Tag: baron davis

Categories
Olympics

Odds and Ends: Hair today, gone tomorrow

The Olympics are rapidly approaching and the one question on everyone’s mind is, “Will the Nigerian football team players cut off their sweet locks or what?”

Nigeria’s Olympic football coach Samson Siasia has warned his players that he expects short hair and correct clothing for the Beijing Games, a federation spokesman said on Friday.

Siasia, known as a stickler for discipline, believes that his players are devoting too much time to their elaborate hairstyles, time which he believes could be better used in fine-tuning their performances.

And the coach goes as far as to claim that players with short hair are more aerodynamic and so find it easier to find their rhythm on the pitch.

So the hair makes all the difference, huh? Well, explain these athletes then.

In other news…

[Awful Announcing]: Jeff Brantley does not want to run into Ken Griffey Jr in a dark alley

[JoeSportsFan.com]: We still can’t believe we actually beat Mr. X

[ESPN]: Best NFL playoff performances

[Athlebrities.com]: Baron Davis has a Shemagwhat?

[SportsByBrooks.com]: Erin Andrews’ bed. Mmmmmmmm, Erin Andrews’ bed

[Sportaphile.com]: Homophobic ad No. 1…

[BottomLineCom.com]: And homophobic ad No. 2

[Uncoached]: We heart New York

[Need4Sheed.com]: Optimistic about Kwame?!? Bwah-hahahahahahahaha!!

[UniqueDaily.com]: Another completely pointless record gets broken

[Tirico Suave]: Groundhog stew. Mmmmmmmmm, groundhog stew

[Yahoo! Sports]: Pat Riley is still a sucker for yellow

[Larry Brown Sports]: Would really expect anything less from Randy Moss’ daughter?

[WagRankings.com]: The 21 hottest sports movie WAGs

[Dbacks.com]: Diamondbacks fans love their dogs

[BannedInHollywood.com]: Golden Bear goddess

And finally, friendship moves!

Categories
All Other Sports

Odds and Ends: Adidas unleashes its inner Nazi

Ever since Nike came up with their “Swoosh” logo, other shoe companies have desperately attempted to distinguish themselves with a similarly iconic symbol. Most, if not all, have failed to even breath the same air as Nike when it comes to logos and it’s primarily because of ideas like this one.

Adidas has released a cross-promotional ad campaign overseas with their mobile pals Au and there seems to be something distinctly haunting about their new graphic. Do you see it? There. Look. It’s smacking you right in the face like a Nazi World War II SS lightning bolt logo. Oh, well there you have it. Apparently this has gone unnoticed, but Adidas–a German company–is probably aware.

In other news…

[SportsFriends.com]: Steve Nash is sooo friggin cool it makes us sick

[Hugging Harold Reynolds]: We’re sorry, what did you say Erin? We were busy staring at your rack

[ThePhinsider.com]: Jason Taylor: From Fins to Skins

[OneFunnyBastard.com]: The Karate Kid gets a facelift

[AZStarNet.com]: The man behind your favorite championship belts

[WrestlingTruth.com]: Lima, Peru just can’t get enough John Cena

[LiveLeak.com]: Don’t worry little one, President Bush has that effect on most people

[Tirico Suave]: Eh, we weren’t impressed with Heath Ledger. This guy shoulda played The Joker

[Cuzoogle]: Best full court shots ever

[Blazer’s Edge]: Nate Robinson gets honored, kinda

[YouTube]: Top putback dunks eva’

[Steady Burn]: If you can write an essay then you can get shot down by Natalie Gulbis

[The Ghosts of Wayne Fontes]: The best, uh, worst, no, best athlete images of all-time

[StupidCelebrities.net]: Danica went Danica on Milka Duno. Meeeeeow

[Awful Announcing]: The most inconsequential awards show on the planet aired last night

And finally, rapping about the F.U.P.A. Totally not safe for work or kids.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.
Categories
LA Clippers

All of L.A. will soon be sporting Baron Davis beards

Baron Davis stunned the basketball world by bolting from Golden State for one of the most pathetic franchises ever in existence: the Clippers. There’s really only two ways this can work out for B-Dizzle, a) he helps turn around a team’s fortunes, dotting the NBA landscape with two relevant Los Angeles squads or b) he looks back in a few years and says “Dear Lord, what have I done?” Either way, Clipper Nation (if there is such a thing) wins big. The fans finally have a legitimate star to root for and he’s a hometown hero to boot. Davis deserves a lot of credit for making such a gigantic leap of faith, but, frankly, we think the City of Angels owes this guy a beer for being the influencing factor in the move. After all, how could B.D. resist this sultry serenade home?

