Partidazo el que acabo de encontrar y que no voy a dudar en dejaros: Sacramento Kings de Jason Williams, Webber, un joven Stojakovic… contra los Jazz de Stockton y Malone…. Un lujazo. Corresponde al 5º partido de los Play-Off de 1999.

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Fuente: Descargas de Basket

30 Previews in 30 Days!, no this is not an ABC Family holiday gimmick: this is the official Paints in the Point 2009-2010 Season Preview.

We start of course with the Champ, for I will be kicking off this series and will bring it to a close in thirty days.

The format that the “Paints Dudes” have decided on is that of regular season records, worst to best, which means the first team to be previewed, is the once-mighty Sacramento Kings.

A Little History:

“The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. The Kings are members of the National Basketball Association (NBA).”

…or maybe not.

Let’s see, the Sacramento Kings’ roots trace back to Cincinnati when they were the Cincinnati Royals and acquired superstar Oscar Robertson. The Royals never won a title in the Robertson era, but they saw elite individual success from Robertson. In the 1961-1962 season, Robertson averaged a triple-double, and in 1964, won The NBA’s Most Valuable Player Award. In 1963, Jerry Lucas, another superstar joined Robertson in Cincinnati, but by the end of the decade both were traded to other teams. Robertson was traded to Milwaukee where the Bucks won a championship in 1970.

The Royals became the Kings during the move to Kansas City in 1972, as the result of the Kansas City Royals baseball team. Also, during the Kings’ tenure in Kansas City, the ownership thought it would be brilliant to split home games in Omaha as well. Oddly enough, this turned out to be a tremendous failure. The Kings in this era were borderline obscure and did not achieve great playoff success until their move to Sacramento in 1985.

But it would take a while once the Kings found their latest home in Sacramento. It was not until their acquisitions of Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, and the draft selection of Jason Williams, as well as the arrival of Peja Stojakovic, until the Kings found significant success. Under the “Princeton Offense,” the Kings scored points in bundles, but were criticized for their poor defense. In 2001, Williams was traded to Vancouver (yes, Vancouver, which moved to Memphis) for Mike Bibby, which led to the best season in franchise history with a record of 62-21, winning the division as well as having the best record in the league, only to lose in seven games to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Unfortunately, 2001 marks the peak of the Kings at that time, for the team has not achieved such playoff success since. In 2005, sniper Peja Stojakovic was traded for Ron Artest, following 2004’s “Malice at the Palace.”

The Royals became the Kings during the move to Kansas City in 1972, as the result of the Kansas City Royals baseball team. Also, during the Kings’ tenure in Kansas City, the ownership thought it would be brilliant to split home games in Omaha as well. Oddly enough, this turned out to be a tremendous failure. The Kings in this era were borderline obscure and did not achieve great playoff success until their move to Sacramento in 1985.

But it would take a while once the Kings found their latest home in Sacramento. It was not until their acquisitions of Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, and the draft selection of Jason Williams, as well as the arrival of Peja Stojakovic, until the Kings found significant success. Under the “Princeton Offense,” the Kings scored points in bundles, but were criticized for their poor defense.

In 2001, Williams was traded to Vancouver (yes, Vancouver, which moved to Memphis) for Mike Bibby, which led to the best season in franchise history with a record of 62-21, winning the division as well as having the best record in the league, only to lose in seven games to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.

Unfortunately, 2001 marks the peak of the Kings at that time, for the team has not achieved such playoff success since. In 2005, sniper Peja Stojakovic was traded for Ron Artest, following 2004’s “Malice at the Palace.”

But Artest had his issues on and off the court, meanwhile shooting guard Kevin Martin began to emerge as a star in the league. Artest went to the Rockets, and now presently the Lakers while Martin continues to lead a young team…

A few more basics:

2008-2009 Record: 17 – 65 (Worst in NBA),  5^th in Division

Coach: Paul Westphal

Projected Lineup:

PG: Beno Udrih: a 6’ 3’’ point guard from Slovenia, who is said to thrive under low expectations. A decent scoring average at 11 points per game, and a decent assist per game average of 4.7 a game, but a below average starting point guard in the National Basketball League.

SG: Kevin Martin: The face of the franchise, K-Mart has probably the most unorthodox shot in the NBA, and shows promise of developing into a superstar if the Kings improve. Martin was seventh in league scoring averages last year with an impressive 24.6 points per game, but with a less than average 2.7 assists per game. Martin’s defense is questionable but his numbers are getting better over time.

SF: Francisco Garcia: A true shooting guard who will split time with Andres Nocioni at the SF position, Garcia looks for improvement. Even though he has already signed an extension which keeps him in Sacramento, Garcia has said he wants to win more games, which preferably means an increase in last year’s scoring average from 12.7 points per game.

PF: Jason Thompson: The only player in NBA history to come from Rider College, Thompson’s numbers in the pros have held up well. A long armed rebounder and a competent shot blocker, Thompson shows promise at 23, and has proved himself to at least put up a fight against other NBA Power Forwards.

C: Spencer Hawes: The young center out of Washington has really yet to prove himself in this league. Hawes, does have the qualities of a traditional center (Zydrunas Ilgauskus, Yao Ming), and seems like an equitable replacement to Brad Miller.

Hawes does share an interesting likeness to a certain Olympic Swimmer:

Key Gains:

G Tyreke Evans: The King’s draft choice (1^st round, 4^th Selection) offers promise at the starting point guard position if given the chance. The guard out of Memphis showed spectacular play in the NCAA Tournament.

The Kings are not a spectacular franchise involved in the free agent market.

Key Losses:

C Brad Miller: The Chicago Bulls now have the veteran Center.

