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No joke — Ron Artest to speak to children about mental health [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 5:10 pm] Some things go together perfectly. You know, peanut butter and chocolate, bread and butter, Brad Miller and camoflauge shorts — you get the gist. These combinations are so natural and so ideal that it's hard to imagine them without each other. On the other side of the "things that go well together" spectrum — Ron Artest and mental health. He made a name for himself by being completely unhinged in every way, shape and form. Furthermore, in the past when it's been recommended that he be on mood-controlling medication, Artest would "throw it in the garbage." But things have changed for Ron-Ron. The first sign was him giving his psychiatrist a shoutout in his amazing post game speech. The latest is the community work he'll be doing in Montebello, CA, next week. From Daniel Tedford of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune:OK, maybe you need like a time and place, oh and the reason world champion Los Angeles Laker and game 7 hero Ron Artest is going to be in Montebello tomorrow.Apparently, he has teamed up with Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (no, really, I'm serious) to raise awareness about mental health stigma's and advocate for the Mental Health in Schools Act, a.k.a. HR 2531.That's right — Ron Artest is going to be speaking to kids in school about mental health. When you read that sentence, you realize how much has the world has changed without you even realizing it. It's amazing that a guy who went in to a crowd of people with fists flying during a professional basketball game is now a spokesperson for seeking out mental health assistance.That being said, I'm with Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk who thinks this is a "pretty good fit." There aren't a lot of famous people who have shown such positive effects from getting help with their mental health problems. Because, seriously, Ron Artest has gone from being a crazy person who fights fans to a guy who made the most important shot in the biggest game of his life then thanked hi The 10-man rotation, starring Andrew Bogut's robot arm [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 4:00 pm] A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.C: Bucksketball. Is it time to start worrying about Andrew Bogut's return?PF: HP. Breaking down positions by shot locations.SF: iLTHY. Boston gets its own Delonte West donuts shirt.SG: Julia Segel. Hey, Magic Johnson suits are pretty cheap. (via ShareBros)PG: Celtics Hub. Doc Rivers hopes the Celtics' Game 7 loss hurts for a long, long time.6th: Complex. All the NBA Twitter mess-ups you could ever hope to remember. 7th: PBT. Speaking of Twitter silliness, DaSean Butler tweeted a very weird children's story.8th: Sportress of Blogitude. Nice Sears action, LeBron James.9th: Daily Thunder. Even Radhouane Slimane couldn't block every one of Russel Westbrook's dunks.10th: Salt City Hoops. Hard to believe, but Jazz fans aren't excited about the possibility they might sign Francisco Elson.Got a link or tip for Ball Don't Lie? Holler at me at trey.kerby (at) yahoo.com, or follow me on Twitter. Even Kevin Love has no idea what David Kahn is doing [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 3:00 pm] The Internet has certainly had its fun at the expense of Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations David Kahn. Between constantly acquiring point guards, then doing the same with small forwards, then giving Darko Milicic a $20 million contract, and then talking crazy any time he's in front of a camera, he's made it pretty easy. But maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe we should let things play out for the Timberwolves. After all, none of us are actually there with Kahn, trying to understand his process. We base our opinions off reports and actions, but maybe if we were around the team Kahn's plan would make more sense.Or maybe not. Because according to Kevin Love, the plan is pretty unclear even if you're a part of the Timberwolves. From Sports Illustrated's Paul Forrester:SI.com: What's the Timberwolves' plan for improvement?Love: I hope we have a plan. I don't know what it is at this point. We obviously made a lot of moves, but I'm out there playing and thinking between the lines, not making decisions. I'm just trying to hope for the best and that we keep getting better as a team.All that stuff I said earlier about giving Kahn a chance because we're not privvy to the ins and outs of his thought process? Nevermind. If one of the biggest pieces of the team doesn't even know if there is a plan for the future, that's probably a bad sign. What's worse is that a big