he's given the green light to aggressively take on more big contracts when necessary (Ben Wallace, Mo Williams, etc.) to keep winning. Given that his primary business, Quicken Loans, has suffered major losses in this economic tsunami (though Quicken apparently has fewer of those "toxic" subprime home loans on its books), Gilbert's willingness to put his money where his mouth is makes him a true winner.

And now, it's your turn.

SOURCE

Nike Hoop Summit: A friendship reunited 

by Kevin Hudson, The Oregonian

A Northwest basketball reunion on a national stage

TUALATIN -- A year ago, Avery Bradley and Abdul Gaddy appeared poised to take on the state of Washington. Now, after spending their senior year of high school more than 800 miles apart, they're ready to take on the world.
For the two guards out of Tacoma, tonight's Nike Hoop Summit is a chance to reunite after their equally promising high school basketball careers diverged onto distinctly different paths.

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Watch more Nike Hoop Summit videos

Bradley decided to leave Washington for a prep school in Nevada after his junior season for academic reasons, he said, breaking up the dynamic on-court duo and straining their off-court friendship. "When he told me he was leaving, I was devastated," Gaddy said Thursday, after a U.S. team practice for tonight's game against an international team. "But I had to get through it."
Looking back from the pinnacle of high school basketball, though, both players agreed the aftermath of the decision was instrumental to the success they've enjoyed this year and the achievement of their shared dream -- Division I college basketball and beyond.

Thomas Boyd/The OregonianAvery Bradley.

A friendship forged
Four seasons ago, as freshmen fighting for playing time at Catholic school Bellarmine Preparatory in Tacoma, Bradley and Gaddy became fast friends.
"That real good chemistry has always been there," Gaddy said. "It's just natural between us. I always knew where he was going to be on the court."
By their junior year, they had developed into dominant guards whose games complemented each other: the 6-foot-3 Gaddy a more traditional point guard with his ball-distributing ability and smooth outside shot; Bradley the explosive finisher and tenacious defender.
Bellarmine coach Bernie Salazar dubbed them "fire and ice" for Bradley's passion and determination and Gaddy's cool demeanor and almost effortless style. They averaged 25.7 and 23.2 points, respectively, that season and led Bellarmine to a 25-4 record and the 4A state semifinals.
A state championship seemed well within reach their senior season. Gaddy said he wanted nothing more than to win that title with his best friend, Bradley.
But Bradley was struggling. His grades were slipping, and he was on the brink of derailing his Division I dreams. A transfer to Findlay Preparatory at Henderson International School, a three-year-old program near Las Vegas, gave him a change of scenery and, he said, a chance to refocus on school.
"It was just focus. I had lost that," Bradley said. "Down there there's less people in the classes, like six people, and you can't slack off or not pay attention. I feel like it really helped me."
Said Gaddy: "It was a real learning year for me, and it looks like it helped him out a lot, too."
Both claim that the year apart helped them grow in ways they might not have experienced had Bradley stayed at Bellarmine. Gaddy said he had to learn to be more of a leader and trust his younger teammates without Bradley to finish his thread-the-needle passes. Bradley bore down on his academics and said he thinks he is back on the right path.
"Now we can inspire each other," Bradley said. "Because we both picked up new parts of our game that weren't there last time we played together. It's fun."
Dreams realized
Tonight's Nike Hoop Summit marks the second of three all-star events the two will play in together this month as a victory lap of sorts for their decorated high school careers and a reunion for best friends.
The first was the McDonald's All-American Game on April 1, when the 6-2 Bradley won the dunk contest. The last will be the Jordan Brand Classic in New York's Madison Square Garden next Saturday.
Their selection to these three all-star games is a testament to the individual growth each claims to have achieved this season and a chance to bring closure to last summer's painful separation.
The Summit also offers them the unique chance to represent their country in their native Northwest.
"When you are playing for your country, you've got to represent," Gaddy said. "It's such an honor even to be asked."

Thomas Boyd/The OregonianAbdul Gaddy.