Key Quote:

“For me to be wealthy means having the opportunity, along with my teammates, to bring Sacramento basketball back to its winning ways, and compete for a championship very soon. Being wealthy also is about being a positive role model to our young kids who look up to us, and make Sacramento a better place for them.” – Kevin Martin

Scottie Pippen = Kevin Martin?

Anybody?

Also See:

An Argument for Kevin Martin

Recap:

1. Sacramento Kings
2. Washington Wizards
3. Los Angeles Clippers
4. Oklahoma City Thunder
5. Memphis Grizzlies
6. Minnesota Timberwolves
7. Golden State Warriors
8. New York Knicks
9. Toronto Raptors

As expected, the NBA Legends did made “legends” out of our much reverred PBA veterans last night at the Big Dome.

The NBA Asia Challenge ended with a final score of 109-86 in favor of the NBA “invaders”.

US Ambassador Kristie Kenney during the ceremonial toss.

Despite the loss, it wasn’t really a humiliating defeat. Our boys put up a good and respectable fight in the beginning. “The Captain” Alvin Patrimonio nailed a trey in his first attempt. Then the “Triggerman” Allan Caidic took over and wowed the audience (including the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who was with the coaching staff of the NBA Legends) with five consecutive three-pointers in the first quarter — exactly the kind of deadly accuracy which made him a household name in local basketball a few years back.

The PBA team even led by a point during that quarter: 26-25.

Halftime score was a close 46-41 in favor of the American squad. And at the start of the second half, that was when they started to pull away from the Filipinos.

But the bottomline is that players from both sides simply had fun playing for their fans. All they did out there was purely for entertainment. It was a friendly match which relaxed a politically fed-up audience.

Of course, everybody knew in the first place that Filipino cagers do not stand a chance against those who invented the game of basketball. But if it where sipà or patintero, well, it would’ve been a different story, hehe!

Scores:
NBA Generations 109—Dominique Wilkins 28, Marcus Hubbard 18, Chris Ellis 11, Robert Horry 10, Billy Thomas 9, Russell Robinson 8, Derrick Dial 8, Tim Hardaway 7, Vlade Divac 6, Clarence Smith 4.

PBA All-Stars 86—Allan Caidic 15, Willie Miller 14, Dondon Hontiveros 10, Alvin Patrimonio 9, Ronnie Magsanoc 8, Enrico Villanueva 8, Benjie Parás 7, Arwind Santos 5, Joseph Yeo 5, Asi Taulava 3, Marc Pingris 2, Kenneth Duremdes 0, Wynne Arboleda 0, Sonny Thoss 0, Jay-R Reyes 0.

Let’s forget the tragedy of 9/11 even for just a short while.

Tonight is going to be an exciting Friday night for this basketball-crazed country.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) hoop legends will strut their stuff against their local counterparts from the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) tonight at the Araneta Coliseum, Cubáo, Quezon City.

The NBA squad will be headlined by a who’s who in the world of basketball: two-time slam dunk champion Dominique Wilkins, Robert “Big Shot Bob” Horry (who has more NBA championship rings than His Airness Michael Jordan), Serbian giant Vlade Divac, and crossover master Tim Hardaway. They will be supported by cagers from the NBA’s developmental department. Coach Rory White will be assisted by the biggest NBA scorer in history: the charismatic Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. There might even be a chance for the ageing but still healthy Abdul-Jabbar to play.

Meanwhile, the PBA has prepared for this “US invasion” by fielding its roster with some of the most illustrious names to have recently graced the local professional hoop league: four-time Most Valuable Player “The Captain” Alvin Patrimonio, three-point master “Triggerman” Allan Caidic, “The Tower of Power” Benjie Parás, and “The Point Laureate” Ronnie Magsánoc. They will be joined by other younger PBA players such as Wynne Arboleda, Arwind Santos, Asi Taulava (who used to play under my uncle, multi-titled Coach Louie Alas of the Letrán Knights), Rico Villanueva, Sonny Thoss, and many more. Yeng Guiao will be at the coaching helm.

Game time is at 7:30 PM.

Related links:
NBA-PBA duel erupts at the Big Dome
NBA greats – PBA legends duel
PBA legends excited in stint vs NBA heroes
Fun and nostalgia in Friday’s NBA vs PBA
NBA vs PBA

Vlade Divac has focused his attention on helping refugees in his native Serbia. Divac was in Seoul for the first time since the 1988 Summer Olympics. (Photo: Yoon Chul/ Korea Times)

The last time Vlade Divac was at Jamsil Gymnasium in Seoul, he was a member of Yugoslavia’s men’s basketball team, which claimed silver at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games.

Divac was just 20 years old at the time and at that point, his life was about to dramatically change.

The following year he was on his way from Yugoslavia to Los Angeles, after being drafted into the NBA by the Lakers, and his homeland would soon suffer from more than a decade of civil war that would see Yugoslavia torn apart.

Divac would go on to have a very successful 16-year NBA career with the Lakers, Charlotte Hornets and Sacramento Kings, becoming one of only four players to compile 13,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists and 1,500 blocked shots.

The years during which Divac was in North America in the NBA were marred by violence, ethnic conflict and war crimes in the Balkans.

Divac became a hero to people in Serbia and did his best to try to help those in need back home starting in the late 1990s. By the time Divac had retired in 2005, the Yugoslav wars had ended, but a massive refugee problem remained.

In his retirement, he has focused more of his energy on helping refugees in Serbia – of which there are still more than 4,000 – and around the world.

Divac arrived in Seoul this past weekend for the NBA Asia Challenge along with former NBA players Dominique Wilkins, Robert Horry, Tim Hardaway and Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and recalled his first visit to Korea in 1988.

