Sunday, July 5, 2009

My week at Stanford

I went to a Stanford basketball camp this week. There were a lot of great players who have a lot of potential. I played pretty well throughout the week (Tuesday-Friday) and our team went undefeated until losing in the championship game by one. I thought that one of the best parts of the camp was having lectures from a lot of the coaches. We had a lecture from head coach Johnny Dawkins (also third leading scorer all-time in the ACC at Duke), coach Tension (Assistant coach, taught Gilbert Arenas, Jason Terry and other NBA players), coach Davey (assistant coach, taught Steve Nash and Hasheem Thabeet), and coach Payne (Director of student-athlete development).

Stanford players that we got to meet or be taught by:

52
Matei Daian
C
6-10
220


50
Jack Trotter
F
6-9
200


3
Jarrett Mann
G
6-3
180


32
Da'Veed Dildy
G
6-4
185

2
Landry Fields
G/F
6-7
210

We also got to meet Anthony Goods, who graduated from Stanford, and was the third best scorer in the Pac Ten.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Most succesful incoming Rookies

Which players will be the most successful as rookies in the NBA?

Blake Griffon Forward Los Angeles Clippers
With his talent and will, Blake Griffon will dominate as a rookie as he did at the University of Oklahoma, if he gets enough playing time. He has a great team to help him, though the Clippers were devistated by injuries last season. As the number one pick in the NBA draft, Blake Griffon will be amazing in his first NBA season.

Tyreke Evans Guard Sacramento Kings
He is a very talented and tall guard that will need to be a leader for Sacramento to be a success.
Evans is a winner, as shown in the amazing season that he and his team, Memphis, had last year. His winning attitude will provide the spark that the Kings need for a much better season.

Stephen Curry Guard Golden State Warriors
He has done what many people thought was impossible. Curry took a team, Davidson, which was practically Division II, and single-handedly brought them to the Elite Eight last year. He was also the leading scorer across America. If he has a season anything close to the seasons that that he has had in the past two years, he will be the Rookie of the Year.

James Harden Guard Oklahoma City Thunder
Harden is a fantastic lefty scorer with a great competitive game that will help him and his team a lot. He will be great teammates with Thunder players Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. He is a great fit for this team and the Thunder will be a great team in six years.

Players For the Future

Jrue Holiday Guard Philidalphia 76ers
A young all around player who was Gatorade National High School player of the year a year ago.

DeMar Derozan Guard Toronto Raptors
A very athletic player who has electrifying dunks and is only 19 years old.

Lester Hudson Guard Boston Celtics
A player who has been strongly overlooked for playing in an unknown league. Once he gets to play, the second best scorer last year will be a very good player for Boston.

Brandon Jennings Guard Milwaulkee Bucks
A super speedy explosive player who is a project, but will be dominant.

Darren Collison Guard New Orleans Hornets
Played in three final fours in college and was a two time All-American. When he gets the starting job, he will be great.

Hasheem Thabeet Center Memphis Grizzlies
The 7'2 and 1/2 foot center needs some time to get some offence going, but for now, 4.4 block per game is great.

The Real NBA draft

Okay, I wasn't completely accurate with my mock draft. I got the first one right, with Blake Griffon going to the L.A. Clippers, but that was all. Tyreke Evans went to Sacramento at 4, even though I had him going at 14. Ricky Rubio dropped all the way to 5, and the Minnesota Timberwolves selected back-to-back guards (5 and 6). Stephen Curry went to the Warriors at 7. It was anouther crazy draft day.

NBA offseason trades

Shaq was traded to the Cavs. But will Shaq provide enough help to LeBron to win it all next year for Cleveland?

The Warriors made a very interesting and smart move to trade star guard Jamal Crawford ($18 million) for low-priced players Acie Law and Speedy Claxton, whose contracts are ending in a year. Why did they do this? They save a ton of money. Why do they have to save a ton of money? Well, right now they are in the process of trading three of their players for the great multiple all-star big man, Amare Stoudimire. If this deal is finalized, the Warriors will be in good shape for next year.

The Nets have traded one of their best players, Vince Carter, for Orlando's Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston, and Tony Battie. It is going to work out very well for both teams.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

LeBron

King James, the miracle maker, does it again

His buzzer beater lifts the Cavs over Magic

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

updated NBA Draft with lottery

1. Cippers-- Blake Griffin
2. Memphis-- Ricky Rubio
3. Thunder-- Hasheem Thabeet
4. Sacramento-- James Harden
5. Washington-- DeMar Derozan
6. Minnesota-- Jordan Hill
7. Warriors-- Brandon Jennings
8. New York-- Earl Clark
9. Toronto-- Stephen Curry
10.Milwaukee-- Wayne Ellington
11. New Jersey-- Gerald Henderson
12. Charlotte-- B.J. Mullens
13. Indiana-- James Johnson
14. Pheonix-- Tyreke Evans

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

NBA Draft Lottery Update

A lot of suprises

Clippers have overall #1 pick

Sacramento had a 25% chance of getting the #1 overall pick. They dropped all the was to 4.