U.S. coach John Olive said he feels lucky to have two guards so familiar with each other. The team will have practiced just four times before tonight, but Gaddy and Bradley showed their chemistry right away, executing flashy two-man plays in the team's first practice Thursday morning.
"They know how to play very well with one another and they're very well-coached," Olive said. "They're quality guards that we'll play a lot together."
The two won't get another chance to play together after next weekend, as both have signed letters of intent -- Bradley with Texas and Gaddy with Washington, where he'll play alongside another close friend, point guard Isaiah Thomas.
Gaddy and Bradley remained in close contact throughout their year apart, texting and calling after big games or big performances. This will continue in the future as they look forward to watching each other's careers develop from afar. Tonight, they will relish what could be some of their final moments together on a basketball court.
"There's going to be a few plays where we just connect and people are going to be like, 'Wow,'" Gaddy said. "But it's just going to be normal to us because back home we did that all the time."

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Jordan gets inducted to the Hall of Fame

One of the greatest NBA basketball players to ever grace the courts accepted an invitation into the 2009 Hall of Fame on Monday.

Michael Jordan will be honored Sept. 10-12 at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

According to an article in The Chicago Tribune Jordan said, “I would never have envisioned myself at any point being in any hall of fame.”

The announcement came on the day of the men’s Final Four championship in Detroit, Mich. Jordan’s alma mater North Carolina was getting ready to play Michigan State for the national title.

He will be honored along with former greats such as David Robinson who conquered two NBA championships in 14 seasons with the Spurs, John Stockton who holds the NBA record for assists. Coaches Jerry Sloan of the Utah Jazz and C. Vivian Stringer of Rutgers University were inducted as well.

Players who are inducted into the Hall of Fame must have been retired for at least five years. Contributors to the game of basketball, who did not play, can also be inducted at any time. Although there is a slight controversy to the process, Jordan’s numbers leave no doubt he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

Jordan transcended the NBA during his 15-year career on and off the court. He dominated on the courts, toying with his opponents and playing like a kid with no worries in the world.

He even flashed signs of greatness during his college years at North Carolina with his contribution to their national championship title.

Drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1984, Jordan quickly became a household name. He branded the term “Air Jordan” while soaring over his opponents at will.

During his time in the league he averaged 30.12 points per game, won six championships and six championship mvp awards with the Chicago Bulls. He was also the most valuable player of the league five times.

Jordan even conquered the basketball scene on an international level by wining two gold medals in 1984 and the 1992 Olympics, in Barcelona. Jordan, along with teammates Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley and a host of NBA legends, devoured any competition that was placed in front of them.

Off the court, Jordan turned the sneaker industry upside down. The Jordan brand is the standard of shoes and clothing. It all started in 1984 when Nike was falling behind in the fast paced shoe industry and needed a way to get back in the game. Nike offered him a contract for $2.5 million. The Air Jordan 1 was released in 1985 and the rest is history.

Jordan has done so much for the game, it became a question of not if, but when would he get that invitation to the Hall of Fame.

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Nike Hoop Summit

by Kyle Laggner,

In only their second practice together as a team, The World Select Team from the 2009 Nike Hoop Summit prepare for competition at the Trail Blazers' practice facility in Tualatin Monday 4/6/09. From L to R: Tomislav Zubcic, Croatia; Zhang Dayu, China and Milan Macvan, Serbia. - (Fredrick D. Joe/The Oregonian )

What: Annual basketball game between the USA Basketball men's junior national select team (made up of high school seniors) and a world select team (made up of international players 19 years old or younger).

When/where: 7 p.m. Saturday, Rose Garden. The game is making its second consecutive appearance in Portland.

Who: Each team has 10 players on its roster. Among the U.S. players is Mike Moser of Grant High School in Northeast Portland. Moser is a 6-foot-8 forward who has signed with UCLA. Nine of the top-25-ranked seniors are on the U.S. roster.

Alumni: Four alumni of the Nike Hoop Summit are on the Portland Trail Blazers roster: Martell Webster (2005) and Jerry Bayless (2007) played for the United States, and Sergio Rodriguez (2004) and Nicolas Batum (2007) played for the World team.

Another game of interest: Two U.S. team members took Monday's NCAA championship basketball a little more personally than most. John Henson, a 6-foot-9 forward from Tampa, Fla., and Leslie McDonald, a 6-4 guard from Memphis, Tenn., are in North Carolina's 2009 recruiting class. The Tar Heels beat Michigan State 89-72 for the men's Division I championship.

