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NBA Loud - by Travis

2008 NBA-All Star Weekend Re-Cap.

February 18th 2008 07:45
Whoa, Nelly! What an exhibition of basketball talent this year’s All-Star Game was – it was a mid-season classic in every sense of the word. The Eastern
Dwight Howard Superman dunk.
Is it a bird? Or a plane? No, it's Super-Dwight! (Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)
Conference All-Stars pipped their more illustrious Western Conference brethren, 134-128.


Not only were the East, beasts, but they outperformed their opponents in every facet of the game – from the fundamentals to the highlights. It was an experience to savour.

As exciting as the game was – the conclusion was something else, as LeBron James went Scarface on the West. Reminiscent of his destruction of the Detroit Pistons from a season ago, King James literally rose up to the heavens in the final minute and finished with a dunk that was of such viciousness – Hell has frozen over. To cap off his final minute heroics, Bron-Bron added 27 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

James got a lot of help from Boston’s Ray Allen, who was a last minute inclusion to the All-Star proceedings, and didn’t he earn it with a 28 point performance? It was an almost inconceivable injustice that Ray-Ray was originally overlooked for the game when his other gangsta teammates were selected.

With today’s exciting victory, the East went a long way in erasing the pasting they got last season when the West beat them handsomely, 153-132.


Do we need to state the bleeding obvious at who received the game MVP nod? Does it need to be spelled out for the world to see? Well, if you do deem it necessary: Gimme an L-E-B-R-O-N…what does it spell? Tuna? No, LeBron!

Although, today’s game was the jewel in the All-Star Weekend crown, Saturday night was also pretty righteous with the skills, 3-point, and dunk competitions to wet the whistles of NBA fanatics.

Starting off with the skills, Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz was the fastest man around the obstacle course, while Jason Kapono showed everyone that he was the fastest gun in the, er, West? Well, let’s stick with that and move along shall we? Jason Kapono was the silkiest shooter when he tied a 22 year old record by scoring 25 points in the final round of the 3-point contest.

However, it is dunks that you’re all interested in – and this year’s contest didn’t disappoint. Continuing with a mini revival of the dunk contest, this year’s version was no exception in the display of innovation from the competitors. Writing a description on each individual dunk would not do the players justice. So, in summary: Dwight Howard won it all – gaining some justice when he was robbed of the title last year.

Today’s video is of the dunk contest. Enjoy.



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The All-Star Game starters have been announced and there was one massive surprise out west – Allen Iverson nabbed one of the starting guard positions! Well, done AI.

Boston Celtics forward, Kevin Garnett led the voting with 2,399,148. KG, participating in his
Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson.
'Melo and AI are two badass ballers for Denver. (Michael Martin/NBAE/Getty Images)
11th straight mid-season classic, will for the first time suit up for the Eastern Conference. Following Garnett in vote numbers is LeBron James, with first time starter Dwight Howard, Nets guard, Jason Kidd and Dwayne Wade rounding off the rest of the leading lights out east.

Wade’s participation in New Orleans follows a trend that has been evident in every All-Star Game: a player who balls for a horrendous team still gets a place as a starter. Miami are having a forgettable season, with the game a respite from the grind of constant humiliation: "It'll be the first enjoyment in a while," Wade said. "Being an All-Star, it's amazing to be there with the other great players around the league. It's a special weekend. Everyone makes you feel so special. It'll be great, and it totally takes your mind off your season." (Mahoney, AP, 2008)

Congratulations must go out to Jason Kidd too who makes his first starting appearance out east since moving to that side of America in 2001. Finally, the fans had recognised the ill skillz the man possesses.

Moving onto the Western Conference, Kobe Bryant was the leading vote getter, with the ever present Yao Ming and Tim Duncan joining the Bean, and of course the aforementioned, Allen Iverson who got the numbers after a late surge in votes, overtaking Tracy McGrady along the way. When the final update was released two weeks ago, Iverson was 80, 000 votes behind T-Mac, and ended up beating the Rockets guard by 10, 410 votes when it was all said and done.