“Well it was a long time ago, and I didn’t recognize anything except this gym. We played the finals here in 1988 and I got my silver medal. I was very excited,” Divac told the Korea Times after practice Friday.

The seven-foot center was taken in the first round of the NBA draft in 1989 and was selected for the NBA All-Rookie team. Over his career, he became known as a reliable, productive center, although he was only ever named to the all-star team once. He had some of his best days with the Kings where he starred with fellow countryman Peja Stojakovic and Chris Webber. He returned to the Lakers for one final season in 2004-05 before a back injury caused him to retire.

In 2007, Divac started Humanitarian Foundation Divac to provide financial, material and other resources for refugees and internally displaced persons.

Divac explained that he was compelled to help refugees after seeing how it still remains a serious issue in Serbia.

“The year when I left my country, there was still peace. The year after, the war broke out, a lot of people lost their homes, lost their families. When I go back 20 years later I still find people living in refugee camps. So I tried to help them find homes,” Divac said.

“We bought 100 empty houses across the country for these families. So we raised money for 100 houses for 100 families. We still have 4,000 people still living in refugee camps. With the (United Nations Refugee Agency), we made a team and I think with the government of Serbia we can try to help those people.”

Divac also started the “You Can Too” program. According to his Web site, www.divac.com, its mission is to enable refugees and internally displaced persons, still living in refugee camps, to realize their rights to housing, work, material security, and regain and empower their own self-confidence and personal dignity.

Divac has made an effort to better understand the plight of refugees and even put himself in their position on a few occasions.

“I’ve gone many times and a couple times I even stayed there for a couple days and lived with them. I wanted to really try to get their feelings, because I didn’t want to hear about it from someone else,” he said.

“But what stuck in my mind was a girl, she was five years old when she arrived in the camp. Now she’s 25 and she has her own kid who was born in the camp. That was very sad.”

Divac says that he has extended the scope of his organization to help refugees all over the world.

“It’s worldwide. When I started my foundation it was mostly focused on kids. Kids were most affected by the war. Everywhere around the world, there are still a lot of conflicts, a lot of natural disasters, Katrina in New Orleans, the Tsunami, so I wanted to try to help those people also. So when I came back home we set up a focus to help those people also.”

Divac credited friends and teammates with helping him with his objectives.

“A lot of my teammates from the NBA, even commissioner David Stern, have helped. A lot of people send their donations and its really moving forward.”

Source: Korea Times

La edad de oro de los Kings fue desde 1997 a 2005. Por este equipo pasaron jugadores como Jason Williams, Stojakovic, Divac, Doug Christie, Mike Bibby, Webber …

Ahora corren tiempos difíciles para la dinastía que pertenece a los hermanos Maloof, pero estoy seguro de que en poco tiempo, comenzarán a rehacer la dinastía con jugadores jóvenes como ya hicieran años atrás.

Los Kings escaparon de la mediocridad con la llegada del rookie Jason Williams, el fichaje de Vlade Divac y el traspaso de Richmond por Chris Webber antes de la temporada 1998-99. Estas adquisiciones coincidieron con la llegada del alero Peja Stojakovic, quien había sido seleccionado en el Draft de 1996.

Tras estos fichajes, los Kings se convirtieron en un equipo asiduo en playoffs.  Su juego ofensivo marcó un estilo en la NBA.

Tras la temporada 1999-00, los Kings traspasaron a Corliss Williamson a Toronto Raptors a cambio del escolta defensivo Doug Christie, con el fin de conseguir más espacios en pista para el tirador Stojakovic.

En julio de 2001, Petrie traspasó a Jason Williams a Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies por el base Mike Bibby. Con Bibby en pista, los Kings realizaron la mejor temporada en su historia, consiguiendo un récord de 61-21.En esta época los Kings se mostraban como una gran familia, con una gran comunión entre publico y jugadores. Tras ganar las dos primeras rondas de playoffs, se plantaron en las Finales de Conferencia con los Lakers como rivales. Si bien ha de decirse que Jason Williams aportó un toque de magia muy especial en el Arco Arena pese a su traspaso a Memphis.

Tras ganar un nuevo campeonato de división en 2003, los Kings perdieron a Webber por lesión en la serie que les enfrentaba con Dallas Mavericks, cayendo en siete partidos.

La temporada 2004-05 marcó el principio del fin del animado y vistoso juego de los californianos:  Divac firmó como agente libre por los Lakers, dando a Brad Miller el puesto de pívot titular. Además, Christie fue traspasado a Orlando Magic por Cuttino Mobley, aunque el traspaso más dramático fue el de Webber a Philadelphia 76ers a cambio de Corliss Williamson, Kenny Thomas y Brian Skinner.

Aquella Plantilla:

Jason Williams: De gran distribución y creación imaginativa, fue comparado en sus comienzos con Pete Maravich debido a su imprevisible juego y a su gran manejo del balón. Popularizado en castellano bajo el pseudónimo de “Chocolate Blanco Williams”.

Doug Christie:  Excelente defensor que ayudó mucho al equipo durante la época dorada de la franquicia.

Peja Stojakovic:  Sus 2,08 metros de estatura le llevaron a ser seleccionado en 1996 por los Sacramento Kings en el draft de la NBA. Se asentó en la NBA en latemporada 2000-01 al promediar 20,4 puntos y 5,8 rebotes.

Chris Webber: En mayo de 1998 fue traspasado a Sacramento Kings a cambio de Mitch Richmond y Otis Thorpe. Webber no quiso en un primer momento ir a un equipo con fama de perdedor, pero finalmente fue convencido por su padre. A la vez que él, firmaron por los Kings el veterano pívot Vlade Divac y el base Jason Chocolate Blanco Williams, con quienes formó un triunvirato que devolvió al conjunto californiano a la élite de la NBA.