part of Kahn's mythical plan hinges on Ricky Rubio coming to the Timberwolves some time. No one is really sure when, but the T-Wolves are really planning on that happening. However, even if he does and even if he's really good, that doesn't mean Minnesota's roster will make any more sense. I mean, adding another point guard to a team full of point guards doesn't make the team have less point guards. Quite the opposite, actually.Who knows, though? Maybe in the next two years Kahn finds trading partners for all of his duplicate pieces and is able to use Minnesota's cap space Video: Radhouane Slimane gets busy [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 2:00 pm] Just yesterday we regaled you with tales of Tunisia's resident rebel, Radhouane Slimane. If you were smart, you watched "Jack Rebel Slims" ply his trade against Team USA. If not, you're lucky the Internet exists and you get to watch his highlight tape from today's game.After a rough first half, Slimane put together what may be the finest minute in Tunisian basketball history. Have a looksy.Unfortunately this isn't from the ESPN broadast, or else you'd have heard Fran Frischilla dub our man "My High School Chemistry Teacher," which would be a perfect nickname if Jack Rebel Slims hadn't already been coined. Nonetheless, you still get to witness everything you need to know about Radhouane Slimane — a turnover, a chasedown block because he hustled and a made three-pointer when he had a defender very near him. That's JRS in a nutshell.Unfortunately, today's loss eliminated Tunisia from the tournament, and we won't get to see Slimane again. It was good while it lasted. Create-a-caption: 'Nice face' [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 12:20 pm] Not everyone is a fan of Kevin Love's freshly shorn face. I'm of the opinion that no beard is better than a line-beard, but some people disagree, including Hamed Haddadi. Easy for him to laugh — he can grow a full beard in about six hours. Lucky guy. Best caption wins a Remington facial hair trimmer. Good luck. Previously, some joker goes to an Iran game.Winner, fastfoodemployer: Although the fans wear jester hats, the joke is on the Iranian basketball team. Runner-up, jrob: "Wait, this isn't the Italian team." Second runner-up, Kayz: He was smiling until someone stole his sleeves. Amar'e Stoudemire gets confused, works out with Suns [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 11:00 am] There has been a whole lot of player movement this offseason, obviously. Big names, small names, some as big as your head — players be switchin' teams. So many changes were made that it's kind of hard to keep track of where everybody ended up. For instance, Ramon Sessions is on the Cavaliers now, which totally slips my mind every time I think about how bad Cleveland is going to be next season.It's easy to assume that the players themselves can keep up with all the changes. As we've learned this summer, all of these guys are best friends, so it only makes sense that they'd remember where their friends are playing. Or, for that matter, where they're playing. However, Amar'e Stoudemire seems to be having a little trouble keeping everything straight. From the Arizona Republic's Paul Coro:Wednesday was like any early September day at US Airways Center the past eight years.Always an early-summer arrival, Amar'e Stoudemire was working out in the training room, playing informal games with some Suns and leaving last after a rigorous individual session.Even though he wore Suns shorts, he was just visiting an old home now that he's a member of the New York Knicks. It is a common open-door policy for NBA players to work out in opposing arenas, but Stoudemire did not expect to find a game to join, and he needed to borrow shorts.Whoops, wrong team. It's easy to confuse the Suns and the Knicks, what with the orange and the Mike D'Antoni and all, but someone should remind Amar'e Stoudemire he plays in New York now. Otherwise, this is going to get awkward really fast. And can we get him some shorts, too? The man needs some shorts.Just kidding, guys. Amar'e Stoudemire totally knows who he plays for and was just back for a nice visit with his former team, which is pretty common if not a little weird. After publicly stating he wanted to remain with the team, it's kind of surprising that Stoudemire would be welcomed back with arms wide open, under the Suns-light. But according to Carlos Boozer sets modest goal for Bulls: 'A championship' [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 10:05 am] On paper and via electrons on the Internet, the Chicago Bulls should be a good team this upcoming season. Take a team that's won exactly half of its games the past two years, add three members of the perpetually good Utah Jazz, and you're