AI will be joined in the starting line-up with fellow Denver Nugget, Carmelo Anthony, who also got the approval of the fans. This marks the first time two players from the Nuggets had been voted by the fans as starters since Alex English and Fat Lever accomplished the feat many moons ago.

Congrats to the All-Star starters. Here are the final numbers.

2008 NBA ALL-STAR BALLOTING TOP 10
OVERALL LEADING VOTE-GETTERS


1. Kevin Garnett, Bos 2,399,148

2. LeBron James, Cle 2,108,831

3. Dwight Howard, Orl 2,066,991

4. Kobe Bryant, LAL 2,004,940

5. Carmelo Anthony, Den 1,723,701

6. Tim Duncan, SA 1,712,800

7. Yao Ming, Hou 1,709,180

8. Dwayne Wade, Mia 1,608,260

9. Dirk Nowitzki, Dal 1,259,025

10. Jason Kidd, NJ 1,246,386

(Source: NBA.com)


Today's video is of Allen Iverson's 2001 All-Star Game MVP Performance.


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Allen Iverson has All the Answers.

December 7th 2007 10:16
This year’s slogan for the NBA is ‘where amazing happens’, and today’s performances is proof positive that pro-basketball is indeed, fan-tastic!

First up is the exciting contest between the Atlanta Hawks and Minnesota Timberwolves, which on paper isn’t too crash hot of a match-up, but the ending of the game was indeed eventful to say the least. In the final 46.7 seconds of the game the lead changed hands five
Joe Johnson game winning shot.
Joe Johnson for the game. It's good!!! (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images)
times! Three of those lead changes coming in the last 10 seconds alone!

Marko Jaric for the T-Wolves seemingly made two game winning baskets, the last coming with 2.2 seconds left to play, Minnesota 89, Atlanta 88. However, there was still enough time for some last minute heroics and Joe Johnson from Hot-lanta came to the rescue with a buzzer beater. Game over. Hawks 90-89.

Today’s game between the Portland Trail Blazers and Miami Heat should have been a contest between an old Jedi Master and a young apprentice in Shaquille O’Neal, and Greg Oden. Sadly, the basketball loving public was robbed of this battle when this year’s top draft pick was cruelly felled by a season ending knee injury.

Still, this was a ripper of a game with the Blazers showing the world that they’re heading in the right direction in the development of their franchise. Reigning rookie of the year, Brandon Roy had a superb game with 25 points, with Travis Outlaw adding a further 20.

Dwayne Wade for the Heat had 21 points, 10 boards and nine assists, which looks impressive on paper, but in reality this was a struggle for Flash, who isn’t still up to par. Wade tried hard, but it was to little avail as the M-I-A fell to 3-10 with Flash in the line-up. Shaq once again had a bad performance scoring a lowly eight points in a foul plagued filled performance.

Performance of the Day.

The Big Aristotle may have seen his best days behind him, but another veteran who was predicted to falter at this stage of his career has proven the naysayers wrong with blinding basketball. Allen Iverson is his name, and playing electrifying games, is his, er, game.

A day after scoring 51 points, The Answer once again led the Denver Nuggets with a 35 point, 12 dime performance. This game was arguably better than his effort form yesterday because as impressive as scoring 51 is, he only managed two in the final quarter.

A.I. wasn’t going to waste another sublime game, doing everything possible to get his team over the line against the hard as nails, Dallas Mavericks. And you know what? Iverson did get it done, with Denver stomping their foes, 122-109.

In honour of our performer of the day, here is a classic, Iverson video where he goes on a tirade against the concept of practice. It is one of the best videos you’ll see of a basketball player that isn’t on-court related.


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Any doubts that Andrei Kirilenko is back to his best were laid to rest when he had another near triple-double performance, scoring 15 points, dishing off eight dimes and snatching eight boards. To top it all off the Utah Jazz beat the woeful Sacramento Kings, 117-93. Well, ‘beat’ is such a tame word, it was more like a ‘beat-down’.