Categories
Golden State Warriors

Baron Davis wants to have a staring contest with you

The Warriors missed the playoffs this year, so Baron Davis is seriously jonzing for some competition right now. And we mean he is REALLY desperate. Hey, its tough going from embarrassing the No. 1 seed one year to sitting on your couch the next.

Word on the street is that BD just put out an open invitation to anyone who thinks they can hang with him in an armpit-farting competition. Get your game straight.

Links:

[YardBarker.com]: Can You Beat Me In A Stare Off!!!

Categories
Utah Jazz

Around the Rim: New Orleans slips up at home


1. Jazz grab division title
Utah scored a pathetic nine points in the fourth quarter against New Orleans, but they literally could have gone scoreless and still left the bayou with a win. The Jazz shocked the Hornets at home by pounding them through three quarters to escape with a 77-66 win. The final score represented season lows for both teams and the matchup between the two young stud point guards didn’t really amount to squat. Deron Williams got the best of Chris Paul by dishing out 16 assists to Paul’s nine, but the duo whitewashed each other from the field as each finished with just four points on 2-of-11 shooting. Carlos Boozer wasn’t much better for the Jazz, hitting a mere 5-of-14 from the floor for 10 points. Luckily, Mehmet Okur came through in a big way, scoring a game-high 22 points to go with 17 rebounds. Normally pathetic on the road, the Jazz’s victory in New Orleans clinched the second consecutive Northwest Division title.

2. Warriors tally season-high in points

After going 5-5 over their last 10 games, the Warriors returned to what they do best: score. Golden State posted 77 points in the first half against Sacramento and held on – that’s right, they held on – to win 140-132. The Warriors are tied with Denver for the final playoff spot in the West, but due to tiebreaking rules, they are currently on the outside looking in after Denver put the boots to the Clippers on Tuesday, winning 117-99. The scheduling gods must have seen this back-and-forth race months ago because on Thursday, the Warriors and the Nuggets will match up in a game that could determine the fate of both teams. However, if the Warriors are stroking it like they did against Sacramento then Denver could be in trouble. Led by Baron Davis’ game-high 33 points, six Warriors reached double figures in scoring while the team connected on 52.3 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from behind the arc.

3. Detroit gets Knicked by Isiah’s really bad boys
The Pistons are just going through the motions as the regular season draws to a close and it showed last night against the Knicks. New York simply outplayed Detroit for 36 minutes and by the time the Pistons ripped off 34 points in the final period, it was already too late. Behind 19 points – all in the first half – from Wilson Chandler, the Knicks grabbed a 98-94 victory in The Palace of Auburn Hills. Perhaps the Pistons only have themselves to blame because before the game, the franchise honored Detroit’s all-time team which happened to include current New York coach Isiah Thomas. While the loss is certainly a blow to the Bad Boys collective ego, their season is already over as they get healthy in anticipation of the playoffs. No Detroit starter recorded more than 27 minutes in the contest.

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: Rudy Gay vs. Phoenix 43 min, 36 pts (FG: 13-22, 3FG: 5-6, FT: 5-6), 8 reb, 3 ast, 2 blk

Wednesday’s Game to Watch: Phoenix (52-26) @ San Antonio (53-24)
It just doesn’t get much better than the Suns and the Spurs. The rivalry between these two has been intensifying over the past few seasons and if they meet in the playoffs again this year then it could simply boil over; especially with Shaquille O’Neal in the mix. It’s been five years since Phoenix has won a season-series, but they currently hold a 2-1 advantage this year and one of the victories was in San Antonio. Shaq might miss this game with a hip problem, but that doesn’t lessen the importance in the least. SA is still in the running for the conference’s top record and home court advantage throughout the West while Phoenix, currently sitting in sixth place, is desperately trying to work its way into the top four. Both teams have already locked up spots in the postseason, so it’s all about jockeying for position and pride at this point.

Buzzer Beater: LeBron James’ bad back continues to be an issue for Cleveland and on Tuesday, King James missed his second consecutive practice. Even worse, he might miss tonight’s game against the Nets. The Cavs are currently sitting in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings and hold a minimal two-game lead over Washington, meaning every win and every loss is critical right now for the defending conference champs.

I know he wants to play,” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. “But we have to be cautious with him now.”