left with a team that should be among the top tier of the Eastern Conference. But when you consider that the Bulls haven't won a playoff series since 2007, the Miami Heat added two of the top 15 players in the NBA over the summer, the Boston Celtics are coming off an appearance in the NBA Finals and the Orlando Magic still have quality players from top to bottom, one would think being in the top tier in their conference is about as high as the Bulls can reach. And really, that's nothing to sneeze at.Carlos Boozer, though, he has some different thoughts about how the Bulls season should end. From ESPN's Nick Friedell:Chicago Bulls power forward Carlos Boozer has lofty expectations for his new team this season."A championship," he told ESPNChicago.com on Wednesday night after a Nike House of Hoops event. "I think a realistic goal for us is a championship. I think anything shorter than that we're setting ourselves up to be shorter than what we can reach. I think [we have] potential to be a championship-level team."Never let it be said that Carlos Boozer suffers from a lack of confidence or body hair. He's certainly not mincing words or beating around the bush when it comes to setting goals. He'd be a great life coach. "Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll land among the stars" is probably his favorite motivational saying that he repeats in the mirror every morning.Of course, Carlos Boozer has to think the Bulls are going to win the NBA title. What else is he going to say? "Oh, I think we'll win about 54 games, and then depending on matchups we'll advance to the second or third round of the playoffs, and if we're lucky we'll score an upset before losing to the Lakers in the Finals." Doubtf Can the Celtics help turn Delonte West's career around? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 9:05 am] Delonte West in Boston isn't your typical reclamation project. I still think it's one worth rooting for, though. That's despite any actual rooting interest in the Boston Celtics, to take the minor end of things, and despite the ridiculously poor judgment shown by West off the court on the major end. He's no role model. Beset by legal woes, the NBA has already come down with a double-figure suspension for the former Cavaliers guard, and he won't even be able to play until November 17th as a result. But while the last thing West needs right now is to be thinking about basketball, he needs basketball, badly. He needs a paycheck and steady dose of income and a reliable support system if he's going to try and overcome the mental issues that have plagued him throughout his career. A long time away from the court may have been the best thing for West's state of mind, but he'll need an employer with a plan. He can't work through this on his own. Hell, he needs a real team (and LeBron's Cavaliers, as we saw in two consecutive playoff flops, were hardly the heartiest sorts) around him just to get his act together as a grown-up, because a solid chunk of West's behavior can be chalked up to mere churlishness, and can't be excused by his issues with depression. And on the basketball end? Picking up Delonte West, even if it's for half a season, is always going to be a smart move. Because he can play. And he won't put the Celtics over the top, and there may have been other teams that were crying out for his hybrid guard skills more than Boston, but Boston can really use him, and West can ably sop up minutes at either guard slot. He defends point guards better than he does shooting guards, but he's quite capable of playing either position offensively, and the Cavs were a better defensive team with him on the court last year than they were with West on the pine. But one would hope that Boston's plans run more toward the ranks of the magnanimous more than they do the "let's w Suicide lines: West heads East; Darius Miles gets a tryout [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 2, 2010, 8:30 am] Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your Snickers Marathon bar. Gary Washburn, Boston Globe: Celtics president Danny Ainge has spent his summer vacation plucking unwanted players from other teams, bolstering his lineup on a shoestring budget, bringing a series of big names with formerly big games to Boston. His latest move might become his most scrutinized if the acquisition of Delonte West does not turn out to be beneficial. A free agent looking for a team to take a chance, West agreed to a nonguaranteed deal yesterday with the Celtics, his second go-round with the team. The deal means West can be released before Jan. 10 without the Celtics being responsible for the remainder of his contract. West received $500,000 as a buyout from the Timberwolves when he was waived Aug. 3. Ainge has always admired West's