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Washington Wizards

Gilbert Arenas’ new commercial

Adidas is perpetually trying to catch up with Nike, not just in sales but in their ad campaigns.  While Nike has always set the bar with great commercials, Adidas usually gives us stuff that doesn’t make much sense and isn’t very good.  Impossible is nothing?  Uhhhh…whatever.  

Anyway, Adidas is set to launch a whole new ad campaign featuring athletes and drawing… we guess to spotlight how creative athletes are or something.  Our favorite NBA nutjob Gilbert Arenas has a commercial in the campaign and while it’s designed to show how he overcame adversity to become “the rock star of the NBA“, it mostly just highlights that Gilbert can’t paint for shit.

Links:
[Ad Freak]: Art is therapy for athletes in Adidas ads

Categories
General Sports

Feb 21 2007 episode of Poor Man’s PTI

Welcome to another episode of Poor Man’s PTI.

You can download this week’s podcast directly (running time 33 mins) or subscribe to the feed.  

If you use iTunes, just click here and then click subscribe and iTunes will take care of the rest.

This week’s topics include:

  • Tim Hardaway
  • Barkley vs Bavetta
  • NBA All Star Game Weekend
  • Gilbert Arenas
  • Chargers hire Norv Turner
  • Tom Brady gets Bridget Moynahan pregnant
  • Britney Spears’ sad decline
  • Ryan’s white trash NASCAR day
  • Josh Heytvelt and the magic mushrooms

Hope you guys enjoy the podcast.  If you did enjoy it, please give us a good rating below so we can rise up in the rankings. If you didn’t, send us an email ([email protected]) and give us some suggestions. Thanks for listening.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: He’s Magically Offensive!


1. The Kid Has Potential
If there were any Dwight Howard doubters before Friday, his performance against the Spurs should have served as a revelation. At one point, San Antonio led by 18 points but Howard led his team all the way back to a tie with .2 seconds. What happened next was easily the play of the year. Howard took an inbounds, alley-oop pass from almost halfcourt and slammed it down with one hand as the buzzer sounded to give the Magic a 106-104 victory at home. It was the first game winner for Howard in his young career, and the first game winning dunk with under a second remaining since Jerry Stackhouse did it in 2002. If that’s not enough for one night, the game capped a three game performance in which Howard shot an astonishing 33 of 37 (89 percent). That’s the best three game shooting streak in the history of the NBA by anyone not named Wilt Chamberlain.

2. He’s a Wizard, Not a Psychic
Gilbert Arenas is a great player but he’s not going to be mistaken for Nostradamus anytime soon. Arenas predicted he would drop at least 50 on the Trailblazers in his blog a few weeks ago, but it didn’t quite work out the way Arenas foretold. Agent Zero ended the game shooting a pathetic three for 15 from the field and was held without a basket (0-8) from behind the 3-point arc as Portland rolled to a 94-73 victory. The nine points scored was Arenas’ third lowest total of the season. Looks like Arenas is going to have to wait until March 20 for another chance at revenge against Blazers coach Nate McMillan for his role in leaving Gilbert off the U.S. national team last summer. The Wizards have now lost four of their five games since Antawn Jamison went down with a left knee sprain on January 30.

3. Green with Envy
Paul Pierce is back, so what? In his first start since December 20, Pierce scored a game-high 29 points against the Timberwolves, but having their star back still doesn’t seem to be enough to get the Celtics a victory. Boston came up two points shy against Minnesota last night as Kevin Garnett racked up his second triple-double in three games with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. K.G. apparently has no sympathy for the woes of the men in green. The loss is the 18th consecutive for Boston as they slowly approach the single season record of 23 losses in row, which is currently held by both the ’96 Grizzlies and the ’98 Nuggets. And there’s no relief in sight for the Celtics who have six of their next eight games on the road, including a brutal five game Western Conference swing.