Teammates now, Southland opponents later: Grant's Moser is joined on the U.S. team by Renardo Sidney from Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. Sidney has orally committed to USC. Another U.S. team player, Abdul Gaddy of Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, is headed to a Pacific-10 Conference team -- Washington.

Tickets: Available from the Rose Quarter ticket office, by phone (877-789-7673) and online at www.rosequarter.com.

Highlights: The I-5 Elite AAU Team 17U tryouts

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TEAM FLIGHT BROTHERS

Flight Club

Team Flight Brothers have become a YouTube sensation thanks to their gravity-defying slam dunks.

by Matt Caputo


Millions of users from around the world are hooked on the instant gratification of seeing themselves on YouTube, the world’s foremost video website. Team Flight Brothers, a group of nearly two dozen of the best dunkers from around the planet, have built their reputations off constantly uploading videos of their mind-bending dunks for YouTube’s huge audience—forcing an alternative hoops mini-revolution in the process. Eleven thousand subscribers, 700,000 channel views and nearly 13 million video views later, TFB rivals only the NBA in YouTube’s basketball content catalogue.


“Team Flight Brothers are a great YouTube success story,” says YouTube Sports Editor Andrew Bangs. “They started out as a regular user account, started getting lots of views and becoming more popular, we got them into our partnership program and now we promote them on the site. In the YouTube universe—if you will—production values are not king. It’s opposite. It’s about substance and content and those guys just hit on a formula. Their videos are very YouTube friendly. They did it guerilla style, they did it smart and went right for what the kids want: the dunks!”

Some might say that dunking is the most overrated part of the game of basketball. They’ll argue that the two points scored by stuffing the rock through the hoop and hanging on the rim could be tallied with much less energy via a simple lay-up. Others will argue that dunking is the sport’s most exciting play and, no matter what the score is, a good jam is sure to keep the crowd live, inspire the dunker’s teammates and dishearten their opponents. There is also a growing faction of baFlight Brothersketball fans who can appreciate dunks for their aesthetic value, degree of difficulty and creativity—irrespective of when the dunk takes place—in or out of game. That is, essentially, the basis of TFB’s appeal.

“I always thought there was a way to get these guys paid for this stuff,” says Team Flight Brothers founder and operator Chuck Millan, himself a dunker of some note. “But I never imagined we’d be getting millions of views on YouTube. It’s brought us a lot of exposure, and as time went on our guys just starting getting paid decently to do dunk shows. Now there’s talk about sending us overseas to tour.”

Millan, who is 5-10, began earning props as a dunker himself at age 16. He later traveled to Taiwan as a member of the Slam Nation dunking crew. He visited and performed in dunk shows in places he’d only dreamed he’d see. When he got back to the States, Millan unofficially formed TFB in 2004 after realizing there was no comparable dunking outfit serving North America. The idea was to gather the best dunkers in the country and commence touring—much like the AND 1 Streetball Tour format, except strictly dunks. And so, on a small level, Team Flight Brothers was born.

Although Millan was living in Lowell, MA when he launched, TFB consisted of less than a handful of dunkers from Millan’s home state of Florida, including Brandon “Werm” Lacue, Robert “Shayboi” Parker and Tim “Flight” Lowe. The first TFB shows took place in the Lowell Boys & Girls Club, as well as local parks and by invitation at small venues in New Hampshire. While crowds were impressed with the seemingly natural ability of TFB’s members, there was little indication that their early performances were the birth of a phenomenon.

Before returning to Florida in 2008, Millan recruited Terrell “TDub” Cournoyea, a slight, Minnesota-based high jumper generously listed at 5-9. Like many of the TFB members, Cournoyea wasn’t a highly touted prep prospect and he didn’t play college ball, but nevertheless he’s a large part of the group’s mystique. His name has flopped around the streetball scene for a while and TFB was the perfect opportunity for him to display his freakishly organic abilities.









“I was just sitting back at home when Chuck hit me up and at first I thought it was a joke,” says Cournoyea, who hasn’t played organized basketball since high school. “I always knew I wanted to be a famous basketball player, but I never really thought I would be this famous just for dunking.”