talents, and the swingman played his best basketball while in Boston. But his salary and Wally Szczerbiak's, plus the draft rights to Jeff Green, were required for Ainge to obtain Ray Allen from Seattle in July 2007. After Seattle sent West to Cleveland a few months later, he enjoyed a solid 2008-09 season with the Cavaliers, who lost to Orlando in the Eastern Conference finals. But the trouble that had plagued West's career returned with a weapons charge in September 2009. Riding a three-wheeled motorcycle, West was stopped in suburban Washington, D.C., carrying three guns and a knife. He pleaded guilty to weapons charges and was sentenced to home confinement, but a Maryland judge ruled that he could travel with his next NBA team. The league assessed West a 10-game suspension for pleading guilty and he won't be eligible to play for Boston until a Nov. 17 home game against the Wizards. Despite his well-chronicled troubles - including rumors of an icy relationship with LeBron James in Cleveland - West never left the good graces of Ainge, who has been seeking a swingman since the departure of Tony Allen to Memph Don't miss Radhouane Slimane [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 1, 2010, 5:00 pm] Tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. ET you have your last chance to catch Tunisia's most Internet-famous basketball player playing in front of an international audience as Team USA takes on the FIBA Africa bronze medalists on ESPN. That man — Radhouane Slimane, a.k.a. Jack Rebel Slims. Think I'm just blowing smoke up your bumbleshoot? Wrongo, bud. This guy's legit. Allow me to prove to you his worth with just a few tasty nuggets from his official FIBA bio.Radhouane Slimane is a rebel.He left the National Team in 2007 following the FIBA Africa Championship after having played four continental championships in a row.Ever since he started in 2001 at the FIBA Africa Championship in Casablanca, Morocco, he has brought his fighting spirit onto the court.He came back to the Federation President to apologise for his misbehaviour and now is ready for camp and to try to get a place on the team. [...]He is probably the best player with the best technical skills but his tough play does not always benefit his team.That's right. This guy is "probably" Tunisia's best player, but sometimes he plays too rough for his own good. In fact, he's such a bad mammajamma that he left the Tunisian national team, only to apologize to the team's president years later because he wanted to get back on court and bust some skulls. That's dedication. He's the Tunisian Paul Millsap, basically, only with a severe case of male pattern baldness.Oh, basketball-wise? Yeah, he's that dude. Jack Rebel Slims is third on Tunisia in scoring, no bigs. Sure, he's only shooting 26 percent from the field and 1-of-16 from three, but his 82 percent clip from the line proves his shot is fundamentally sound and it's just a matter of time before he gets on a hot streak. It's not like you want him passing anyways, as he's currently rocking a 1:2 assist to turnover ratio, which is kind of amazing. Furthermore, I'm sure you've already guessed it, but Slimane leads Tunisia in rebounding and is second in fouls. Li The 10-man rotation, starring your standard golfing outfit [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 1, 2010, 3:00 pm] A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.C: PBT. Nice socks, Joakim Noah. Nice everything, really. (via Blog-a-Bull)PF: Nets Are Scorching. Would you trade Brook Lopez for Carmelo Anthony?SF: NBA Playbook. The most beautiful international intentional miss of the FIBA World Championship.SG: Vulture. Finally, Shaquille O'Neal is acting again.PG: HP. The Painted Area gets a much-deserved shoutout from Fran Fraschilla.6th: Magic Basketball. The world's freshest Marcin Gortat highlights. Soooooo fresh.7th: Ball in Europe. Look alive, Riky Rubio.8th: Brew Hoop. Ersan Ilyasova, ballin'.9th: Truth About It. Yi Jianlian, also ballin'.10th: Awful Announcing. Must-watch highlights from the now-famous mystery broadcaster during yesterday's Lithuania-Spain game.Got a link or tip for Ball Don't Lie? Holler at me at trey.kerby (at) yahoo.com, or follow me on Twitter. Video: Shaquille O'Neal and Justin Bieber finally throw down [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 1, 2010, 2:00 pm] We've known for a while that Shaquille O'Neal and Justin Bieber were due to have a legendary confrontation. We knew that these two titans of their respective industries would clash, hoping to settle the title of Metaphorically Biggest Entertainment Star in the World. Tuesday night, finally, this very important matchup went down. The results were shocking, possibly uprooting everything we thought we knew about the