Vlade Divac : El yugoslavo fichó como agente libre por los Sacramento Kings, que ese mismo verano firmaron al ala-pívot Chris Webber y al base Jason Williams.

Junto a ellos alcanzó la categoría de All Star en 2001 y devolvió a un equipo históricamente perdedor a la élite de la liga y persiguió, sin éxito, el título de campeón.

Cabe citar también a Mike Bibby, base que destacaba en los Kings por sus asistencias y sus triples, y formó junto a Stojakovic y Webber, los pilares ofensivos del equipo, dejando a Doug y Divac las labores defensivas que a la perfección realizaban.

Puede que ahora los Kings estén pasando por un momento como en el que se encontraban cuando Webber no quería fichar: Son un equipo perdedor, pero si por algo se caracteriza la dinastía californiana es por saber liberar salarios y contratar a jugadores jóvenes, con progresión y otros veteranos que hagan disfrutar a la afición californiana.

Over the last couple of decades, the Association has seen a rise in complaints about foul calls, and it’s no secret why: there is a wussification occurring in the NBA. Everyone sees the blatant and disgusting flops by supposedly adult men while players attempt to drive to the basket.

I realize that flopping in basketball has always happened, just like the Earth revolving around the sun, but something has changed. It has gotten worse, and worse, and worse. Sometimes, it is hard to distinguish between the NBA and the World Cup. I personally blame Vlade Divac for all this man-flopping that has sprung up like a weed across the basketball lawn.

Every coach complains about it, yet every team seems to participate in this softening of this man’s game. Every superstar in the game gets phantom calls while driving to the hoop. And when they don’t get the call they don’t deserve, they whine all the way down the court to refs like spoiled brats.

For instance, think about Manu Ginobili or Anderson Varejao. They will fall over if the breeze is too stiff. This is a man’s game, where players are rewarded for hustle and strength, not for their acting abilities.

Believe it or not children, but there was a time in the history of the NBA that you were risking a large elbow to the jaw if you drove into the lane. Imagine Robert Parrish staring you down in the paint, or the Bad Boys of the Detroit teams of the late 80’s, early 90’s knocking you on your tail. And when you were knocked to the floor, you got up and took your free throws like a man and didn’t complain they weren’t issued a flagrant 2.

Now the Big Aristotle and Dwight Howard are in early foul trouble nearly every game because the refs see smaller men falling down. That is physics, not a foul. A little man is not supposed to go toe-to-toe with a 7-foot monster in the painted area. If you don’t like it, don’t drive to the lane like a desperate woman at a wedding dress sale.

If the NBA wants to improve its game, start by swallowing the whistle when a player goes strong into the lane. Nothing savage or brutal, but a little bumping and bruising made the game the way it was.

After watching Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy whine about other coaches whining in their post-game press conferences, I thought to myself, “this guy is really freaking annoying.”  So, I decided to give you my top 10 most annoying active sports figures (at 4:45am here on the East Coast).

10.    Stan Van Gundy – The lesser of the Van Gundy brothers is one of the most whiny coaches in sports.  He constantly blames his team for his stupid playcalling.  When you have the best center in the game, Dwight Howard, and you only draw plays up for Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis from beyond the arc, you deserve to lose.  And guess what Stan… it’s your fault.  Shaq was right about this guy, he’s a choke artist.

9.     Sidney Crosby – Hockey’s golden boy is just as whiny as Van Gundy.  He may be the golden boy but this is hockey, nobody wants a golden boy.  Alexander Ovechkin is a real man.  He goes out there and hits people, scores goals while sliding on his stomach, and leads his team back from a 3-1 deficit in a best of 7 series.  Crosby can keep crying about Ovechkin’s attitude, it ain’t gonna change the fact that he’s a cry baby.

8.     LeBron James – Overhyped, overrated, over confident.  LeBron is all these things.  For some punk who was crowned “King James” straight out of high school and was basically given the keys to the NBA Ferrari at age 18, he has so little respect for the game.  When you hit a 15 foot jumpshot in the first quarter of a regular season game, you don’t need to pound your chest like you won Game 7 of the Finals.  Don’t get me started on the pregame crap and the Heineken parody.

7.     Hank Steinbrenner – I hate the Yankees.  I hate George Steinbrenner.  I really hate Hank Steinbrenner.  He never shuts his mouth, ever.  Joe Torre led that franchise to prominence after years of mediocrity and Hank has the audacity to fire him for making the playoffs?  What the eff?  He complains when the Yankees don’t start the year 30-0 and decides to call out all of Red Sox Nation by saying that the term “Red Sox Nation” is a joke.  Shut it, Hank.

6.     “The Rivalry” Fans – This is for both Yankee and Red Sox fans, myself (a Sox fan) included.  Shut up.  Baseball, believe it or not, does not revolve around you.  The MLB will in fact play a World Series if one of your teams is not in it.  Yankee fans are so quick to despise their team because they miss the playoffs once in 13 years and Sox fans think they’re royalty now that Boston has 2 titles in the past 5 years after an 86 year drought.  Idiots.

5.     Trent Dilfer/Tim Hasselbeck – The two former quarterbacks working for ESPN as analysts (if you can call sitting the bench being a former quarterback).  Neither one of these chuckle heads is entitled to say a damn thing about a current NFL QB.  They both have an extreme bias towards my boy Tarvaris Jackson, as evident by them bringing up how bad he is with neither Jackson nor the Vikings anywhere near the topic of conversation.  Ray Lewis won you that ring Dilfer and the only reason Tim is relevant is because his brother is a good QB and his wife is on The View.  College Football Live, gents.