Once he officially joined the group, Cournoyea became TFB’s hottest asset. He captivated live audiences and YouTube’s viewers by proving that, even at minimal height, he possessed a rocket-launching leaping ability seldom seen by a person of his stature since Spud Webb in the 1986 NBA Dunk Contest. Besides his hardcore hops, Cournoyea’s command of the basketball during his leaps is strong and well thought out. His manipulation of the rock is probably equally as difficult as the actual jumps and over the past few years, people have begun to notice.

Although Millan had been posting TFB videos since 2006, Cournoyea’s clip entitled “5-9 Best Dunker in the World,” was nominated by YouTube for its “Best Sports Video of 2007” during their annual awards voting. The video, which has eclipsed two million views, featured Cournoyea completing a “540 with two hands,” a “360 between the legs” and other difficult dunks that have never been done in the NBA, nor probably anywhere else for that matter. In a matter of hours, the video received tens of thousands of hits and rested atop YouTube’s main page for nearly two days.

Ryan WilliamsAs demand for TFB videos on YouTube grew, so did the demand for live performances at halftime shows, dunk contests and other exhibitions, which in itself created a need for the team to expand. In ’08, TFB added two of the world’s most well-known dunkers—Ryan “Special FX” Williams and Taurian “AirUpThere/Mr.720” Fontenette—to an already strong arsenal that is now about 20 deep. They include Brandon Lacue aka “Werm,” Kareem Ward aka “Air Bama,” Justin Darlington aka “JusFly,” Troy McCray aka “Rudeboi/TFly,” Kevin Kemp aka “Golden Child,” Zach Jones aka “Jonsey,” Quintin Slaughter aka “Elevator,” Guy Dupuy aka “Easy Jumper,” Danny Ford aka “4D,” Mike Villa aka “Murda,” Haneef Munir aka “Easy E,” Kyle Rische aka “2Easy,” Raphael Hall aka “Windmill Prince” and Chand Wickran aka “Area51.”

“In the last two years, dunking has really skyrocketed,” says Justin “JusFly” Darlington, a Canadian member of TFB. “I feel that Team Flight Brothers has really had a big impact on that. We push each other and we push anyone else who is trying to dunk to do better. I can’t see anyone comparing to us out here.”

In the last year, TFB’s presence stretched beyond YouTube. At the ’08 AND 1 Mixtape Tour Finals, Kareem “Air Bama” Ward won $25,000 in prize money and a chance to play in the ’09 Tour. Similarly, Ryan “Special FX” Williams won the ’08 Dunkman (Shaq’s signature shoe brand) Dunk Contest to collect a prize of $10,000. Brandon “Werm” Lacue won the Rudy Gay Dunk Contest, while Cournoyea collected Dunk titles at both the Super Bowl Celebrity Hoops contest and the Sprite Slam Dunk Showcase in Atlanta. The list of TFB accomplishments goes on and on, with many of the biggest moments preserved on YouTube.

While the future is not so clearly mapped out, TFB’s mission is still pretty clear. They’ve continued to raise their rep by using YouTube—even releasing a series of vids challenging the NBA to allow one TFB member, Dupuy, into the ’09 NBA Dunk Contest in Phoenix. They’ve signed into a partnership with K1X and will be heading out to Asia this spring to promote both brands via a dunk show tour. While the dunk is nothing new, Team Flight Brothers is changing the way people look at the slam itself.

“You don’t see the things that someone on TFB does every day,” says Ryan “Special FX” Williams, who played college ball at St. John’s and is probably the best true basketball player associated with TFB. “You can’t go to a gym and see a 5-9 guy put the ball between his legs and jump over somebody or a 6-5 guy do a 360, behind-the-back dunk. It’s just stuff that you don’t see every day.”

This is really great guys.

Source

Basketball:Top high school players join Nike Elite Camp

Top high school players from around the country, including members of the Nokia Pilipinas RP U-16 team, will attend the Nike Elite Camp set April 3-8 at the Brent Mamplasan in Laguna.

Nike Elite Camp director Alex Compton said that the camp will aim anew to add on or improve on the participants skills through several drills aside from the much-anticipated Life Talks pertaining to behavior off the court and the All Star games to be featured on television with the backing of San Miguel Corporation (SMC).

?Nike Elite Camp remains to be a pioneer in gathering all these top high school players under one roof to further mold them to be players capable of reaching it to the next level, whether on basketball or in life,?Compton said.

Camp participants are determined through the nomination of high school coaches and the later through the evaluation of a committee which includes Compton.