universe.Surely, every handicapper on Earth would give Bieber — a dancer by trade — the advantage in the freestyle dance portion of this now-legendary face-off. Think again.Not only is it amazing that Shaquille O'Neal would topple the teen titan in a freestyle dance-off, it's just as unfathomable that O'Neal would debut new moves after decades of doing his "giant robot" shtick. The Michael Jackson legs are a welcome surprise. Well played, Mr. O'Neal. Fresh off his dance victory, confidence sky-high, one would think that there would be no way that Shaq would lose a basketball game to the 16-year-old Canadian. This is a Hall of Fame big man we're talking about, and Bieber — charming as he is — is very small and very much not going to be inducted in to the basketball Hall of Fame. However, as you can probably deduce, on "Shaq Vs." the world is backwards.Yes, my friends, we live in a world where Shaquille O'Neal is a better dancer than Justin Bieber, and Justin Bieber is a better basketball player than Shaquille O'Neal. Feel free to reconsider everything you've ever thought to be true. It's a crazy, crazy world out there. Create-a-caption: Smile, man — you're a jester [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 1, 2010, 1:00 pm] I'm very unfamiliar with Iranian customs and traditions, so this might be a typical Iranian hat that this fan is wearing. However, if it isn't, then it must be said that this guy is the least jolly jester in the history of making jokes. Cheer up, jester! Best caption wins a very slow day at BDL. Good luck. Previously, Mickael Gelabale feels a deep burn.Winner, chaoz_golem: In preparation for their match against Serbia, the French team must practice lifting announcers tables. Just in case. Runner-up, Cursor: Keep it up Mickael, the arena's bending. You're doing it! YOU'RE DOING IT! Second runner-up, Robert B: Mike made chewing gum cool. Mickael made getting it off your shoe... legendary. Tyreke Evans with a jump shot? Whoa [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 1, 2010, 11:35 am] After a rookie year that saw him achieve the vaunted 20-5-5, take home the Rookie of the Year trophy and dominate game after game offensively despite a lack of weapons on the Kings, we should all be able to agree that Tyreke Evans is an awesome basketball player. Sure, he might not be the greatest defender in the history of on-ball defense but he's also only 20 and that other half of the game, the scoring baskets part, he's already one of the best. And that's without being able to shoot jump shots. According to HoopData, on shots that weren't at the rim, Evans hit on just a third of his jumpers. Not great for a guard. Heck, not even good for a guard. Barely passable, really. But still, Evans finished the season shooting .458 from the floor, mostly because he can get to the rim and convert at a 60 percent rate. Considering defenses would routinely sag off him, daring him to shoot a jumper, that's impressive. But just imagine if he could, and would, actually shoot from outside. Scary thought, right?Well, that might be the case this coming season. From Sam Amick's must-read profile on Evans for FanHouse: "His three-ball, when I (had) him, was his best weapon," [high school coach Tony] Bergeron said. "He didn't care about the (three-point) line neither. Some of them were close, some of them were far. The distance was meaningless to him." [...]"Me and my friends would talk about it at the house, how I'd miss one (outside shot during Kings games in his rookie season) and then the next play they already knew I'd be going for a layup or kick it out or something like that," Evans said. "But the guys who play this game at the top in this league -- guys like 'Melo (Carmelo Anthony) and LeBron (James) -- they shoot with confidence. That's just how I've got to think. It's not being selfish. It's being aggressive."And while [then Memphis coach John] Calipari's single-minded ways might have hurt the confidence cause, Evans said the problem i Larry Bird's Pacers take another hit [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 1, 2010, 9:30 am] You go into reading a column - and it's your typical heavy-handed, arms-folded, treatise on what's gone terribly wrong - and you're ready to hate it. Thinking that you've read it before, you've heard this tsk-tsk'ing before, and that it's all a bit boring and needless. And then you read the column. In this case, by Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star. And it's pretty spot on. Brandon Rush managed to flunk three drug tests for marijuana, in-season drug tests for marijuana, and the Pacer guard has been suspended five games as a result. Two things tend to follow. First? The Pacers don't need Rush. He's terrible, and he's a pothead. Second? How does Larry Bird keep