Sunday’s Player of the Day: Kobe Bryant @ Cleveland 43 min, 36 pts (FG: 12-24, 3FG: 1-5, FT: 11-11), 7 reb, 6 ast, 1 stl

Monday’s Game to Watch: Los Angeles Clippers (25-26) @ Detroit (31-18) Chris Webber has solidified his role within the team in the past two weeks and thanks to a six game win streak, the Pistons have shot to the top of the Eastern Conference. Detroit is 16-9 at home this year, which isn’t good news for the Clippers. Los Angeles has struggled to gather victories on the road where they are only 8-18 so far. The Clips are barely hanging onto the last playoff spot in the West as the Hornets, Timberwolves, Warriors and Kings are all looking to jump into the postseason picture.

Buzzer Beater: The feud between the Wizard’s centers has escalated as Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood came to blows once again. Thomas was suspended by the team for two games after throwing a punch at Haywood during the team’s practice on Friday. Thomas said the punch was in retaliation for an intentional elbow; “This cat decides to hit me with a cheap shot during practice and I reacted,” said Thomas. This was round three between these two after coming to blows for the first time last season an

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Midseason Movements


1. Trade Hate
If you’re getting sick of all the constant trade rumors about Pau Gasol, Corey Maggette, Vince Carter and others, then there is finally some relief in sight. That’s because the NBA’s trade deadline is just a mere two weeks away. At last, we should begin to see some serious movement with some of the bigger names in the league. If the GM’s decide to pull the trigger on some of these deals then we could end the season with a vastly different league than originally existed. In addition to aforementioned players, guys like Ray Allen, Andrei Kirilenko, Ben Gordon and Kevin Garnett are some of the other names being tossed around.

2. Buyers Remorse

In a heartwarming tale of a boy and his dog; Ron Artest has been accused of animal cruelty. Neighbors in his Loomis California gated community complained about a malnourished Great Dane that Artest had locked up within a fenced area. Artest was issued “pre-seizure” notice stating that the dog would be taken if the care did not improve. On Monday, an underfed “Socks” was removed from the property and Artest now has 10 days to schedule a trial. Apparently, the dog was being feed off the profits from Ron’s rap career.

3. Special Treat
Who would have guessed that Dennis Rodman’s foolish antics would be imitated by player’s years after his retirement from the league? On occasion, Rodman would remove his jersey after a game and throw it into the crowd. Nowadays, Gilbert Arenas carries on the tradition by tossing his top into the crowd after every home game. But we know that NBA ballers love top one another, so J.R. Smith took Arenas’ idea and improved by 100 percent. Not only does Smith toss away his home white jersey after games, but he also remains generous and gives the opposing team’s fans a souvenir after every game as well. Let’s just hope that nobody ever attempts to carry out the Worm’s unaccomplished desire to run off the court naked after the last game of his career.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Dirk Nowitzki vs. Memphis 37 min, 38 pts (FG: 14-20, 3FG: 2-2, FT: 8-9), 10 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl, 4 blk

Thursday’s Game to Watch: Los Angeles Lakers (30-19) @ Detroit (29-18) The Lakers have been one of the most surprising teams in the league over the past two seasons. Despite losing Shaq to the Heat, Kobe has done an impressive job of not only carrying the Lakers, but carrying the Lakers to unexpected victories. But L.A. has struggled on the road, which could lead to trouble in Detroit where the Pistons are 14-9. Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton have led the Pistons offensively as they have ripped off a streak of eight wins in their last 10 games.

Buzzer Beater: Kevin Garnett might not be called “The Kid” anymore, but he showed why he’s stilled referred to as “The Big Ticket” last night. Garnett put up the 17th triple-double of his career last night with 17 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists against Golden State. K.G. is one of the freakiest athletes to ever enter the NBA and it’s so unfortunate that he might never get the chance to realistically compete for a championship. At least Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton and Patrick Ewing got to play in a Finals series.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: They played basketball yesterday too


1. O.K. Okur
While Carlos Boozer has received most of the praise for Utah’s fast start this year, it will be Mehmet Okur who must keep the Jazz in tune over the next month. Okur has been far more important to the Jazz than his stats show, and his last two games are far more indicative of how Jerry Sloan will utilize the Turkish big man. Against the Spurs, Okur had 31 points (10-14), hitting three 3-pointers, and 11 boards. He followed that with a 29 point, 12 rebound effort against the Suns. The Jazz won both games. Okur is a poor man’s Dirk Nowitzki who must now play at a consistently high level for Utah to maintain in the West. That’s something he hasn’t done over any significant span of his career.