4.     Minnesota Vikings Fans – The only thing worse than two clowns on ESPN blindly bad mouthing Tarvaris Jackson is the Vikings’ own fans doing it.  I am the president and only member of the T-Jack fan club.  I have yet to see one Vikings fan who does not want Jackson out of the state.  They praise Sage Rosenfels for coming in despite his turnover numbers being worse than T-Jack’s.  These are some of the most ignorant fans out there, they don’t even like their own team.

3.     Raphael Nadal – Nadal annoys me beyond all reason.  The capri pants.  The stupid headband.  The unnecessary long hair and ridiculous over-the-top celebrations.  I hate this guy.  I can’t even explain it, he just bothers me.  Roddick is a professional.  Federer is a professional.  Djokovic is a professional.  This guy just looks like a complete tool.

2.     Cristiano Ronaldo – This guy annoys me as much, if not more, than Nadal except I can explain this one.  He is a bigger cry baby than Sidney Crosby, he whines more than Stan Van Gundy, and he flops more often than Vlade Divac.  Seriously, Cristiano Ronaldo should look into trademarking the term “flop”, he might have a case since he does it so damn often.  He cries when things don’t go his way.  He’s everything that annoys America about soccer.

1.     Brett Favre – At the beginning of the blog post I said “active sports figures”, Brett Favre is not technically active… that’s why he’s on this list.  Forget the countless times he has ruined my afternoon (or season) as a Vikings fan.  Forget the way people faun over him like he’s Joe Montana and Jerry Rice combined (not even close).  He just soaks in all of the media attention.  The only reason he came back last year was to bask in the glory of his own arrogance.  He is not the best QB of all-time.  He’s not even top 5.  Maybe not top 10.  This guy is a bigger menace than swine flu.  Please, Brett, for the love of God, stay away from the NFL forever… especially my Vikings.

Lil’ Wayne is a big NBA fan, he knows what he’s talking about. He was courtside during the Kings/Hornets game, and was there to see Vlade Divac get his number retired. Here is what he had to say:

Oh, and by the way, I was soooo rocking glasses like that before Lil Wayne, Jay-Z and T.I.

Vamos con la ya clásica ración de noticias variopintas. Nuestros protagonistas, entre otros, son Kevin Garnett, Vlade Divac, José Manuel Calderón y Andrew Bynum y sus amigas las conejitas Playboy. ¿No os parece lo bastante prometedor? Haced clic y ya veréis, ya…

La duda se llama Garnett: Los Celtics ya han anunciado que Kevin Garnett será baja prácticamente hasta playoffs, aunque tienen la intención de recuperarle antes del final de la regular season para darle algún tiempo para recuperar la forma antes de la fase final. Sin embargo, la duda está en el aire: aunque KG esté de vuelta para playoffs, ¿aguantará su rodilla el altísimo ritmo de competición a estas alturas de temporada? Los Celtics están aguantando relativamente bien sin él, pero está claro que sin Garnett al 100%, sus esperanzas para repetir título se reducen muchísimo, y más con los Cleveland Cavaliers imponiendo su ley en el Este. Teniendo en cuenta cómo están las cosas ahora mismo, tal vez (sólo tal vez) no le necesitarán a tope en la primera ronda, pero a partir de las semifinales de conferencia los enfrentamientos ya serán a cara de perro, y necesitarán a Big Ticket como estaba el año pasado si quieren conseguir otro anillo. Veremos cómo va avanzando de esa molesta lesión de rodilla…

Su ilustrísima Vlade Divac: Hace un par de días los Sacramento Kings retiraban la camiseta con el número 21 de Vlade Divac, uno de los hombres más queridos de la historia reciente de la franquicia, y que jugó en los Kings de finales de los noventa que se convirtieron en una auténtica referencia en la liga, aunque nunca ganaran nada. Divac, uno de los más ilustres floppers de todos los tiempos, asistió naturalmente a la ceremonia, y allí estuvieron ex compañeros suyos como Doug Christie o Chris Webber, e incluso alguno que todavía sigue en activo, como su compatriota Peja Stojakovic. Divac fue tan conocido en Sacramento por su rendimiento (y piscinazos) dentro de las pistas como por su comportamiento fuera de ellas, convirtiéndose en una auténtica referencia en la comunidad por sus obras benéficas. El “Gassman de la liga”, como le llamaba Andrés Montes, fue siempre un pívot fuera de lo común, con una visión de juego como sólo se encuentra en el Este de Europa… y con una alergia al gimnasio que, igualmente, sólo se puede encontrar por allí. Aquí os dejo un par de vídeos, el primero de la ceremonia de retirada y el segundo (que por cierto, no se ve muy bien) con algunos highlights del pívot serbio:

Y aprovechando que el Pisuerga pasa por Valladolid, también os dejo un vídeo que creo que ya he colgado alguna vez, y que ejemplifica que, a piscinero, no le ganaba nadie… salvo tal vez Manu Ginóbili. Un clásico de ayer y hoy, sin duda:

Calderón, camino de récord: José Manuel Calderón no ha tenido precisamente la temporada que muchos esperábamos, pero al menos está en disposición de conseguir un récord en la NBA. De hecho, si nada se tuerce, lo conseguirá: su 97,9% en tiros libres no sólo es el mejor porcentaje de toda la NBA, sino que también podría convertirse en el mejor porcentaje anual de toda la historia de la NBA. Calde, que sólo ha fallado tres tiros en toda la temporada, lo tiene relativamente fácil para batir el récord, ya que la mejor marca es ahora mismo la de Calvin Murphy, que en la temporada 80-81 terminó con un 95,8%. ¿Lo conseguirá? (Por cierto que el segundo mejor tirador de este año, Ray Allen, tampoco le anda muy a la zaga a Murphy, con un 95%…)