“We want him healthy in the playoffs,” Brown said. “Yes, we want the fourth seed, but to get the fourth seed and have an unhealthy LeBron throughout the playoff run wouldn’t do us any good. We’ve got to make sure that he’s healthy and he’s able to help us.

Categories
Phoenix Suns

Around the Rim: That’s Amare!


1. The Suns can still run
There was some serious doubt about whether Shaquille O’Neal could physically keep up against the Warriors. Well, he couldn’t, but the Suns didn’t need him to. Shaq spent most of the evening in foul trouble, finishing with nine points and 14 rebounds, but Amare Stoudemire more than made up for the Big Cactus’ off night by scoring 36 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking four shots in a 123-115 victory. The Suns were smoking hot shooting the ball, converting 45-of-82 for a blistering 55 percent field goal percentage. Steve Nash was key down the stretch, scoring eight consecutive points for the Suns at one point in the fourth quarter, finishing with 21 points and 13 assists. Baron Davis missed tying his career-high by two points, producing 38 in the loss as Golden State continues to hold onto the eighth spot in the West, sitting two games ahead of Denver.

2. Shining Wizards

After missing 16 games with a hip injury, Caron Butler returned to the Wizards roster on Thursday to score a team-high 19 points. Butler was on fire early, hitting six of his first eight shots, but it wasn’t the former All-Star’s quick start that sealed the 101-99 victory; rather, it was the Cavaliers horrible finish. Cleveland could only muster up 45 points in the entire second half after taking an eight-point lead into halftime. LeBron James posted 25 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, but it wasn’t all pretty as he committed seven turnovers. During the game, Gilbert Arenas said in a sideline interview that he was supposed to make his comeback against Cleveland, but the doctors nixed the idea prior to tipoff.

3. The Blaze get burned
Portland looked as they were destined to defy the odds a couple months, but after losing to the Kings last night, they simply look destined for the lottery. Sacramento lost two games in a row at home prior to knocking of the Blazers 96-85, but with the win the Kings are just four games behind Portland in the standings. Ron Artest led all scorers with 22 points to go with six steals while Brad Miller and Beno Udrih scored 14 apiece. Brandon Roy scored 21 for the Blazers who were a miserable 30-of-78 (.385) from the field while committing 27 fouls and giving up 19 turnovers.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Baron Davis @ Phoenix 46 min, 38 pts (FG: 15-30, 3FG: 6-11, FT: 2-4), 9 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk

Friday’s Games to Watch: Tonight is such a big night in the Association, we just couldn’t limit ourselves to a single game. So, we’ve got four – yes, four – must-see contests lined up for your viewing pleasure.

Utah (43-23) @ Boston (51-12)
Carlos Boozer. Kevin Garnett. Deron Williams. Ray Allen. Paul Pierce. Andrei Kirilenko. Mehmet Okur. Rajon Rondo. Should we continue?

Los Angeles Lakers (45-19) @ New Orleans (43-20)
The Hornets just knocked off the Spurs by 25 points and now they’re welcoming the best of the West into their home hive. New Orleans is 23-10 on its own court, but the Lakers don’t care what court they’re playing on, posting a 20-10 record on the road.

San Antonio (44-20) @ Detroit (46-18)
It might not be the most edge-of-your-seat basketball matchup in the league, but it is a rematch of the 2005 Finals and a possible preview of the 2008 Finals. The Spurs must overcome their recent road woes on a court where the Pistons are 24-6 if they don’t want to slip further down the stacked West standings.

Charlotte (24-40) @ Houston (44-20)
A chunk of history will be on the line as the Rockets attempt to claim sole possession of the second longest winning streak in NBA history by knocking off their 21st consecutive opponent.

Buzzer Beater: Smush Parker was released by Miami earlier in the week and on Thursday he decided to return to Los Angeles. Unfortunately for Smush, he signed with the Clippers and not the Lakers. Talk about jumping out of the pan and into the fire. Sure, things might be slightly better in that other L.A. compared to Miami, but there certainly won’t be any celebrations in the streets any time soon. This is the sixth team for Parker in his short career.

Categories
Phoenix Suns

Around the Rim: Same ol’ faces in new places


1. Shaq’s back
Shaquille O’Neal finally made his Phoenix debut on Wednesday night in a great game versus his old Lakers squad. Unfortunately, Kobe Bryant didn’t give a flip about his old running mate’s coming out party. Bryant exploded for 41 points to help Los Angeles knock off the Suns 130-124. Shaq finished with 15 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes and looked surprisingly good. He was even diving for loose balls and running down court on fast break opportunities. All in all, it was a pretty nice debut for the “Big Cactus.” However, someone who always has nice games for Phoenix is Shaq’s understudy, Amare Stoudemire. In the loss, Stoudemire had a monster of a game, scoring 37 and grabbing 15 boards.