The night started off badly for the luckless Kings when their last notable star, Brad Miller went down with bruising on his thigh. So, without Sac-Town’s three best ballers, they were never going to bring down a tough Jazz team.

You’d think that Utah coach, Jerry Sloan would have been pleased with the efforts of his men. You’d be wrong. In fact, coach was peeved that the Jazz didn’t smash a metaphorically unconscious foe that is missing all of their limbs earlier: "Well, you've got to look at who we were playing tonight. They've got three of their best players who didn't suit up," Sloan said. "They were short-handed and I don't think it was anything to do cartwheels about." (Alden, AP, 2007)

Ouch! I wonder how he treats his kids if they got a ‘B’ on their schoolwork!

AK47 wasn’t the star Jazz, Carlos Boozer stepped it up as well with 32 points and 10
Allen Iverson driving to the basket.
The Cavs had no answer for The Answer. (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
rebounds.

Coach Sloan may not fully appreciate the effort, but NBALOUD definitely feels the Jazz.

We here at this space can’t say enough about the New Orleans Hornet’s young point guard, Chris Paul. He is the future of the number one position and he proved his super-dooper star status today with the game winning basket against the New Jersey Nets. With 2.6 seconds left on the clock, Paul made the game clinching basket to see his team through, 84-82.

Chris Paul was so good in this game that he single-handedly lifted his team into the stratosphere with a 27 point, seven assist and six rebound performance. It was a spectacular battle of the guards with fellow floor general, Jason Kidd, also having a sublime game with 14 points, 10 assists and nine boards. In fact the Californian Kidd made a massive play of his own before, Chris Paul put his stamp on the game.

Performance of the Day.


It was tempting to give this most valued of plaudits to Chris Paul, but we have to go with our man, Allen Iverson.

The Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers played a massive game today with all the pre-game publicity revolving around LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. Although, ‘Melo had a good game with 22 points, it was AI who stormed the party with a huge 37 point performance.

So, hot was The Answer that by halftime he had 18 points. Needless, to say, Iverson was in the zone: “The basket looked like an ocean; I was throwing rocks in. It feels good when you catch a rhythm like that.” (AP, 2007)

Well, done AI, and with today’s efforts, you get the title of NBALOUD’s ‘performance of the day’.

Ah, we could have gone with, Iverson for today’s clip. But instead we’ve gone with, Chris Paul’s game winning basket.



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The Celtics Win One for Doc.

November 11th 2007 07:36
The Boston Celtics win again! Ho-hum, what’s on television? Well,
Carmelo Anthony layup.
Carmelo Anthony stepped it up in the second half today. (Photo by Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
actually this one was special because they did it for their coach, Doc Rivers, who had attended the funeral of his father just before this game.

Facing off against their Atlantic Division rivals, the New Jersey Nets, Boston sent a message to their opponents that they were the new junkyard dogs, with their impressive 112-101 win.

Boston is now the only undefeated team in the NBA.

Doc Rivers needed this victory perhaps more than ever to boost his sagging spirits: "A long day for me. A tough day for me," said Rivers, clad in a dark suit and tie. "I was going to stay at home and my mom said 'Go to the game.' That's what my dad would want. It's still very emotional. I needed this probably more than anybody. I told them that after the game." (AP, 2007)

For those who are interested, the last time the Celtics went off in the manner they are doing right now, they made the Eastern Conference Finals when the original ‘Big Three’ of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish were rocking the Garden.

Toronto Raptors point guard, T.J. Ford asked the question that is on everyone’s lips concerning the play of their opponents, the Chicago Bulls.

"What's going on with this team?" (AP, 2007)

The Chicago Bulls were all set to make a potential championship run with this current squad, but instead are off to a shocking1-5 start, as the Raptors rubbed more salt into the wounds with a 101-71 victory today. Since the Bulls had been linked to Kobe Bryant, they haven’t been their usual selves.

Chicago are in a shambles. In fact, Scott Skiles, coach of the Bulls, pulled out his starters in the third quarter and they never returned.