¿Era necesario?: Todos, incluso sus peores detractores, sabemos que LeBron James es el favorito número uno para ganar el MVP este año. ¿Todos? Tal vez no. Los propios Cleveland Cavaliers no parecen tenerlas todas consigo y han creado una página web que responde al absurdo nombre de LeBron James is Really Really Really Really Really Really Good (aquí) para reivindicar (aún más) la candidatura de su súper estrella. La cuestión es… ¿era necesario? Y no, no es una broma del 1 de abril… o no que yo sepa, vaya, porque hoy todavía sigue activa…

¿A qué juega Arenas?: Sinceramente, no entiendo lo que está ocurriendo con Gilbert Arenas. El Agente 0 reapareció el sábado frente a Detroit tal y como había anunciado en un mensaje previo, pero se perdió el partido de los Wizards del día siguiente, supuestamente para no forzar su rodilla dos días seguidos. El problema es que tampoco jugó el partido de anoche, tras cuatro días de descanso desde su primer (y único hasta ahora) partido de la temporada. Entiendo que se tomen todas las cautelas necesarias con los 111 millones de dólares andantes más frágiles de la liga, pero esto parece absurdo. ¿Acaso tenía alguna exclusiva para volver el sábado a las canchas? Si está tan delicado, ¿por qué no se ha tomado el resto de temporada de descanso, aunque estuviera en forma para volver, en lugar de jugar a intervalos? Y puestos a jugar…

¿A qué juega Andrew Bynum?: Recordáis a Andrew Bynum, ¿no? El center de los Lakers que, de nuevo, volvió a lesionarse hace un par de meses y que hace poco prometió volver para playoffs, y que estaba siguiendo una recuperación vigilada al milímetro para estar al 100% en la fase final de la temporada. Pues bien, parece que esa recuperación incluye un ejercicio poco ortodoxo conocido como “levantamiento de conejita”, o si no ya me explicaréis qué justificación tiene la siguiente foto, en la que aparece el bueno de Bynum llevando a hombros a una conejita Playboy en una reciente fiesta en la mansión de la revista… Está claro que la chica no pesa precisamente lo mismo que Shaquille O’Neal, pero… ¿era esto necesario? Por suerte los Lakers (y Phil Jackson) le han quitado hierro al asunto, diciendo que son cosas habituales en alguien de 21 años (“Total, si el chaval se lo pasa bien”…). Espero que sepan lo que hacen… (Por cierto, para los interesados, la chica se llama Nicole Narain; googleen ustedes, googleen…)

Un par de vídeos: Y por último, un par de vídeos interesantes de los últimos días. En el primero de ellos somos testigos de la terrible posterización de Louis Williams a manos de Ronald Murray: Flip le roba la cartera al base suplente de los Sixers, sólo para posterizarle en el el otro aro… Nasty!

En el otro vídeo, que tiene su coña, vemos a Greg Oden emulando a LeBron James y su célebre tiro desde media cancha (del que creo que no he hablado, por cierto), demostrando que lo de The King tampoco es para tanto… ¡Y cómo se ponen los niños que le rodean!

Y eso es todo por ahora… que no es poco…

Vlade Divac is one of the best European basketball players of all-time, as far as centers go, he’s second to Arvydas Sabonis in the European spectrum of things. Vlade had a much longer and more successful NBA career though. Last night the Sacramento Kings honored their former center by retiring his number.

Chris Webber’s number was retired by the Kings in February, and round two was the retirement of Divac’s number “21.”

The arrival of Divac and Webber to Sacramento changed the atmosphere of a team that was once on the bottom of the league, they instantly made waves, and slowly but surely became a contender. They never won a title, but the Tim Donaghy scandal now makes you wonder, what if?

Regardless Divac’s contributions to Sacramento and to the NBA in general are something that should always be remembered, and more importantly honored. Divac was one of the first Europeans to transfer over the NBA and his success obviously led to a movement that has forever changed the landscape of the game.

Nothing was more exciting than watching Divac try and get triple doubles, the guy was a machine. His passing was brilliant, an art form. He was the best flopper in league history too, I mean he invented it, another way he changed the game, in a laughing matter. Though for real, name a center whose career-high in assists is 13 or more? Vlade was complete, the prototype of the Euroleague.

Mad props to Divac, mad props to Webber for both giving us some great basketball and perhaps the greatest rivalry of the last decade. On top of that, mad props to the Kings for honoring two guys this season for their efforts that changed a franchise.

If Homeland Security wants to catch terrorists, all they need to do is look for floppers.  Manu Ginobili is a flopper, and thus a terrorist.  French soccer players are terrorists.  They flop, too.  Basically, if you’re a serial flopper, chances are you’re out to destroy the world. 

And that’s what it really comes down to with flopping.  It doesn’t just scream dishonesty, or unnecessarily delay sporting events.  It doesn’t just teach children the wrong way to play the game, or force the action into the hands of officials.  No, it’s much more than that.  Flopping is a greater evil.  Flopping is the basis of a complex, villainous plot to destroy our wonderful earth.  It needs to stop.  And it needs to stop now.

Remember Vlade Divac?  He was a flopper.  Does that make him a terrorist?  In my book, yes.  In your book, you be the judge. 

What about David Beckham?  He’s flopped here and there.  Terrorist?  I assume so.