2. Road Trip Detour
The Lakers thought they were heading to a routine morning shootaround before meeting the Wizards on Saturday. Instead they received a 45 minute long tour of the historical landmarks surrounding the D.C. area by a bus driver who doubled as an untrained tour guide. Call it one of the Zen Master’s many means of motivation because it worked as Los Angeles beat the Wizards with all five starters scoring in double figures. Kobe Bryant was so inspired that he dropped 39 on Washington. This might sound like odd pregame behavior, but Phil Jackson is known to have some very eccentric conduct. Jackson won’t touch fans before a game because it disrupts his aura; which is probably a medically sound decision when in L.A.

3. Gambling Man
Gilbert Arenas combined two of his favorite things in life, gambling and filling the hoop, to make a little extra cash off teammate DeShawn Stevenson. Arenas bet that he could make more college treys with one hand than Stevenson could with both. And Agent 0 came through again, hitting 73 of 100 one-handers while Stevenson started hot but couldn’t keep his cool and came up short as Arenas constantly taunted and distracted him. How much does a simple wager of this sort cost friends in the NBA? Just a meager $20,000; that should be enough to pay off the ice sculptures Gilbert had at his birthday party.

Sunday’s Player of the Day: Joe Johnson @ New Jersey 49 min, 37 pts (FG: 12-23, 3FG: 4-6, FT: 9-10), 5 reb, 8 ast, 1 blk

Monday’s Game to Watch: Chicago (28-20) @ Utah (31-17) Ben Gordon is smoking hot and the Bulls are rolling because of it as they have now won eight of their last 11 games. Chicago received a scare when Ben Wallace went down last week, but he seems to be back to his normal intimidating self again. The Jazz are undermanned without All-Star Carlos Boozer in the lineup but they still hold an impressive 17-6 record at home. The Mehmet Okur/Ben Wallace match-up should be interesting, considering Okur use to ride the pine behind Wallace in Detroit. While Gordon and Deron Williams will provide plenty of backcourt highlights.

Buzzer Beater: New Jersey just cannot get over the hump as they lost yet another game by two points or less. Two weeks ago, the Nets lost three games in a row by a single point each. Then it looked like they might have finally gotten on track when they beat Denver and Utah in back to back games. New Jersey even got a little break of their own when Vince Carter buried a buzzer beating 3-pointer to beat the Jazz by a point. But now, the Nets have lost three in a row that includes Sunday’s home loss by two points to the lowly Hawks. The only thing worse for New Jersey than all of the close losses are all of the blowout losses.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: The Top Ten


1. Same Ol’ Faces
The fans have spoken and what they said really wasn’t all that surprising. After all, the typical NBA consumer bases their vote on popularity instead of looking at legitimate value over the first half of the season. In the East it’s going to be Shaq, LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Gilbert Arenas. The West will be made up of Yao Ming, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady. The lineups could be tweaked, but that will happen about seven minutes into the game. At least the fans didn’t overlook Bosh as he remains isolated in the Bizarro World. But in the end, it really doesn’t matter who gets the starting nod. The coaches are going to give everyone some minutes and then play their hottest five during the fourth quarter.

2. Late Rally
Leave it to Gilbert Arenas to provide some last minute dramatics and be on the winning side of one of the closest voting margins to ever determine a starting spot on an All-Star team. Two weeks ago, Arenas was 214,460 votes behind New Jersey’s Vince Carter for one of the Eastern Conference’s guard spots. But in a matter of 14 days, Agent 0 closed the gap and just barely surpassed Carter by only 3,010 votes. This isn’t the first time that Vinsanity has lost his starting spot to a Wizard. In 2003, Carter gave up his role as a starter to fellow North Carolina alumni, Michael Jordan. The fact that Arenas has been talking smack about dropping “84 or 85” on Duke has to make the demotion a little easier to take for Carter.

