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Player News Houston Rockets - NBA Loud

The 2008 NBA Draft

July 1st 2008 03:49

I’d like to post about the previously finished NBA Draft. A lot of trades were completed/proposed making this years draft exciting and noteworthy. In this first post I will be going through the top five picks and thereafter with updates and all you need to know up to the minute stats and transactions.

Let’s get this post draft analysis going with the first overall pick for the Chicago Bulls DERRICK ROSE. Rose out of Memphis has a solid NBA body and can take the punishment as a player in the paint. He will mold himself into whatever type of player his team needs him to be as evident by the video below. He is one of the most ready-type players to enter the league. A truly solid addition to any team, kind of makes me think of the miss of Jay Williams. In which whom the Bulls took as the savior type PG years ago before he had his motorcycle accident stifling his promising career. With this pick Chicago puts themselves back into contention for a playoff spot in the East.

This video shows how Rose can affect the game as he will become a solid NBA-PG.

# 2

Undoubtedly the Miami Heat selected MICHAEL BEASLEY out of Kansas State. This PF needs no introduction to basketball fans as his huge wingspan makes up for any negativity about his height at the four spot. One of the perfect teams for Beasley to go to, I think his character issues would only become apparent if he were to have to battle with a solid proven veteran for his starting spot. He will be going in battling Udonis Haslem who has seen his stock drop as he needs to create more of his own offence. The heat I am sure are not finished in tweaking their team for the 08/09 season. Marion though will alleviate any concerns of the rookie being overmatched down-low as he is almost like an extra PF out there sometimes with his rebounding efforts and hustle in trying to make the right plays.

# 3

Minnesota at the third spot went with OJ MAYO, who I have seen and been hearing about for a good number of years. Mayo will be a solid two as at 6’4” 200lbs he is limited in selected positions, but this guy is just a born scorer and if he ends up in Grizz-town, look for him to team up with Rudy Gay as Mike Miller was moved with Memphis making the choice to let him go after he admittedly carried the Grizzlies last season at times. In return Minnesota looks to get #5 Kevin Love. I am in love with this deal as the T-Wolves send Antoine Walker also to MEM. Minnesota gets the scoring they desperately need and character guys, to build around. I know what fans may be thinking and no this isn’t the second coming of Wally World, Mike Miller is a gamer playing all three spots from 1-3 for the Grizz and did whatever was asked, as he became a versatile and proven scorer, unlike streaky Szczerbiak.

# 4

Russell Westbrook a surprise at number four as the top three had virtually been decided weeks beforehand. Westbrook though an unexpected pick is an explosive guard that will do well in this league especially when Seattle gets all the parts and can continuously run up and down with Durant and Green. The Sonics clearly want a guard that can break down the D and get up and down the court at breakneck speeds. They have found that guy with Westbrook. People want to compare him to NBA champion Rajon Rondo and maybe Monta Ellis, he is long and skinny and extremely athletic, time will tell if he can make the right passes for a long career with Durant by his side.

# 5

Care of NBADraft.net

Memphis picks Kevin Love at the number five spot and in turn will be sending him to Minnesota in the deal outlined in the third pick paragraph. Love is solid, not an athlete like the Grizz love at the four spot, but the T-Wolves just need ballers in which Kevin is for sure. Down-low he will be helped by Al Jefferson for sure on defense. Also he will have a great passer in Mike Miller to get the ball to him in good spots. I like Kevin Love on a solid team a rebuilding team he may flourish or sink as he’ll need to create his own offence and may struggle with the speed of the NBA at first.

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From Playground Legend to NBA Star.

January 8th 2008 10:50

When watching street basketball, such as the guys from And1, a common utterance from gobsmacked audiences is: ‘why aren’t these cats playing, pro?’ That is a good question.

Believe it or not, a lot of the stuff that streetballers are able to manufacture on court, the pros

Skip to My Lou, skipping to the basket. (Photo by Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)

can’t replicate. Even so, players that have honed their skills on the concrete courts of the city don’t usually make good pros. For every Connie Hawkins, there is a Lloyd Daniels.