Osama bin Laden?  A terrorist first, though through deductive reasoning we can wager that in some point in time he likely suffered from chronic flopitis.  My theory is that he flopped to his own death, making brief and subtle contact with one of his henchmen before screaming in agony, tripping, then plunging into a deep crevasse where his body now lies.  That’s what you get for flopping, I guess.

Some of you might think to yourself, “This guy is making a mockery of a very serious subject in terrorism by comparing it to flopping.”  Wrong.  The way I see it, society is downplaying a very serious subject in flopping by not comparing it to terrorism.

Let’s imagine for a minute that you go home, turn on Sportscenter, and the first words you hear out of Stuart Scott’s mouth are, “All floppers are terrorists, boo-yow!”  All of a sudden, it all makes sense.  Terrorists are evil.  If all floppers are terrorists, then floppers are evil.  Therefore, flopping, as an act, is an act of both terror and evil.  Lest anyone figure you for a madman, you dissociate yourself from flopping.  Should you spot a flopper, you point at him and scream, “TERRORIST!” at the top of your lungs, thus alerting everyone in his vicinity to the evil he possesses.  You wouldn’t walk through an airport talking about bombs, carrying an AK-47, or sporting shades and a scraggly Uni-Bomber beard (sorry, Joaquin Phoenix).  So why tolerate flopping, if it’s just as bad?

Terror is fluid.  It is not concrete.  Terror is a state of mind, rather than an actual, physical piece of matter.  Because of that, we interpret terror in varying degrees.  To you, terror may be a man with dynamite duct-taped to his chest.  To me, it’s a soccer player going up for a header, colliding with his opponent, snapping his neck back, falling to the turf, screaming in false agony, grabbing his right knee, then his left knee, calling for his coach, calling for a stretcher, summoning a red card from the official, and stopping play for minutes at a time while he works up the courage to weep in front of thousands of fans.  That’s real terror.

It needs to be said: flopping is the ultimate sign of terrorism.  Flopping=Terrorism.  Terrorism=Flopping.  A simple equation we all need to memorize.  If you see a flopper, alert the proper authorities.  If you are a flopper, I’m here to let you know that WE WILL DEFEAT YOU!  It is our God-given right to protect the sanctity of sports, and our world.  By vanquishing flopping and floppers, we will do both.

Flopping is for pussies.

For those of you casual fans, a flop is the dishonorable practice of over-acting to sell a call to the referees. This could be an overly-dramatic fall, a flail of the arms, and is often accompanied by a loud yelp. Flops usually occur in plain sight to get a ref’s attention and are sometimes followed by a look in the official’s direction.

There’s been a lot of chatter about flopping lately. It’s always a hot topic of discussion, but it has gotten some extra attention thanks to Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq and his big ass actually flopped when he was in a bad position facing the younger, quicker, more athletic Dwight Howard last week.

This is noteworthy because Shaq is often the victim of this heinous act, not the offender. People assume that because Shaq is humongous and very strong that he just barrels into people on every play. The fact that he does create the contact a lot of the time makes him the perfect victim for floppers looking for a sucker. Strong post players like Shaq, Dwight, and Yao Ming are exploited by floppers almost every game.

Unfortunately, this happens at least a few times in every NBA game, whether it gets called or not. Sometimes, it gets called during crunch time when the general consensus is that the refs should “let ‘em play” and not call the small stuff.

There is no way Kirilenko (6′9″, 225) can be boxed out by Matt Barnes (6′7″, 226) with such force that he goes airborne. These are NBA players, playing in a basketball game, which is a contact sport. If a person the same size as you were to bump into you when you weren’t looking, you might fall down…you almost certainly wouldn’t fly through the air as if you were hit by a car. Maybe Andrei is more of a pussy than I’m giving him credit for, but that is laughable…in the fourth quarter of a playoff game!

Kirilenko, like others, has built up a reputation for this. This is even believed to be taught by some coaches, especially overseas. While some of the best floppers are foreign-born, the good ol’ US of A has bred some of the leagues’ most-accomplished thespians. Raja Bell, Kurt Thomas, Manu Ginobili, and almost anyone that has ever played for the Utah Jazz in the last 20 years or so. On a side note, do you think Jerry Sloan is teaching players to flop? Karl Malone, with his big muscles and wide frame, was known to flop a time or two in his day as well.

I blame the Grandfather of Flop, Vlade Divac.

NBA players for the most part are some of the most athletically-gifted and coordinated people on the planet. For them to fall down every time they are bumped is unbelievable, and I’d like to see more no-calls on flops, as demonstrated here:

However, I doubt it’ll be going anywhere soon. Here are some more great flop videos I found…and this is only the tip of the iceberg, folks.

Vlade in maglia Sacramento

Non ho mai visto un pivot fare il play come lo ha fatto Vlade. Un vero assistmen. Un bel gruppo del quale impossibile non ricordare Bobby Jackson, oggi rimasto l’unico sopravvissuto di quel nucleo. Diventare tifosi di quel team era abbastanza naturale in quell’epoca (hey sto parlando del 2002 gente, non degli anni Cinquanta, tranquilli). La maglia di Bibby che ho la stra-fortuna di possedere (la versione in bianco, con scritta Kings) rimane uno dei miei trofei sportivi più amati di sempre (insieme alla maglia della nazionale del Santa, grazie Santa!). E i fratelli Maloof (il nome Gavino credo sia uno dei nomi più belli mai sentiti) ci hanno fatto divertire in quelle notti davanti a Sky. Era la tarda primavera 2002 e le sfide per le finali di Conference erano contro un duo in gialloviola ora sciolto ma che in questo periodo, vedi l’All Star Game, si è ritrovato a rivangare i vecchi tempi.