For any visitors to this site would be surprised to find out that the Boston Celtics and Kobe Bryant aren’t the only two entities that is covered in this space. It’s just what else can we talk about when both the C’s and the Bean are generating so much ink?

The aforementioned development is a shame really because two NBALOUD perennial favourites in, Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson haven’t been getting much love from this writer lately. Obviously, this is about to change with the Denver Nuggets overcoming the
Andrei Kirilenko
Beware of dangerous weapons such as AK47. (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
Indiana Pacers, 113-106.

This was a resounding victory for the Nuggets because they were getting killed in the first half and didn’t look like making this contest competitive, let alone entertaining the thought of winning, when they found themselves in a 25 point hole. Coach, George Karl had some choice words for his players and they responded in kind.

Well, they didn’t really give, Karl a verbal serving back, but the Nuggets instead took it out on their opponents with, Carmelo Anthony leading the way scoring 32 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Allen Iverson also pepped up and made a great contribution with 27 points and 10 dimes.

Sometimes it helps that an old codger chews out a bunch of young millionaires.

Performance of the Day.


Speaking of favourites here in NBALOUD, how ‘bout we give it up for Andrei Kirilenko! Who had a stunning 15 point, 12 rebound and nine assists performance! Most importantly the Utah Jazz beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 118-94.

AK47 was everywhere today, notching up four steals, blocking shots, whilst being a general nuisance on the defensive ends making life unpleasant for his opponents.

Last season everyone was wondering what the hell had happened to Ivan Drago? Now, the man is happy with basketball and being in Utah again, and it is showing in his play.

Today’s video is of AK47 doing his Russian-terminator thing. Enjoy.




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The main story of the Wizards/Hornets game wasn’t the result which
Paul Pierce
Paul Pierce feeling the luck of the Irish. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
saw Washington win, 125-103. It wasn’t even Gilbert Arenas who had a good game scoring 30 points. No, the big news from this contest was one of the Washington Wizards cheerleaders tearing her ACL after attempting a dunk off a mini trampoline!

During a timeout in the final quarter of a blowout game the cheerleaders embarked on their routine of dunking off trampolines. The unfortunate dancer who sustained the major injury made her dunk, hung on the rim then fell awkwardly – a trip to the hospital ensured.

Carlos Boozer in his first return back to Cleveland after reneging on a verbal promise to stay, then subsequently ditching the team for more cash in Utah was booed heavily as you would expect from the Cavs crowd. The return of The Booze was also ruined when his old team beat his current one, 82-73.

A second half surge and some spectacular LeBron James acrobatics put paid to Utah’s run with Bron-Bron finishing the night with 24 points.

This posting has gone roughly 200 words without mentioning the fact that it was St. Patrick’s Day where everyone is Irish for 24 hours while getting absolutely blind drunk. Appropriately
Allen Iverson basket
Allen Iverson can't be stopped. (Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
enough the Celtics came into San Antonio and promptly won for the first time there in 17 years, 91-85.

Paul Pierce was superb in leading Boston’s charge with a not too shabby 30 point performance that displayed all his talents. The Celtics were boosted further with contributions from Delonte West scoring 23, Al Jefferson with 20 and Rajon Rondo grabbing 14 boards. The four leaf clovers on Boston’s uniforms must have worked their magic today.

Yesterday we had Kobe Bryant electrifying the NBA loving masses with a display of pure basketball wizardry and today Allen Iverson followed suit. Denver faced off against a suddenly cold Phoenix squad and killed them, 131-107.

The little, big man for Denver had 44 points and dished off 15 dimes to lay in the basketball boots into the Phoenix squad. It was Allen Iverson here, there and everywhere!

Carmelo Anthony was the cherry on top scoring a further 29 points to deflate the Suns night.

Yesterday NBALOUD posted a clip of Ron Artest’s lyrical efforts so it is appropriate we play a Shaq rap video. The track is called ‘No Hook’ and the big man is joined by some hip hop heavyweights in Method Man and the RZA. Word!



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