This camp is even more significant as it will feature for the first time players from Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Olongapo and Iloilo.

Among the participants are Ryan Monteclaro (UE), Masshu Okubo (Perpetual), Loui Philippe Vigil and Keith Agovida (JRU), Glenn Khobuntin and Jarelan Tampus (Letran), Jomar Adornado (La Salle), Ricci Gonzales (Brent), Mark Juruena, (Adamson), Erickson Galacgac (Davao), Gryann Mendoza (Davao), Excel Nocu (Gensan), Bon Jovi Cipriano (Ateneo), Ivan Enriquez (Ateneo), Eduardo Daquiag (BIS), Nico Elorde (DLSZ), Benjie Teodoro (Informatics), Hans Cabrera (Cebu) and Jessmar Sabangan (RTU).

Also in the list are Baser Amer (San Beda), Raphael Banal (Ateneo), Aljon Mariano (La Salle), Kyle Neypes (UST), Art de la Cruz (San Beda), Gwynne Capacio (DLSZ), Jethro Rosario (TIP), Russel Escoto (FEU FERN), Terrence Romeo (FEU FERN), Von Chavez (San Beda), Luis Pujante (San Beda), Joseph Eriobu (Perpetual), Christopher Javier (San Beda), Zack Tabriani (International School), Albert Tanquintic, Dave Moralde (San Beda), Paolo Pe (Ateneo), Alfonso Gotladera (San Beda), Luigi Pumaren (La Salle), Martin Pascual (Ateneo), Mark Cruz (Letran), Luigi de la Paz (DLSZ), Hero Tomilloso (Iloilo), GJ Ylagan (Lucena), Jeffrey Ongteco (Letran).

Completing the participants are Francis Donahue (Iloilo), Rafael Melocoton, Sean Benedict Lucero, Orly Pelopero, Elmer Labis (Cagayan de Oro), Hans Sabal, Lomell Loyola (Olongapo), Raffy Octobre, Kristoffer Porter, Gabe Branzuela and Joven Sepe from Cebu along with Reden Celda, Kinsman Frando, Larry John Malanday and Jhul Ian Elle (Davao). (PNA)

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Like Mike? How Lebron Could Transcend Him

More than two decades after Mars Blackmon hustled America into buying Air Jordans and the "Be Like Mike" jingle had us reaching for the Gatorade, the model for how to turn a gifted basketball player into a worldwide icon remains largely unchanged. LeBron James, the latest and most worthy heir to Michael Jordan's throne, is trying to be like Mike. Some very smart people think that's a huge mistake.

Though Kobe Bryant's hang-gliding game has born the closest resemblance to Jordan's on the court, Bryant never fully captured the imagination as a marketer, spokesman or pitchman. So the vacuum left by Jordan, the first international basketball icon, has yet to be filled. James intends to fill it.

But how?

"I think it's really unfair to compare people to Michael," said David Falk, the super-agent who created the Air Jordan paradigm that James is trying to replicate. "There'll never be another Michael."

No, there won't. And there will never be anyone better as long as the next challenger falls into the same trap of trying to imitate Jordan instead of trying to surpass him.

In sheer dollars and market share, LeBron's off-court accomplishments through the first six seasons of his NBA career are "staggering," said Paul Swangard, director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon. 60 Minutes, in a profile of James on Sunday night, placed his annual income from basketball and other sources at $40 million last year. The Harvard Business School said James is now the third-biggest name in the sports world behind Tiger Woods and David Beckham.

"I think the challenge for LeBron is to do what Michael did 25 years ago -- to raise the bar, to create a new paradigm, a different way of looking at how an athlete is marketed," Falk said. "That's what he needs to take advantage of. He's got to create his own comparison. He's got to do it differently."

How?

"I get paid a lot of money to answer that question," Falk said.

Since he didn't attend college, James, 24, is two years younger than Jordan was at this stage of his career. Jordan won his first NBA championship in his seventh season, a mark that James could eclipse in a couple of months with the Cavaliers, who are vying with the Lakers for the best record in the NBA. Due to inflation and the economic expansion of the NBA -- in which Jordan was complicit if not primarily responsible -- the dollars are incomparable. Jordan's basketball salary in his sixth NBA season was about $2.3 million. James is paid $14.4 million this season, which is nearly $5 million more than the entire NBA salary cap in 1989-90, Jordan's sixth season.