3. 3rd Times Not a Charm
Three games, three points, three losses. The Nets have got to be getting sick of these last second defeats after dropping their third consecutive loss by a single point. New Jersey is in the middle of a five game, west coast road trip that has started with losses to the Kings, Warriors and Clippers. The first dagger was put in the Nets by Mike Bibby, followed by one of the best plays of the year when Baron Davis grabbed a board, pushed it up the floor and dished it to Monta Ellis who nailed the game winning 17 footer. Then, after making a big comeback, the Nets had their hearts ripped out once again on a Cuttino Mobley 3-pointer with under a second remaining. Jersey still has Denver and Utah left on the trip and they’ve lost Richard Jefferson to right ankle injury.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Ben Gordon vs. Dallas 44 min, 30 pts (FG: 12-23, 3FG: 0-1, FT: 6-6), 6 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl

Friday’s Game to Watch: Denver (22-17) @ Utah (28-15) Denver has been rolling lately, especially since Carmelo Anthony made his return. The Nuggets have won five games in a row and Utah will now get their chance to defend the newly formed superstar combo of Melo and A.I. The Jazz had won four in a row before losing to the Grizzlies in overtime on Wednesday, but Utah had some impressive individual performances in the loss. All of the Jazz frontcourt players ended with double-doubles, paced by Carlos Boozer who finished with 39 points and 15 rebounds. Not to be outdone by the big men, point guard Deron Williams dished out a career-high 21 assists.

Buzzer Beater: For a player and team to be so disgruntled with one another, the Clippers sure are turning down a lot of offers for Corey Maggette. The latest team to be snubbed by L.A. was the Heat as they attempted to piece together a three team deal that would land Maggette in Miami. But as it was with the Spurs, Warriors and Kings, the deal fell through. After all the drama that has occurred in the past few weeks, the latest rumor has the Clippers forgoing any trade opportunities and holding on to Maggette. That wouldn’t be bad for Los Angeles as Maggette is a valuable swing man but if he can’t get along with coach Mike Dunleavy then the Clips need to just pull the trigger before it’s too late.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Agent Zero calls his shot


1. He Said It
Like Babe Ruth, Muhammad Ali and Joe Namath did before him; Gilbert Arenas has called his shot. While it might not have the same dramatics as a Super Bowl guarantee, Agent 0 did prophetically predict he’d drop fity’ on the Trailblazers when they hook up on February 11. “Well, it’s not the most important, but that’s the game I’m going to say is my next 50-pointer,” wrote Arenas on his NBA.com blog. “Tune in. I think ESPN or TNT needs to pick that game up.” Arenas already has three 50 point games this season and that number could grow in the next three weeks. So far, Arenas has been able to back up any talking he might want to do as he has the Wizards on top of the Eastern Conference for the first time in a long time.

2. The Answer is Carmelo
Who said that Melo and A.I. couldn’t share the rock? Well, maybe it’s a bit early to call this experiment a success but Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson did manage to handle their scoring roles quite nicely in Melo’s return to action against Memphis. By halftime, both had reached double figures in scoring. Granted it’s only the Grizzlies, but Denver looked sharp with their new lineup. Anthony led the way, scoring a game-high 28 points, as Iverson played second fiddle with 23. But regardless of who gets the majority of the points, it’s going to be tough for any team to match up with a backcourt that can put up 51.

3. Hot Heat Streak
Miami was down 3-2 early against New York last night, but that would be the last time they trailed in the game. That’s because it was at that point that the Heat ripped off a franchise record 27-0 run, giving themselves a 26 point cushion at 29-3. That’s a pretty impressive feat in itself but then you realize that the Heat were missing both team superheroes as Superman and Flash nursed injuries on the bench. The Knicks missed ten consecutive shots over the miserable span; even the Miami faithful cheered when New York finally hit a field goal.