getting away with all this, and keep a job? The initial aspect can't be denied. It was bandied about on several sites last year that, of all the NBA regulars in 2009-10, Rush was by far the most ineffective. Delving deeper, in terms of production and efficiency, of all the starters this league has seen for decades, Rush was absolutely the pits. He just doesn't do ... anything. He had a nice end to his rookie season in 2008-09, promised much, and delivered nothing. If 2009-10 was any indication, he deserves to be a training camp invitee, and little else. And, yes, "he's a pothead" is a fact. As Kravitz pointed out, the NBA doesn't test for the sticky during the offseason. Which means Rush had to flunk a test three times during the regular season, when all he had to do was wait until the third week of April to spark up. Now, we're bound to get into a back and forth on the would-be/should-be legality of marijuana. I still feel that it is borderline ridiculous that we're still governed by the fears that Harry Anslinger brought up about "jazz cigarettes" and the crazies that supposedly use them. And if the stuff were legal, NBA players would be far from crazy in using this stuff in moderation. NBA players are beat to hell during the regular season, and they work unorthodox hours meant to en Suicide lines: Bogut, Karl progressing; Spurs getting younger [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: September 1, 2010, 8:30 am] Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your tuna fish sandwich. Charles F. Gardner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Andrew Bogut's terrible tumble put a hurt on the Milwaukee Bucks' playoff hopes last spring. Bogut suffered a gruesome, season-ending injury when he hit the Bradley Center floor after dunking the ball against Phoenix on April 3, and the 7-foot center suffered broken bones in his right wrist, a fractured right hand and index finger and dislocated right elbow. Now the focus switches to the upcoming season and Bogut's ability to make a full recovery. He has been working diligently on his rehabilitation routine in his hometown of Melbourne, Australia, and is expected to return to Milwaukee on Tuesday as players begin arriving for informal workouts in anticipation of the 2010-'11 season. It's unclear when Bogut will be ready to resume his place in the Bucks' lineup, but team officials remain optimistic about his recovery. "Our hope and anticipation is that Andrew will be ready to go when the season begins," Bucks general manager John Hammond said. "The great thing about going through this process with Andrew is he's proven to us as an organization and to our fans that his effort, energy and toughness will never be questioned." The Bucks have made a serious effort to strengthen their front court during the off-season, signing free agent power forward Drew Gooden, acquiring power forward Jon Brockman in a trade with Sacramento and drafting 6-foot-11 Larry Sanders in the first round. Those players will join Bogut, third-year forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and 6-10 Ersan Ilyasova, along with small forwards Carlos Delfino and Corey Maggette. But Bogut's health will be the most closely watched issue when training camp opens in late September. The Bucks will play eight pre-season games before opening the regular season Oct. 27 at New Orleans. "Saying it was significant is an understatement,&q The 10-man rotation, starring 'Thriller Ron' [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 31, 2010, 4:30 pm] A look around the league and the web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.C: L.A. Times. Since Ron Artest is switching numbers, now is a good time for "Thriller Ron."PF: ETO. If you're looking for Rick Fox zings, this is your post.SF: GIF Party. Gary Payton is freaking out, man. (via ShareBros) SG: SB Nation. Understanding Carmelo Anthony. PG: Hightop Fadeaway. Andre Iguodala has much respect for Leandro Barbosa.6th: You Been Blinded. Danny Granger thinks Europe smells like dead donkeys.7th: Rufus on Fire. Go ahead and try to predict this year's playoff teams.8th: Weakside Help. Here are your biggest fantasy basketball triple-double threats. 