Jordan's first endorsement deal with Nike was for $2.5 million over five years, plus royalties. James, riding those coattails, signed a seven-year, $90 million contract with Nike - when he was still in high school.

With his engaging smile, the swoosh on his shoes, the No. 23 on his jersey, and the deep voice and speech patterns -- listen to James talk about "the game of basketball" with your eyes closed, and you'd swear it's Jordan talking -- he has modeled himself after the master. If he's happy spending his entire basketball career being "the next Michael," then James would only need to keep doing what he's doing. No need to take risks or try anything different. The problem with trying to separate yourself from the best, of course, is that you might fail.

"Well, you know, I suppose averaging 35 points a game and being defensive player of the year and the MVP is probably a start," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who coached Jordan to six championships with the Bulls -- or was it the other way around? "But winning seven championships will probably be the one that'll make a difference between what Michael did in his career and some other player."

And off the court?

"Maybe changing sports and being MVP in baseball," Jackson said, "something Michael couldn't do."

He doesn't have to do anything that drastic, but if he wants to eclipse Jordan, LeBron is going to have to take chances.

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Around the NBA: Cavaliers with 12th in a row, reach 60 victories

LeBron James had 24 points and 12 assists as the Cleveland Cavaliers extending their winning streak to a franchise record 12 with a 102-74 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.

The victory improved the Cavaliers' franchise-record victory total to 60 with nine games remaining. They stretched their lead to two games over the Los Angeles Lakers in the race for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.

The Cavaliers trailed 35-20 in the first quarter and 49-47 at halftime. But Cleveland outscored Dallas 30-11 in the third quarter and 55-25 in the second half to improve to a league-best 35-1 at home.

Hornets 90, Spurs 86: Chris Paul hit three clutch free throws with 7.1 seconds left, as host New Orleans pulled out the victory and moved into a tie for sixth with Utah in the Western Conference. The Spurs' lead over Houston and Denver for second place was trimmed to a half-game.

Hawks 86, Lakers 76: Mike Bibby scored 21 points — including a three-pointer off the top of the backboard — and host Atlanta took advantage of a tough outing for Kobe Bryant and held Los Angeles to its lowest-scoring game of the season.

Bryant, who missed a morning meal and film session because he wasn't feeling well, had 17 points on 7-of-19 shooting.

Kings 126, Suns 118: Phoenix's playoff hopes took a hit as it lost to the worst team in
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the league, blowing a chance to move a game closer to eighth-place Dallas.

The Suns went 0-3 on this trip and have lost eight of their past nine away from home. The Suns have eight games remaining, including four of their final six on the road.

Pistons 101, 76ers 97: Allen Iverson returned after missing 16 games because of a back injury and scored eight points in 21 minutes of Detroit's victory. After the game, he acknowledged being hurt by media reports that he might not play again this season.

"The one thing that everyone has always known about me is that I'm a warrior. The doctors would say I'd be out two to four weeks, and I'd come back in a week," he said. "So now I have an injury I've never had before — one that was bothering me — and people are suddenly questioning my courage. That was hard, but I know positive stories don't sell.

"If you can come up with a negative story about Allen Iverson, it will sell, so that's what people rolled with."

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Poor Posey

Hornets' Posey suspended for one game by NBA

New York, NY (Sports Network) - New Orleans Hornets forward James Posey has been given a one-game suspension by the NBA for his actions in a game against the New York Knicks on March 27 at Madison Square Garden.

The veteran took exception to a foul called against him and tossed the ball at the feet of official Gary Zielinski with 5:46 left in the fourth quarter. As a result Posey did not play when New Orleans beat San Antonio, 90-86, on Sunday.

In 71 games this season, Posey is averaging 8.9 points and 4.9 rebounds.

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Developing a Fast Break Offense in Basketball

To fast break means simply to push the ball upcourt before the defense has a chance to set up. The key to running an effective fast break is to get the ball to the middle of the floor (that is, away from the sidelines). The defense then must play one of three options: a pass to the left, a pass to the right, or the player with the ball keeps it.

The player with the ball must decide what to do by the time she reaches the foul line: pass it, continue driving, or stop and shoot. Don't force a shot on a fast break if it's not there. Good teams transfer right into their set offense.