More Details Later

Sunday, May 17, 2009

my "starting 5" favorite NBA teams

Team why

1. Warriors My home team.

2. Cavs Exciting to watch LeBron James fire up the young Cavs.

3. Thunder Russell Westbrook is exciting to watch (he went to UCLA)

4. Timberwolves Kevin Love is on the Timberwolves (also went to UCLA)

5. Nets Brook Lopez is their 7 foot center (he went to Stanford)


"Sixth Man": Lakers Jordan Farmar from UCLA is on their team

jrue holiday: one and done or super soph?

JRUE HOLIDAY, SG, #21, UCLA, FRESH.
SHOULD HE GO PRO?


Jrue Holiday was a top five recruit out of high school last year. He wasn't as impressive in his Freshman year as former bruin Kevin Love was. Yet, he still put his name in the draft. This is not his final decision though. He didn't hire an agent, which means that he could at any point take his name out of the draft. One of the reasons that he might not have done as well as people might have thought is the fact that it was Darren Collison and Josh Shipp's Senior year-- their last year to shine. If Jrue stays in school, he might be able to shine as UCLA's number 1 lead player. If he goes pro, he will be drafted (most likely in the middle of the first round) and will be able to start his pro career early. This would give him more time to build on his career and be a better player in the NBA.

Personally, (as a UCLA fan) I would like him to stay. But the choice is all his.

NBA Playoff Predictions

Lakers: The Lakers will beat the Rockets in game 7 and will move on to the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets. This series will be close, but the Lakers have too much height and talent advantage to lose to the Nuggets.
The Lakers will win the Western Conference Finals 4-2 and will advance to the Championships against the Cavs. The Lakers will lose to the Cavs in that series 4-2.

Rockets: The Rockets will lose to the Lakers in game seven.

Nuggets: Denver has already advanced to the Western Conference Finals. They don't have the depth of a roster that the Lakers do, so they will lose to the lakers, 4-2 in the series.

Magic: Orlando will beat the Celtics in game 7, and advance to the Eastern Conference finals. They will meet LeBron James and his Caveliers, and Orlando will lose that series 4-1.

Celtics: The Celtics will lose to Orlando in game 7.

Caveliers: Cleveland has already advanced to the Eastern conference Finals. They will play against the Magic of Orlando, and beat the Magic (with the help of the Cavs' MVP's outstanding plays) 4-1.
They will then meet the Lakers in the Championship Series. The Cavs had the best regular season record this year, and it will be and (so far) has been no different in the Playoffs. The Cavs will beat the Lakers 4-2 to win it all and bring back a championship to Cleveland.

Last Year's Championship Teams

The Lakers and the Celtics are last year's Championship teams. But this year they are struggling in the second round of the playoffs.

The Lakers:
They are led by Kobe and have a great offense. But when the Lakers have scored less than 100 points in this year's playoffs, they haven't won a game. Their defense needs improvement if they want to stay in the playoffs.

The Celtics:
Without Kevin Garnett, the Celtics are inconsistant. They haven't really dominated a game in either of the two rounds so far. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen need to step up their leadership if they want to beat the Magic.

Caveliers unbeaten after 8 games and the Eastern Conference Finals

The Cavs, led by the 24 year old MVP LeBron James, are undeafeated in the Playoffs so far. They have swept both the Atlanta Hawks and the Detroit Pistons. Next up for this seemingly unbeatable team is the winner of today's game (the series is tied 3-3) between the Orlando Magic and the Boston Celtics, in Boston. The Celtics have shown some weaknesses in their first two series by losing. This is mostly because one of their star players, Kevin Garnett, has been out with an injury. I predict that the Orlando Magic will win in a close game, and go on to play the outstanding Cleveland team in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

nba mock draft

NBA mock draft (as of March 3rd)
1. Sacramento Kings
Blake Griffin
2. Washington Wizards
Ricky Rubio
3. LA Clippers
James Harden
4. Oklahoma City Thunder
Hasheem Thabeet
5.Memphis Grizzlies
Demar Derozan
6. Minnesota Timberwolves
Stephen Curry
7. Golden State Warriors
Brandon Jennings
8. New York Knicks
Tyreke Evans
9. Toronto Raptors
James Johnson
10. Milwalkee Bucks
Eric Maynor
11. New Jersey Nets
Gerald Henderson
12. Charlotte Bobcats
Jordan Hill
13. Indiana Pacers
Earl Clark
14. Pheonix Suns
Terrence Williams

Dallas Rookie camp collapses

The Dallas Cowboys' Rookie camp fell over in extreme winds yesterday. Some of the coaches were hurt.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Michael Oher

He was drafted in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft to the Ravens, out of Ole Miss. He is an Offensive Lineman. Michael Oher grew up homeless in the wrong side of town in Tennessee. His dad died and his mom was a drug addict. Then this family was driving around this area and adopted him off the street. He has been very gratefull that this family has turned his life around, and their love for Michael and his dedication and hard work to football has paid off: he was drafted into the NFL.

I heard that a movie about Michael Oher was going to be made.