However, there is one streetball god who is bucking the trend: Rafer ‘Skip to My Lou’ Alston, who plies his trade with the Houston Rockets.

Do you readers know as to why the And1 Mix Tape Tour is so popular now? Look no further than Skip. It was his underground streetball videos that made the And1 heads sit up and take notice. He is the reason why streetball has reached the mainstream.

Making the leap from playground to the bright lights of the NBA wasn’t a seamless transition, with the street skills that Skip was so famous for disappearing. Alston initially had little to no impact on the league with the Milwaukee Bucks. After being traded to the Miami Heat, Alston began to flourish and was seen to be capable of running a team (let’s not talk about his time in Toronto though).

Now, with Houston, Skip was bought in by Jeff Van Gundy who has a history of dealing with supposedly, surly players and bringing the best out of them. For a long while, Alston was seen as expendable for the Rockets, but is now an integral part of the team.

How did ‘Skip to My Lou’, become Rafer Alston, NBA starter? Well, it was a lot of hard work and breaking down his game back to the basics. After an offseason where he improved his offensive skills, the work has now finally paid off after a hairy beginning shooting at just 37 percent from the field.

One of the biggest problems with Skip was his tendency to gun it from long range, but now has settled into a smarter player, driving the ball and scoring at a higher rate.

"I think Rafer's really done a nice job in the last week and a half, two weeks doing that," coach Rick Adelman said. "I think he has a mindset because of the opportunities there. The way teams are trying to defend us, it's going to be open. If we set a good screen for him, or any of the guards, if they're going to put two guys on Yao, there's no one to help, and he can attack the basket. We have to do it that way. We have to attack." (Feigen, Houston Chronicle, 2008)

Once upon a time, you wouldn’t dare give Skip the ball during the closing minutes of a tight contest. Now, he is a proven game winner, as evidenced by his performance against the Orlando Magic last week with a last gasp basket.

Today’s video is the mix tapes that made Rafer such a cult basketball personality.

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Posted By: Stanley - Category: Player News, Houston Rockets

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Yao Ming Takes Himself Off the Market by Getting Married.

August 7th 2007 04:06

The happy couple in Shanghai. (Photo from Xinhua)

Well, ladies, your hopes for snaring a tall, rich, athletic basketball player for a hubby just got a little harder with news that Yao Ming has tied the knot with his long time girlfriend, Ye Li. Actually, in terms of hooking up with a basketball player it’s quite easy, since they do have a history of fidelity to their partners (cough, cough), while having zero chance of Joey Greco ambushing them with the Cheaters crew outside a fast food joint (cough, cough).

The new Mrs Yao is an impressive 6 foot 2 basketball player on the women’s national team and we can be assuming that their future progeny will have their career paths already mapped out by the Chinese government. Hell, Yao and his new bride can expect to be parents to their offspring in name only.

Yao’s wedding was rather small for Chinese standards with only around 70 family and friends in attendance, with reporters outnumbering guests at 100.

In this day and age of celebrity couples selling their photographs, whilst posing on matching

(Photo from Shanghai Daily)

thrones, it’s good to see Yao won’t be giving out any interviews about how his wife became a bridezilla, or that he didn’t sell his wedding pics to the highest bidder for exclusive rights. Reporters instead got a CD of marital snaps, along with celebratory lollies.

Ming told Houston television that he was a tad bit overawed by the prospect of marriage and but excited at the same time: “I don't how the U.S. culture thinks about marriage, but in China we know each other from 18-19 years old, maybe not too late in U.S. But it's pretty early in China…The first couple of years, we both don't let parents know. I have a lot of fun times. After so many years we have so many good memories together, we think this is the time right now. We can stay together forever and build a new family.” (AP, 2007)

I guess this means that the world can look forward to super Communist basketball playing babies in the not-too-distant future!

Today’s video is of the top 10 plays in the recent summer league in Vegas. Some pretty rocking plays on this clip.

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Posted By: Stanley - Category: Player News, Houston Rockets, Yao Ming

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