9th: Warming Glow. In the matchup we've all been waiting for, it's Shaq vs. Justin Bieber tonight.10th: Order of the Court. Quite possibly the world's only Chicago Bulls Dante Calabria jersey. Got a link or tip for Ball Don't Lie? Holler at me at trey.kerby (at) yahoo.com, or follow me on Twitter. NFL's Saints ask Derek Fisher for advice on back-to-back bid [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 31, 2010, 3:40 pm] As any book about any team in any sport that is trying to become a repeat champion can tell you, the first title is the easy one. It's the second one that's the real challenge. The argument goes that people get selfish after the first championship, abandoning the team concept that led them to a title the first go-round. Ask Bill Simmons and he'll give you 700 pages about the phenomenon, no problem.So for a team that's won one title and wants to get a second, it would stand to reason that they need someone to advise them on the proper mindset needed to repeat as champions. Someone who's lived it, who's done it and can talk about it. Someone, I guess, like Derek Fisher, who the New Orleans Saints tabbed to speak to their team prior to their season opener on Sept. 9. From TMZ:TMZ has learned the New Orleans Saints are determined to get Los Angeles Lakers star Derek Fisher into their locker room for opening day ... because they believe Fish holds the key to back-to-back championships.Sources close to the deal tell TMZ that Derek "has been asked by the Saints to address the team before their home opener in N.O. on September 9."We're told the team especially wants Derek to talk about what it takes to lock down consecutive championships "as he did with the Lakers." Fisher personally received calls from coaches and "other team staff" -- and we're told the courting worked ... because Fisher agreed and will be in the Superdome to pump up the reigning Super Bowl champs before they take the field.Ah, yes — Derek Fisher is certainly the "key to back-to-back championships." Not Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Shaquille O'Neal or Adam Morrison. No way. It's Fisher who's the reason the Lakers keep repeating. He's a good luck charm, which explains why the Lakers gave him a three year contract even though he's already 36 and on the backside of his career.All jokes aside, it really is a curious choice to ask Derek Fisher to speak to the Saints. Su Video: Jerry Stackhouse fights Jeff Hornacek [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 31, 2010, 2:20 pm] It hit just before the deluge. Right when the internet was in its infancy, because I remember (seriously) reading about this fight on Nando.net. Performed right after ESPN2 was established, so you could see it on NBA 2Night, but before the ticker-driven ESPN News. No PtI, no Around the Horn, and no Twitter or YouTube or Jose3030 to put up the mess as quickly as it went down. No, this Jeff Hornacek and Jerry Stackhouse fight (you heard me) slid in just below the radar. In Mountain time, in a game between a lowly 76ers outfit and your typically stout (but just short) Jazz collective. Have a gander at the throwdown: Stackhouse took offense to Hornacek's follow-through - offensive follow-through, mind you, not an intentional defensive foul - and started throwing punches at the back of Hornacek's head. Jeff ducks out of the way, and then looks bemused. It's so ancient, it's in black and white. I wouldn't have it any other way. The best part is the reaction. There's what I know is Marc Zumoff and what sounds like Steve Mix, the 76ers TV crew, absolutely railing against Stackhouse's major misstep. Pretty rare for the hometown crew. And then Hornacek, for some reason, is tossed out of the game too. Stackhouse was give a two game suspension and $7500 fine, though he should be credited for pointing out that the whole melee was "not one I'm proud of, not proud of at all." Also, both these men are grandfathers, now. Just believe that, for my sake. It's August. Video: Nate Robinson's high school football highlight tape [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: August 31, 2010, 1:30 pm] It's common knowledge that Nate Robinson played football when he was a freshman at the University of Washington. He's super fast, can jump very high and is extremely strong — three traits that come in handy for a defensive back. However, unless you were a big fan of middling West Coast college football teams in 2002, it's likely that you missed him on the gridiron. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm in the same boat.Thankfully, YouTube exists, which means we can all remedy our mistake by watching Nate Robinson dominate in his high school highlight tape. Make sure you stick around until the end for Nate's punt return that is very Reggie Bush vs. Fresno State. Not bad, I guess. I mean, if you like amazing touchdowns, long runs and catches that shouldn't be made by guys who are only 5-foot-9, this is right up your alley.But really, this just shows us how athletic Nate Robinson is. Sure, we had an idea of it when he jumped over Dwight Howard, but seeing him run around defenders while in high school kind of puts his skills in even starker perspective. Even at 17, Nate Robinson was doing things us mortals can only do in video games, only this time he went with "Super Tecmo Bowl" rather than "NBA Jam." (h/t Celtics Town) |