Monday’s Player of the Day: Deron Williams vs. Minnesota 38 min, 21 pts (FG: 9-16, 3FG: 1-3, FT: 2-2), 3 reb, 15 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Phoenix (32-8) @ Washington (24-16) They did it once, now let’s see if they can pull off another stunner. It was way back on December 22 when the Wizards went into Phoenix and promptly ended the Suns 15 game winning streak behind 54 points from Gilbert Arenas. Since then, the Suns have lost one game and are riding a 13 game winning streak into Washington, where the Wizards are 17-3. Both teams are sitting at the top of their conference and they currently rank one and two in points per game (Phoenix: 111.5 ppg; Washington: 107.5 ppg). If this game even closely resembles their first meeting, then it’s definitely must see T.V.

Buzzer Beater: George Karl appears to think that Carmelo Anthony’s punishment was a bit severe after Kevin Garnett’s actions got the former M.V.P. a mere one game suspension. Karl references how similar the two incidents were, except for the fact that Melo’s punch landed. Sure, Karl has to stick up for his players but, Hello!, one situation ended with a some pushing and trash talk while the other ended with superstar sucker punches and players spilling into the crowd. Image is everything in today’s NBA. If you make the league look bad, David Stern will make you pay.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Michigan’s New Fab Five


1. Home Sweet Home
It took 14 seasons as Chris Webber spent time with four different teams before he finally made his way home. C-Webb will clear waivers today at 2:00 p.m. ET and could possibly be signed by the Pistons later in the day. The last time Detroit brought in a malcontent player it worked out all right as Rasheed Wallace helped bring a title to the Motor City. And just like Sheed in 2004, Webber could be the missing piece that propels the Pistons through the Eastern Conference and into The Finals. But Webber’s presence didn’t help his future teammates any when he sat in the crowd during yesterday’s overtime loss to the Timberwolves.

2. Undercover Brother
In typical super-spy fashion, Agent 0 easily made his way through all the barriers put in his way en route to calmly taking out the bad guy right before he got away. With 48 points already in his back pocket, Agent 0 waited for the most dramatic moment in the game to take his total over 50 for the third time this season; and with the final buzzer sounding, a 24 foot three-pointer swished through the net. His name is Arenas. Gilbert Arenas. But to the 15,524 in attendance at the MCI Center for the 114-111 win over the Jazz, he was simply referred to as “M.V.P.” While his mission of bringing a championship to Washington might seem impossible, Arenas has been achieving the unbelievable all season long. The only other person to score 51 points in that building was codenamed Air, and yesterday marked the seventh time Arenas has put up over 40 points.

3. Synthetic Ball on the Rebound
It took two months, but the players finally convinced David Stern to replace the old new ball with the new old ball (???). However, like cockroaches, just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there. All teams in the league were told to keep at least two dozen of the synthetic balls on hand, leaving the door open to the idea that Stern might be looking to bring the ball back at some point. But it will probably take a different form before hitting arena floors across the Association. Looks like Spalding and the NBA have actually decided to question a number of players before attempting to make the next version of the composite ball. Brilliant!!

Monday’s Player of the Day: Gilbert Arenas vs. Utah 41 min, 51 pts (FG: 14-29, 3FG: 7-12, FT: 16-17), 3 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl

Tuesdays’ Game to Watch: Houston (25-13) @ Dallas (31-8) Dallas is really good, but unfortunately for the Rockets they’re even better at home. The Mavs are 17-3 when playing in Dallas as they hope to make Houston the next victim in a long line of fallen opponents. But Houston is no pushover simply because Yao Ming isn’t in the lineup. Behind Tracy McGrady’s high scoring performances, the Rockets, like the Mavericks, are riding a four game winning streak into the Texas showdown. And 40 year old Dikembe Mutombo is pulling down rebounds like a spry Denver rookie from 1992.

