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NBA Loud - by Arnold

Everyone by now must have heard that the biggest man in the NBA is
Shaquiile O'Neal holding up his Suns jersey.
Yes, Shaq, you're now a Sun, but what about the Heat? Won't anyone think of Miami?!?!?! (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
now a Phoenix Sun? Outside the celebratory slap on the back and whooping – one thing was failed to be addressed with the trade of Shaquille O’Neal: What is going to happen with the Miami/Atlanta replay?


Due to an error made by a Hawks official, Atlanta and Miami have to replay the final minute of their December 19 game. Anyone who is aware of this news would realise that Shaq is a central figure with the shenanigans of the night, because he was the one that was incorrectly fouled out of the game.

So, what is the NBA to do? Firstly, new Miami Heat player, Shawn Marion won’t be allowed to play the game for the Heat, but he is able to suit up for the regular game straight afterwards. However, the big question remains: What about Shaq?

Hawks general manager, Billy Knight had this to say about the dilemma the O’Neal trade has thrown up. "The league doesn't know. They'll have to make a determination." (Odum, AP, 2008)

Well, way to go, Billy for clearing that up.


Atlanta All-Star, Joe Johnson also added his two cents into the whole debacle. "As far as I'm concerned there's no reason to even bother with the replay…If Shaq's not going to be here, what's the point?” (Smith, AJC, 2008)

The one thing that is for certain is that the game will go on. No, matter what anyone says.

Today’s video is a belated clip of the Suns reaction of the Daddy coming to the valley of the sun.


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A losing franchise in the Mecca of basketball, poor leadership, overpaid players and a massive sexual harassment payout, you’d be forgiven in thinking that the New York Knicks franchise wouldn’t be worth that much these days. In fact, it would be safe to believe that the team from Gotham wouldn’t be worth anymore than the Reykjavik curling team. If you held that belief, you’d be wrong.

According to Forbes, who compiled a list of the most valuable NBA franchises, the New York
Shawn Marion dunk.
Please, give Shawn Marion some much needed hugs. He needs the love. (AP Photo/Roy Dabner)
Knicks have become, believe it or not, the first pro-basketball franchise to be worth $US600 million! The average NBA franchise is worth $US372 million, which is a rise of six percent in a year.

Basically speaking, basketball is serious business.

Pro-hoops is arguably the third most popular sport in the U.S. but it is generating more cash due to larger gate receipts, a huge television deal, and the fact that the spending on players is tightly regulated.

Although, the Knicks are the most valuable team in the NBA, they also have the largest operating losses due to big spending on players, and an $US18 million buyout of former coach, Larry Brown’s huge contract.

Still, the Knicks suck.

Now, onto the actual game of basketball. Well, at least the the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons game, and, also, the Utah Jazz battling the Phoenix Suns, which funnily enough, were the two games on television today.

Somehow. Against all odds. The Houston Rockets managed to defeat the Detroit Pistons, 80-77. So, what’s the big deal from this game that has necessitated such a dour introductory sentence? Well, Houston was horrible from the free-throw line and almost blew the game. They stunk! It was a painful performance of futility from the charity stripe.

The team collectively began their shooting ‘streak’ by missing 14 of their first 15 free-throws. It got slightly better from there when they ended up making 6-for-22 (6 percent) from the line for the night.

It was u-g-l-y, but the Rockets still managed to beat an excellent Pistons team!

Yao summed up the sentiments of his team perfectly: "Oh, man. We can lose a game because of that," Yao said. "Tomorrow, I'm going to come here and shoot at least 100 free throws. It's almost like you give away free points and give away a game." (Duncan, AP, 2007)

Performance of the Day.

The Knicks might be overrated and overblown, but you cannot say the same thing about Shawn Marion of the Phoenix Suns. Steve Nash may have been the toughest mofo on the court today after chipping a tooth, but it was the Matrix who had the Suns humming. Plus, Stevie Wonder already gets enough love from the public and this space.

Shawn Marion was all over the place, scoring 26 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and blocking five shots. The Suns broke a two game losing streak, beating the Utah Jazz, 103-98.

In honour of the Matrix, here is a highlights clip of the most underrated player in the NBA.


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Firstly, apologies are in order for all you readers of NBALOUD, because we haven’t been as regular as we should have – the last week of university for the year tends to get a bit hectic, with time being a precious commodity.

However, we can promise all you loyal fans we’ll be now as regular as a person who is on a high bran diet! Especially with the fact that the new NBA season has started! Huzzah! Wow, a lot of exclamation points there!

We’ll begin our first game day coverage with the Detroit Pistons battling it out with the Miami Heat. Rip Hamilton was missing from the line-up for the ‘D’ so they needed to get their scoring from another source. Step, on up, Tayshaun Prince!