2. Some things never change

Jason Kidd didn’t win very many games in his first stint with Dallas. Obviously, today’s Mavs are just a little better, but to Kidd it was déjà vu all over again as the Hornets ran past Dallas 104-93. Kidd recorded eight points, five assists, six rebounds and six turnovers in the defeat, but Dirk Nowitizki managed to put up a nice performance of 31 points and eight rebounds. However, nothing could top Chris Paul’s output on this night. Paul had 31 points of his own to go with 11 assists, five rebounds and nine steals. Kidd might be the future of Dallas, but Paul proved he’s the point guard of the future.

3. Baron beats the buzzer
Boston was perfect against the Western Conference until the other night when they fell to Denver in Kevin Garnett’s return to the lineup. Now, thanks to Baron Davis’ buzzer-beater, you can make that two consecutive losses for the Cs. Davis buried a jumper with .3 seconds remaining to give his Warriors a 119-117 win at home. The point guard scored 29 in the contest while dishing out six assists and grabbing six boards. Monta Ellis had 26 to compliment Davis. For Boston, KG did what he could with a typical double-double of 17 points and 15 boards and he got plenty of help from Paul Pierce (23 pts) and Ray Allen (32 pts), but Davis just wouldn’t let Garnett pick up his first win since healing his injury.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: LeBron James @ Indiana 43 min, 31 pts (FG: 11-22, 3FG: 1-5, FT: 8-12), 14 reb, 12 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Thursday’s Game to Watch: None
Don’t even bother watching any of the crummy games tonight. If anything, just tune into Inside the NBA. We guarantee it will be more entertaining than the on court action.

Buzzer Beater: New York fans were loosening up their vocal chords again on Wednesday, screaming for Isiah Thomas’ head once again as the Knicks were humiliated by the Sixers, losing by 40 points, 124-84. Frankly, we still don’t understand why Zeke has a job. Then again, they are the Knicks and it probably doesn’t matter who you stick into the head coaching seat – they are still going to look awful. Unless NY can pull off a Boston Celtics type trade and get LeBron James or Kobe Bryant before the trade deadline then you can expect at least a few more 35+ point losses this season.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Drum roll please!



The All-Star men in the middle

1. And your starters for the 2008 All-Star extravaganza are…
Without even knowing the lineups, the All-Star game is always one of the best nights of the year. Luckily, the fans did a bang-up job of selecting the conferences’ starting fives. For the East, it’s going to be Jason Kidd and Dwyane Wade as the guards, LeBron James and Kevin Garnett, the top overall vote getter, receive the nod at the three and four spot while Dwight Howard will start at center. On the other side of the floor, Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson will serve as the starting backcourt with Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan and Yao Ming holding things down in the frontcourt. We gotta give the fans some credit for this one because a late surge in voting for the Answer kept Tracy McGrady – missed 12 of previous 17 games – from grabbing a starting guard spot. However, the votes for A.I. also relegate Steve Nash, Chris Paul and Deron Williams to the bench for the opening minutes of the game.

2. Spurs narrowly avoid embarrassment

The Spurs grabbed another much-needed victory on Thursday, but we don’t think there was any celebrating in the locker room after the game. San Antonio barely eked out a 90-89 victory over the ultra pathetic Heat, resorting to a last second defensive stand against Dwyane Wade to preserve the W. But any way you cut it, Miami now has 15 consecutive losses in the record book. Tim Duncan continues to play outta his gourd, scoring 30 points, grabbing 11 boards and dishing out a nickel’s worth of dimes. Even with Duncan going crazy, Manu Ginobili continues to steal the show for S.A. Ginobili stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, but more importantly hit the go-ahead bucket with 36.5 seconds left. D-Wade went off for 27 points with nine assists as Shaquille O’Neal was looking dapper from the bench in a custom tailored suit.