When Sonny Allen was coaching at Old Dominion, he numbered certain spots on the floor and assigned individual players to run to each spot — such as a corner or wing — on the fast break. Even after allowing a score, Sonny had his players do this. This drill gave new meaning to the phrase, "See Spot run."

Why the fast break works

The offense usually outnumbers the defense, whether it's three on two, three on one, or two on one. The job of the ball handler on the fast break, especially in the latter two scenarios, is to force the defender to commit and then to hit the open teammate.

Drill: The three-man weave

This drill involves no dribbling. Three players, spaced about 15 feet apart, start out on the baseline. The player in the middle passes to a wing and then runs toward that player and behind him. The player who caught the pass throws it across to the third player, running toward and behind him as well. And so on. Do this until the player who catches the ball is just above the far foul line, and then treat the situation like a fast break: The receiver passes to one of his two teammates on the wing (a bounce pass) or keeps it and shoots or drives.
The benefit of this drill is that players learn to pass on the run and understand the concept of filling the lanes on the fast break.

Drill: The three-on-two, two-on-one

Position two defenders at the far end of the court — one at the foul line and one in the lane. Then start your three offensive players upcourt, either in a three-man weave or passing back and forth to simulate a fast break. When they approach the far end, you have a three-on-two situation. The offense must take the ball to the basket immediately.
When the defense retrieves the ball, either on a rebound or after a made basket, the two defenders run a fast break against the former offensive player who was closest to the offense's basket when the offense lost possession of the ball. The two other players remain on defense when the ball returns to that end of the court.

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Pressing the Opposing Team in Basketball

Press is short for pressure. Often called a full-court press, this is an attacking defense employed in the backcourt, where the objective is to force a turnover. Usually used after a made basket, the pressing team swarms all over the opponents in the backcourt; if the opponents successfully get the ball past half-court (called breaking the press), the pressing team usually falls back into their normal defense. The strategy of the press is to force the ball handler to make a decision before he wants to.

Why press?

Pressing can help your team gain both an offensive and defensive advantage. These are instances when you'd want to press:

• The opponent has poor ball-handling ability. A poor ball handler is anyone who makes turnovers.

• To disrupt the opponent's offensive rhythm.

• To increase the tempo of the game. When playing against a slow, methodical team, if you can change the game pace with a press, your offense is more likely to get steals and easy baskets, which helps their confidence.

• Your players believe in it. Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson uses the term "40 Minutes of Hell" to describe playing his team. His players bought into the concept of pressing from start to finish — of turning the game into a war of attrition. If your players love to press and you have the bench depth to do it, pressing is a great way to play. Full-court pressure results in lots of turnovers and, hence, easy baskets. But pressing is also physically demanding and can tire players quickly.

• It's something different. Few hoops teams have the athletic ability and bench depth to press all game, hence most teams devote little practice time to breaking the press.

Figures 1 and 2 show two common press formations.

Figure 1: The 2-2-1 press: a common full-court press.

Figure 2: The 1-3-1 half-court press.

The trap press

This press uses the sideline as a third defender (shown in Figure 3).

Figure 3: The trap areas — on the inbounds, between the foul lines and midcourt, and deep in either corner in the frontcourt.

The trap press involves three steps:

1. Trap the ball.

After your opponent in-bounds the ball, trap the player who receives the pass. Two players force him toward the sideline. Don't give the player with the ball an opportunity to look for an open teammate; attack the ball immediately.

2. Keep the player surrounded in the trap.

After the player with the ball puts the ball on the floor and begins her dribble, the defender in front of her must force her to the sideline. The inbounds pass defender approaches from behind to effect the trap.

When she picks up her dribble, she should reach in for the ball with two hands to make a pass. If you reach in, reach with one hand on top and the other on the bottom of the ball. If the opportunity to put two hands on the ball — to either steal it or get a held-ball call — is not there, don't risk it.

3. Anticipate the desperation pass.

But do not foul the trapped player.

Teach all your defensive players every spot on the floor in the trap defense so they get a feel for where everyone is supposed to be and they know when to make the interception. The players have more confidence in what their teammates are doing, and you can sub each player in for anyone during a game.

Trap will really help the team in both defense and offense.

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