The Fresh Prince scored a career high 34 points and matched a career best rebounding effort
Tracy McGrady dunk.
T-Mac dunks the ball with feeling. (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
with 12. Remarkably, the Heat had been practicing for days on their defence of Tayshaun in anticipation he’d be a big offensive option. Needless, to say it didn’t matter what the M-I-A was up to because the team was M-I-A in their performance, and their cause wasn’t helped with Dwayne Wade M-I-A as well.

Tayshaun pwned the Heat, doing as he pleased, driving, shooting, dunking and crashing the boards. Prince was the king today.

With Wade out, Shaquille O’Neal needed to strap on the Superman cape and fly into the rescue. Problem was that the big man faced his kryptonite in the team from Eight Mile, holding the Daddy to a lowly nine points, and six shots. Ouch, this performance doesn’t stop the criticism that Shaq is past it. Oh, for those paying attention: Pistons won 91-80. Obviously.

Meanwhile, moving out west, the Phoenix Suns and Seattle Supersonics ran and ran, with Steve Nash and his boys coming out victors, 106-99.

In his second game, number two pick, Kevin Durant had a big time effort notching up 27 points. It was to little avail though with, Stevie Wonder having his standard excellent game scoring 18 points and dishing off 12 dimes.

New Suns recruit, Grant Hill also made a solid contribution with 13 and Shaw Marion pitching in with another 14, whilst snatching 11 boards.

Phoenix may have won the game, but all the post-game talk was about the new kid on the block, Kevin Durant. The basic sentiment was the guy can ball.

Now, onto the final game which saw the Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz, 106-95.

The performer of the day was Houston’s, Tracy McGrady, who scorched the Jazz to the tune of 47 points.

T-Mac was so hot that he could do no, wrong. The Jazz are probably still having nightmares about the man in red.

Well, that is the first post for the new season and please, do us a favour by visiting this space again.

Today’s video is of the top 10 plays. Enjoy!



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Steve Nash and his MVP Night.

March 15th 2007 12:45
The proof is in the pudding – whatever the hell that means – Steve
Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki
Steve Nash can't be stopped. Even by 7-foot players named Dirk. (Photo by Tim Heitman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Nash has reaffirmed his MVP credentials, while Dallas, although suffering a loss at the hands of Phoenix are legit title contenders.

In what proved to be an extraordinarily thrilling contest between the two top dog teams of the NBA saw the game go into double overtime and Phoenix winning, 129-127.

Amare Stoudemire may have led the scoring binge with 41 points but it was Stevie Wonder who was the standout, especially in the clutch. Nash ended the night with 32 points, 16 assists and eight rebounds while being ice cool down the stretch to help his team get over the Dallas hump.

The Mavs could have iced the game much earlier if they had managed to hit their free throws with any semblance of a team that could shoot from the stripe, but key misses at vital stages helped Phoenix’s cause immensely. Although, Jason ‘the jet’ Terry was in sparkling form for the Mavs in the first overtime period hitting the game tying 3-point basket over Nash with 4.5 seconds to go the second OT period ultimately belonged to the Suns. Here come the Suns, doo-doo-doo-doo…

It was Phoenix all the way, baby!

LeBron James’ back wasn’t bothering him as much today and it showed, with the King leading the way for the Cavs scoring 29 points, while seven of his teammates also hit double digit scoring. The final result ended with a Cavs win over the Grizzlies, 118-96.

Gilbert Arenas and his hot hands.
Gilbert Arenas and his hot shooting hands. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
This contest wasn’t even close. Bron-Bron was in a vicious mood and the rest of his teammates decided to finally hit their baskets as well, causing a major headache for the woeful Grizz.

New York’s recent good form was halted by their Atlantic division rivals from Canada with the Raptors beating the Knicks, 104-94.

T.J. Ford had a blinding game with 18 assists while Chris Bosh was his usual excellent self hitting 22 points to help their team overcome a not-as-bad-now Knicks.

Gilbert Arenas was Gilbert the Great today scoring 28 of his 35 points in the second half to layeth the smackdown on the Indiana Pacers, 112-96.

Jermaine O’Neal for the Pacers played strong through an injured knee with 24 points but it wasn’t enough to overcome Gilbert and the rest of the gang from D.C.

Indiana must be desperate for a taste of victory because their last win came on February the 21st – which is a long time ago in professional basketball circles.

The only advice that NBALOUD can give to the Pacers is that it will happen it just won’t happen overnight. Advanced hair, yeah, yeah (the Aussie readers would get this joke).

Today’s clip is the top 10 plays from yesterday. If you love dunks watch this video because there are some outright hostile jams to wet your whistle.




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