3. Missed it by that much
In a game that featured two teams riding losing streaks, somebody had to win. The lucky recipients were the Warriors who bounced back from a horrible loss to Minnesota to beat New Jersey 121-119. Okay, so technically it wasn’t a losing “streak” for Golden State, but one loss to the Timberwolves should count for around three losses to average teams. Either way, the Warriors are back on track after Monta Ellis put up a career-high 39 points and Baron Davis recorded the eighth triple-double of his career with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Richard Jefferson scored 34 in the loss, Vince Carter finished with 29 and Josh Boone had a man-sized double-double of 21 points and 17 boards. But in the end it was the Nets seventh consecutive loss and their eighth in nine games.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Baron Davis vs. New Jersey 46 min, 25 pts (FG: 10-22, 3FG: 3-8, FT: 2-2), 12 reb, 10 ast, 5 stl

Friday’s Game to Watch: Orlando (27-17) @ Detroit (30-13)
Boston clearly has the title of top team in the Eastern Conference locked up for the time being, but Detroit and Orlando are slugging it out for the right to be No. 2. The Magic can’t make up 3 ½ games with a single win over the Bad Boys tonight, but they can boost their confidence through the roof by beating Detroit two times in just one week. On Monday, the Magic ended a five-game regular season losing streak to the Pistons with a 102-100 win in the Magic Kingdom. Detroit ended its three-game slide on Wednesday, beating the 76ers, but still hasn’t broken out of the funk that cost the team six losses in the last 10 games.

Buzzer Beater: Sorry Miami Heat fans, but Shaquille O’Neal isn’t going to be doing you guys any favors for at least another couple of years. While most people think Shaq should probably be considering hanging up his size 23s, Wilt Chamberneezy insisted that he plans on riding out his contract with the Heat, even if it mean’s enduring a 220-game losing streak.

I’m the son of an army drill sergeant and when we enlist, we go out full-term. So I got two years left on my term and then, after that, I’ll be looking to do other things,” O’Neal said on the show.

“I’m not the type to say every game, ‘my leg is hurt, my leg is hurt.’ I just tried to do it the old-school way for so long, just play on … rather than try to get healthy,” he added. “I’m not even playing at 50 percent right now. I just got to focus on getting that leg back strong.”

When asked if he could get back into form this season, O’Neal said: “We’re going to be trying to do it. I just have to get through it.

Categories
New York Knicks

Around the Rim: Somebody must pay with their head!



One of these people just doesn’t
belong here.

1. 45-point blowout!?
Does the NBA need to start investigating players for being involved with fixing games? Sounds stupid, but how else do you explain a 45-point victory? Well, coach? Explain your team’s performance.

I don’t know where this game came from. I thought we played extremely selfish tonight … Definitely didn’t see this type of game coming after the last two games we played. This was just not a good night.

Not a good night? Try the third-worst beating in the storied franchise’s history and the second-lowest offensive production since the shot-clock went into effect! Oh, and if Nate Robinson didn’t get lucky and nail a half court, desperation heave at the end of regulation to make the score 104-59 then it would have been the lowest output EVER. That a getting-caned kinda night, Zeke.

2. 45-point swing

The Lakers fell down by 17 points early to the Denver Nuggets, but by the time the final buzzer sounded, Kobe Bryant was chillin’ on the bench and the Lakers had a 28-point victory, 127-99. Bryant had 24 points and Andrew Bynum had a nice double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Even Sasha Vujacic got into the act and scored 22 off the bench. But the real news out of Los Angeles has to do with the Zen Master signing on for another two years of drama, which begs the question: Does this move effect whether Kobe is in or out of L.A.? $24 million says Phil Jackson really doesn’t care.

3. Back to their old Mavericks-beating form
After starting the season off by dropping their first six games, the Warriors coasted to an 8-7 record by beating the Rockets 113-94. Since Stephen Jackson returned from his suspension, Golden State is 7-1. And while some of those wins are coming against creampuffs, they have quality Ws over Toronto, Phoenix and now Houston. Al Harrington deserves an expensive steak dinner from his coach after manning up big time against Yao Ming on Thursday. Harrington (6-9, 245) limited Ming (7-6, 310) to 4-of-12 shooting for 10 points and seven rebounds while scoring 18 points on the offensive end.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Baron Davis vs. Houston 40 min, 27 pts (FG: 9-14, 3FG: 1-3, FT: 8-11), 5 reb, 8 ast, 5 stl

Friday’s Game to Watch: Orlando (14-3) @ Phoenix (11-4)
Remember the good old days when you anticipated big-man match-ups like Charles Barkley vs. Karl Malone or Hakeem Olajuwon vs. David Robinson? Well, in 10 or 20 years, you might be reminiscing in the same way about Amare Stoudemire vs. Dwight Howard. These are two of the most blinding young stars working the post today and both of their teams are continually improving. Unfortunately, since these two studs are running in different conferences, this individual battle doesn’t come along all that often. In fact, the only way this becomes a truly intense 1-on-1 rivalry is for the Suns and Magic to square off in the Finals. Fortunately, that’s not an impossibility.

