Read + Write + Report
Home | Start a blog | About Orble | FAQ | Sites | Writers | Advertise | My Orble | Login

NBA Loud - by Arnold

All-Star game balloting has never been fair. Let’s face it, in the years that Vince Carter was a perennial starter, most of those seasons he shouldn’t have been in the starting five. Injustices still abound in this current climate with Steve Nash not getting anywhere near a starting spot behind an oft-injured, Tracy McGrady for crying out loud!

With our justice hats on, we here at NBALOUD would love to lobby voters to give at least one
Rip Hamilton dunk.
All we are saying, is give Rip a chance. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
Detroit Piston a starting spot. Yes, we know that this is a futile proposition at best – but give Chauncey Billups or Rip Hamilton a go!


How sad is the state of affairs with the fan voting? Gilbert Arenas who has not played at all this season has garnered more love than Rip or Mr. Big Shot. It’s hard to believe that this is the same Agent Zero who sat in a Foot Locker stuffing the ballots for himself back in the day.

Detroit are only behind the hot, hot, Boston Celtics in terms of wins in the East, and is one of the only two legitimate teams out in that side of the States to have a real shot at unseating the San Antonio Spurs for the title.

The sad fact is that the prettiest girls will always get invited to the school dance at the expense of the cute, smart, interesting and personable girl in your biology class. Rip is resigned to the fact once again that his participation in the mid-season classic is up to league coaches – even if Hamilton is playing some of the best basketball of his life: “It doesn't surprise me, because every year it's the same old thing…I just think the way that I play ... I'm an old school player. There ain't too many flashy moments. Every now and then, I'll get up and dunk on somebody or something like that. But it doesn't surprise me at all.” (Blakely, mlive.com, 2008)


And, he plays for the Pistons.

Speaking of weird occurrences, Isiah Thomas, the dead man walking coach of the New York Knicks has recently claimed that his team is capable of winning a championship. Excuse this writer for being a little sceptical of Zeke’s sanity. Or, he has been hanging around Towelie for too long.

Here is the exact Thomas quote. Be prepared to choke on either your breakfast, lunch or dinner. Better yet, you can choke on all three meals by reading these words over and over again.

“My belief and what I see and where I believe we can go as a team and an organisation, I believe one day that we will win a championship here and I believe a couple of these guys will be a part of that," Thomas said before the Knicks were walloped at the Garden by the depleted Sacramento Kings, 107-97. "I believe I'll be a part of that.”

Blame this delusion on Towelie.

Today’s video is a cracker of a clip featuring Chicago Bulls legend, Scottie Pippen trying to sell sub sandwiches. The best part of this is not the woefully inadequate acting of Pip, but these immortal lines: “This is one six-footer I can't handle by myself. Ladies, let's have a party.” Geez, Pip is packing a cannon there!



80
Vote
   


Readers who are familiar with the Detroit Pistons and the player introductions would surely love it when the MC calls out Chauncey Billups. Who wouldn’t dig how he introduces Mr. Big Shot? C-C-C-Chauncey B-B-B-B-illups! Cool.

Well, since all the readers of NBALOUD are geniuses, it wouldn’t take you guys long to realise that today’s player profile is of Chauncey – a very much underappreciated player.

Date of Birth: 25th September, 1976.
Height: 6’3” (191cm)
College: Colorado
Draft: Third pick in the 1997 Draft by the Boston Celtics.
Average Points per Game: 17.5
Average Assists per Game: 5.8
Average Rebounds per Game: 3.5
Honours: 2006, 2007 All-Star, 2006-07 All-NBA Third Team, 2005-06 NBA All-Defense Second Team, 2005-06 All-NBA Second Team, 2004 NBA Finals MVP, 2004-05 NBA All-Defense Second Team.

Despite being a Finals MVP, Chauncey Billups still flies under the radar of most casual NBA
Chauncey Billups dunk.
Chauncey Billups flying through the sky. (Image from nba.com)
fans. Yes, those in the know appreciate the game of Mr. Big Shot, but he doesn’t do anything spectacular, isn’t opinionated, all he really does is just play solid basketball. In the razzle-dazzle world of modern day sports, being a great athlete doesn’t cut it anymore.

Billups had a storied high school and college career where he absolutely dominated the Colorado basketball scene. Want proof? How about being named as ‘Mr. Basketball’ three years in high school, or being elected to Second Team All-American and First Team All-Big 12 in his two seasons at the University of Colorado.

Mr. Big Shot was ready for the big time and the Celtics appropriately bestowed Billups the honour of being the third overall pick in 1997, with the expectation that he would become another Boston great. He didn’t.

In brutal honesty, Billups early NBA career wasn’t spectacular by any stretch of the imagination. Some would actually have labeled him as a failure of sorts. Boston traded him during his rookie season to Toronto for Kenny Anderson! After that he bounced around from various teams starting off with Denver, Orlando and then Minnesota.

There were glimpses of greatness, but obviously they were few and far between with Mr. Big Shot looking anything but.

During his time with the T-Wolves, Billups was meant to be a backup for Terrell Brandon but fortune smiled when Minnesota’s number one point man was felled by injury. In the 2000-01 season, Chauncey was outstanding for the Wolves averaging career highs in assists and rebounds. Detroit came calling in the offseason and Mr. Big Shot would really earn his moniker.

The Pistons were building themselves a very nice team and Chauncey would play a major role in Detroit’s resurgence, culminating in winning both the 2004 Championship with the team, and the Finals MVP.

With is backcourt running mate in Rip Hamilton, and his penchant for making the big shots and plays for the ‘D’, Billups has become a certifiable superstar.

Today’s video is a really cool one featuring Chauncey, along with fellow NBA superstars Tim Duncan, Dwight Howard, Gilbert Arenas, Tracy McGrady and Kevin Garnett playing ball with a bunch of high school players. Really cool.



32
Vote
   


Moderated by Arnold
Copyright © 2006 2007 2008 On Topic Media PTY LTD. All Rights Reserved. Design by Vimu.com.
On Topic Media ZPages: Sydney |  Melbourne |  Brisbane |  London |  Birmingham |  Leeds     [ Advertise ] [ Contact Us ] [ Privacy Policy ]