Buzzer Beater: Congratulations are in order for the Atlanta Hawks. This once proud franchise is now reduced to celebrating the rare occurrences of back to back wins. Following a shocking defeat of Detroit on Friday, the Hawks pulled out a close win over an equally pathetic Boston club on M.L.K. Day. This marks the first time since early in November that Atlanta can claim a two game win streak. Now, losing streaks on the other hand are much more common for the Hawks as they have already amassed five such marks. “Welcome to Atlanta where the playas play”? Well, it’s not exactly like Ludacris makes it sound.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Washington’s Wizard


1. Accolades and Injuries
Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas was named the Eastern Conference player of the month for his performances during December. Arenas averaged a league high 34.1 points and scored 30 or more in 12 of 16 games, including a career-high 60 point game and a 54 point game. Unfortunately, the Wizards might have to play without their star after he injured his shoulder on Saturday in a game versus Milwaukee. Tonight, the Bucks will travel to Washington where Arenas has excelled this season. Arenas has yet to miss a game this year and head coach Eddie Jordan sure hope this isn’t his first.

2. Francis Returns to Houston
It’s a new year, but some things just never change for the Knicks. Steve Francis’ knee has been a chronic problem since he arrived in New York and now he’s left the team to undergo rehabilitation on the plagued right knee in Houston. N.Y. knows how this story can go since it was just a year ago that Penny Hardaway left for rehab in Houston and never returned. Stevie Franchise will probably not return this season and he will likely never be the same player he once was. So, New York will be left holding his unmovable rights that include three years and $48.5 million left on his current contract. It’s just another bruising blow to Isiah Thomas as he attempts to turn around his team before the end of the year.

3. Hole Down Low
As shocking as it might sound, the Lakers are going to miss not have Kwame Brown in the lineup. Feels weird writing it, but it’s true. With Chris Mihm out for the year and Lamar Odom out until mid-month, the ankle injury to Brown couldn’t have come at a worse time. The Lakers are two games behind Phoenix in the Pacific Division and have a tough schedule ahead of them. Brown will never live up to the hype that he received as a number one draft pick but he is the Lakers best interior defender without Mihm around. But interior defense is obviously not L.A.’s number one concern. How could it be when Mihm is your most dominant enforcer?

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: Amare Stoudemire @ Chicago 36 min, 24 pts (FG: 10-20, FT: 4-4), 18 reb, 2 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk

Wednesday’s Game to Watch: San Antonio (23-9) @ Minnesota (14-15) San Antonio will take one of the leagues best road records into Minnesota as Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett add another chapter into their great rivalry. The former MVP’s continue to post impressive numbers as they lead their teams in points and rebounds, but the Timberwolves have lacked consistency as a team as they maintain the search for an elusive winning record. The Spurs, on the other hand, have been amongst the leagues elite for the entire season as Duncan’s supporting cast continues to grow and produce.

Buzzer Beater: Allen Iverson gave his old coach the cold shoulder when he ignored him before the game between the Nuggets and Sixers last night. Understandable considering the way Maurice Cheeks and owner Billie King handled the situation leading up to Iverson’s trade, but what’s up with Andre Miller blowing off George Karl. Surely he’s not upset that Karl traded him for one of the greatest players in the history of the game. There was only one untouchable player on the Nuggets and his name was Anthony, not Andre. Get over yourself Miller.

Categories
NFL General

Odds and Ends: What? No Christian Slater in the booth?



I have friends who are A-listers

The lead producer of Monday Night Football has admitted that perhaps having “B-listers” in the booth for Monday Night Football was a mistake this year and points specifically to Christian Slater. If you were lucky enough to miss Christian Slater promoting a movie during the Seahawks-Raiders game, well, it was extremely painful. When asked whether he was a football fan by Joe Theisman, he replied, “I have friends who are football fans.” Ummm… ok. So next year, ESPN will no longer have any B-list celebs in the booth during games, although there will be plenty of A-list celebs promoting Disney movies.

In other news…

[Call of the Green Monster]: To Welcome Matsuzaka, Manny Plans to Learn “Chinese”

[NBA.com]: Gilbert Arenas responds to Kobe

[Fox News]: Prosecutors drop rape charges against Duke lacrosse players (still face kidnapping and sexual offense chargers)

[TSN.ca]: NHL is considering realigning to 4 divisions

[Newsnet5]: Personal Info On Dozens Of Ballplayers Taken From Dumpster

[Basketbawful]: Whatever happened to Armon Gilliam and his gumby haircut

[Steroid Nation]: Fighter submits a sample of “non-human urine or urine from a dead human being”