Torniamo a Vlade, l’Annie Lennox del basket se è vero come è vero che la sua attività benefica prosegue a pieno ritmo. E infatti la serie di eventi intorno al 31 marzo (la partita del ritiro sarà quella contro i New Orleans Hornets) ha come finalità il raccogliere fondi per la Hod (Humanitarian Organization Divac). Se andate su www.divac.com scoprite la grande attività di Vlade per sostenere i rifugiati di tutto il mondo. Un tema, quello dei rifugiati, che purtroppo l’ex Jugoslavia del serbo Vlade ha conosciuto dolorosamente. Vlade è da un bel po’ impegnato con la solidarietà. Ricordate gli spot Nba con lui che parlava su sfondo nero e iniziava con “Hi i’m Vlade Divac”?

Una rimpatriata quella del ritiro della numero 21. Ci saranno un po’ tutti, C-Webb, la cui maglia è già stata ritirata, anche Scott Pollard. Facile fare la battuta che i Kings, non avendo granché di sportivo attualmente con cui attrarre i tifosi, si aggrappano un po’ al passato. E’ un po’ vero, ma è anche giusto celebrare il gruppo di Rick Adelman. Un gruppo che faceva partire dalla panchina, oltre al vecchio Bobby, anche un certo Hedo Turkoglu, che a Orlando sta insegnando basket a tutti.

Ma fatemi parlare della Timeless Ticket Package per il ritiro della 21. Un bel pacchettone, e sapete quanto mi gusta raccontare dei pacchettoni Nba e di cosa comprendono. Nel pacco troviamo i biglietti per tre partite, compresa quella del 31. Trenta dollari caricati aggratis sulla Jack in the Box Card, una carta prepagata da usare in certi fast food. Attenzione: nel prezzo è compresa una litografia che ritrae Vlade e che vi daranno alla Arco all’ingresso il 31. I pacchetti partono da 121 dollari.

Queste invece le feste in programma in California a contorno del ritiro. Domenica 29: tutti a pranzo alla chiesa serbo-ortodossa della amena Fair Oaks con Vlade. Si inizia a mezzogiorno. Con 50 dollari pranzo e autografi più foto con Vladone nostro. La sera alle 21 a Sacramento parti con Vlade, Scott e C-Webb. Prezzi da 50 a 100 dollari. Lunedì 30: alle 18 allo Strikes, a Rocklin, c’è il Charitabowl: Vlade, Peja, C-Webb, Scott e credo anche altri vi aspettano per giocare a bowling e ricominciare con la festa e gli autografi. Noleggiare una pista vi costa 1500 in quella serata. Martedì 31: epicentro della festa prima e dopo la cerimonia alla Arco è il Tunel 21, localazzo di Sacramento. Nell’after game, mentre gli Hornets tornano in aeroporto, tutti a ballare con Vlade e gli altri. Costo dai 50 ai 100.

Uscirete stremati da questa tre giorni, mettetelo in conto. Ma scoprirete che i Maloof gestiscono mezza Las Vegas e dunque il party ce l’hanno nel Dna.

La 21 di Vlade farà compagnia, tra le ritirate, tra le altre anche alla 2 di Mitch Richmond, alla 14 di Oscar Robertson, alla 44 di Sam Lacey e alla 6 del pubblico. Sì, la 6, ritirata nel 1985, è del sesto uomo, i fan dei Kings. Ultima nota: dopo tutto sto spumone di feste, il destino ci mette lo zampino. Il 7 aprile alla Arco arrivano i Lakers. Partitina dell’orgoglio. Mollate le feste se volete, ma questa non perdetevela.

El histórico Vlade Divac, ex Centro de los Lakers, Hornets y Kings, se convirtió en el nuevo Presidente del Comité Olímpico de Serbia, lo que es no sólo una buena noticia para Serbia sino para todo el deporte mundial.

Divac dijo que espera ayudar a crear mejores condiciones para los deportistas serbios, afirmando que el básquet no sólo le enseñó cómo competir sino también como ser un líder del equipo.

Anteriormente, Divac, de 41 años, y quien mantiene negocios y un organización humanitaria en Serbia, ha sido asesor deportivo del gobierno serbio. Su candidatura fue llevada adelanta por la Serbian Basketball Association.

Vía NBA.com

Mientras termino de dar los últimos toques a algunas entradas que tengo pendientes (incluidas las Finales de Conferencia del concurso de cheerleaders, que no olvido), os dejo un par de vídeos protagonizados por celebrities NBA. El primero es anuncio protagonizados por LeBron James para patrocinar la NFL, en el que vemos cómo The King parece renunciar al baloncesto para fichar por el equipo de fútbol de Cleveland, los Browns, con los que alcanza lo más grande… hasta que una monísima cheerleader le pide que despierte… y lo hace con voz de tío. ¡Vaya, el pobre LeBron se había quedado dormido en el vestuario! ¡Festival del humor!

El segundo vídeo me parece mucho más divertido. Es el típico anuncio de fast food americana, asquerosamente fascinante, en el que dos jóvenes hablan de las diferencias entre sus tacos mexicanos desde la banda de un partido de baloncesto entre miembros de sus oficinas. Tras lamentarse por la diferencia entre un tóxico alimento y otro, uno de ellos dice algo así como “¡Y tampoco es justo eso!”, señalando al campo. “¿El qué?“, le responde el otro. “¿Me vas a decir que Dawkins y Divac trabajan en tu oficina?” Y el resto, amigos, dejo que lo veáis en movimiento… ¡incluido el displicente tapón final de Dawkins! Nasty!

Lo vi anoche en los tiempos muertos del Lakers-Cavs y me dejó hipnotizado…