Buzzer Beater: Nicknames are some of the coolest things in the world. The great ones just naturally fit with the person and no explanation is needed, like “Magic.” Then you’ve got nicknames that just seem uncreative and forced, like “Youngrich.”

Nuggets guard J.R. Smith is nicknamed “Youngrich.” It’s even written on his shoes. So why the nickname? “Because I’m young and I’m rich,” the New Jersey native said.

What? Was “Denvernugget” taken by a teammate already?

Categories
Houston Rockets

Around the Rim: Wow-wee, Yao, Yi!



Yup, it’s that big.

1. Big players, big audience
The most anticipated game in the world will go down tonight as two of the league’s giants match-up. To Americans it’s the Rockets and the Bucks, but to the Chinese it’s Yao Ming vs. Yi Jianlian. The two sensations from China go head-to-head for the first time tonight and the game is expected to be seen by more than 200 million people in China. Over there it will be early Saturday morning and instead of cartoons, 19 different TV stations will broadcast the game, including the country’s government-run station, and it will be offered on the web. People can even watch the game on their cell phones. Of course, here in the States, ESPN is showing Denver and Washington. Nice call guys.

2. Mavs beat Warriors a few months too late

Sure, it doesn’t matter, but the Mavericks finally got a small measure of revenge against the Warriors. It was another nail-biting, down-to-the-wire contest between the clubs with Jerry Stackhouse hitting a dagger shot in the final minute that led to Dallas’ 120-115 victory. Barron Davis did everything he could to try and carry his team, including a sweet reverse slam off the backboard, but his 37 points just weren’t enough and Golden States slips to 0-5. Davis had a shot late to tie the game up, but it didn’t fall. Stephen Jackson missed the game due to a suspension and it’s arguable that , had he played, the Warriors might not be winless. Of course that’s making the huge assumption that he could actually stay on the court for an entire game and not get slapped with a pair of techs.

3. Seattle’s permanent road trip
There’s been much speculation around the future of the Seattle SuperSonics and their possible relocation to become the Oklahoma SuperSonics. David Stern weighed in on the situation Thursday and he pretty much told the Seattle faithful that they are screwed should the team bolt. “I’d love to find a way to keep the team there,” Stern said, “because if the team moves, there’s not going to be another team there, not in any conceivable future plan that I could envision, and that would be too bad.” Those are pretty harsh words, but it shouldn’t be that difficult of an adjustment for the fans. After all, Seattle hasn’t really had a team since Gary Payton was lobbing alley-oops to Shawn Kemp in the 90s.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Baron Davis vs. Dallas 48 min, 37 pts (FG: 14-26, 3FG: 3-6, FT: 6-9), 5 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl

Friday’s Game to Watch: San Antonio (4-1) @ New Orleans (4-1)
We know that all of China will be watching Milwaukee @ Houston, but we’re telling you that SA/NO is where the action will be. We know exactly what to expect on one side of the ball; the Spurs are still the Spurs and they are still playing Spurs ball with the same Spurs cast. It’s the Hornets who are turning heads early in the year. Chris Paul is playing lights-out, averaging 18.6 points and 12.4 assists to go along with the team’s emerging duo of Tyson Chandler and Peja Stojakovic who serve as the inside/outside threats. New Orleans should give the Spurs a run for their money in this game and possibly the entire season as they both race toward the Southwest Division championship.

Buzzer Beater: Going into last night’s game, the Bulls were winless and their rivals, the Pistons, were lossless. So, of course, both streaks would be snapped by the end of the night as Chicago beat Detroit 97-93. Nobody actually thought that the Bulls were a 0-4 caliber team after starting the season slowly and they proved everyone right as they rallied around a huge night from Tyrus Thomas (19 pts, 14 reb). Luol Deng chipped in 17 points, Ben Gordon had 16 and Kirk Hinrich dished out 14 assists. Joakim Noah even shut his trap long enough to score the third and fourth points of his career. The Pistons aren’t washed up by any stretch of the imagination, but this could be the beginning of a big year for the Bulls as they look to shed the final pounds from their Baby Bulls image.