Tag: chris bosh

Categories
General Sports

Odds and Ends: The 12 Highest Earning Hotties

What she no longer has in age or
looks, she makes up for with money

The only thing sexier than a beautiful babe is a rich, beautiful babe. After all, what good is having a bombshell girlfriend if she can’t take you out on expensive dates and buy you nice things? So, for all you bachelors out there, here’s a list of The 12 Highest Earning Hotties on Earth. You can thank WallStreetFighter.com.

12. Adriana Lima – $6 Million
11.Kate Moss – $9 Million
10.Jennifer Aniston – $14 Million
9.Tyra Banks – $18 Million
8.Angelina Jolie – $20 Million
7.Maria Sharapova – $23 Million
6.Gwen Stefani – $26 Million
5.Beyonce – $27 Million
4.Nicole Kidman – $28 Million
3.Gisele Bundchen – $33 Million
2.Shakira – $38 Million
1.Madonna – $72 Million

What?? No Oprah??

In other news…

[ChicagoSports.com]: Another classic sports star mug shot

[Larry Brown Sports]: So far, the Chris Bosh curse has been unsuccessful in Beantown

[DrunkAthlete.com]: Allen Iverson does his best Vince Young impersonation

[MopUpDuty.com]: Sidney Ponson Career Screwup #117

[Bugs & Cranks]: Ball girl’s occupational hazard No. 12: Falling fat dudes

[YouTube]: So that’s why the officiating has been horrible through the first two games of the NBA Finals

[Awful Announcing]: Shaq steals the show at the Belmont Stakes

[Sportaphile.com]: Wicked first round knockout by Paul Williams

[ShackNews.com]: From Wii Fit to Wii Stupid

[Undrafted Free Agent]: Yet another reason kickers get no respect

And finally, extremely funny or extremely disturbing? You decide.


http://view.break.com/514743 – Watch more free videos

Categories
San Antonio Spurs

Around the Rim: Spurs take a pounding and a 2-0 lead


1. Suns set in second half
No lead is safe for Phoenix. For the second consecutive game, the Spurs erased an early double-digit deficit and went on to upset the Suns. On Tuesday, Tony Parker tallied 32 points and Manu Ginobili added 29, chipping away a 14-point Phoenix lead before grabbing a 2-0 series lead by winning 102-96. The Suns owned a nine-point advantage after the first quarter and a seven-point lead at halftime, but they could only produce 35 points (11 in the third quarter) over the final 24 minutes. The Spurs didn’t need another 40-point outing out of their MVP with Parker and Ginobili firing on all cylinders, but Tim Duncan still produced, scoring 18 points to go with 17 rebounds and three blocks. The Suns are probably feeling pretty low after losing the pair of heartbreakers, but the reality is the Spurs simply did what they were supposed to which is win at home. Sure, Phoenix would like to have stolen homecourt advantage early on, but as long as they win in the desert then they’ll still have a shot at the series. However, the Suns can not allow San Antonio to grab Game 3 and put a strangle hold on the series. You can expect Phoenix to improve on its home floor which is bad news for SA. Amare Stoudemire was superb again in Game 2, scoring from everywhere on the floor to the tune of 33 points while Shaquille O’Neal chipped in 19 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. Steve Nash also had a double-double with 23 points and 10 assists.

2. Chris Paul ball

For the Mavericks, it was another playoff game and another tough pill to swallow. The disappointments continue to mount for Dallas after they fell into a two-game hole when Chris Paul and his Hornets set a new tem single-game record for total points in a playoff contest, whooping the Mavs 127-103 on Tuesday. Paul might stand just six feet tall, but he is overshadowing everyone else in this series. After posting 35 points and 10 assists in Game 1, Paul somehow upped his effort and dropped 32 and a franchise playoff-record 17 assists in the second game, becoming the first player to ever record 30 points, 10 assists and three steals in consecutive postseason games, which just happen to be the first two playoff games of his career. New Orleans as a team set playoff records with 39 points in the first quarter, 67 points in the first half and most treys made by a team with 10. The series now shifts to Big D where the Mavericks need some serious home cooking to get back into things. In Game 2, all five Hornets scored at least 10 points with Paul, David West (27 pts) and Peja Stojakovic (22 pts) all scoring at least 20 points.

3. Mr. 20-20
Dwight Howard loves the numbers two and zero. The youngster posted his second 20-point, 20-rebound game in as many playoff games, becoming the first player since Kevin Garnett in 2004 to pull off the feat. Of course, the most important reason he likes the digits is because with a slim 104-103 win over Toronto last night Orlando took a 2-0 lead in the series. The Raptors would not die on Tuesday, led by Chris Bosh they had an opportunity to steal one on the road, but Bosh missed a last-second jumper that could have won the game. Bosh dominated the game for his team, leading Toronto in all major statistics with 29 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block. But this series has belonged to Howard who will now take his show on the road where the Raptors are a much more impressive team, owning a 25-16 record in Toronto.

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: Chris Paul vs. Dallas 39 min, 32 pts (FG: 10-16, 3FG: 0-2, FT: 12-14), 5 reb, 17 ast, 3 stl

Buzzer Beater: Kevin Garnett ran away defensive player of the year honors, a feat he hopes to repeat when it comes time to hand out the MVP hardware. Garnett finished with 90 of 124 first-place votes and finished with a total of 493 points, beating out Denver’s Marcus Camby by a full 315 points. The Rockets Shane Battier finished with the bronze, totaling 11 first-place votes and 175 points overall. The Celtics were the second best defensive team in the league, holding opponents to just 90.3 points per game and a NBA-best 41.9 percent shooting from the field. And there’s no doubt Garnett is the driving force behind the dedication to D. Along with 18.8 points, Garnett averaged 9.2 rebounds (7.3 defensive), 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.

Categories
Toronto Raptors

Chris Bosh is just like the rest of us, he hates Stephen A. Smith


Not a whole lot gets under the skin of Toronto’s twinkling star Chris Bosh. He’s usually a fun-loving, joke-cracking kind of guy who doesn’t seem to have a problem chuckling at himself or his good friend Bubba, but even the nearly seven-footer has his breaking points; like being compared to Manute Bol.

Chris Bosh has lashed out at a “classless” American broadcaster he feels crossed the line in a personal attack.

Stephen A. Smith, a prominent ESPN analyst known for his loud delivery and over-the-top commentary, compared Bosh to former NBAer Manute Bol on Friday, chastising the Raptor all-star for playing soft and being unable to lead his team to any significant level of success. The comments about the team and the game aren’t what irked Bosh, it was dragging in the name of Bol, a 7-foot-6 beanpole, who was more an oddity than a factor in his career.

“If you have respect for someone, you expect that same respect back,” Bosh said yesterday. “If you’re a classless person like that, I mean, I guess that shows how you are, what kind of person you really are.

“If you criticize basketball, criticize the game, criticize the team but don’t do anything personal.”

But Bosh said he doesn’t need to use Smith’s comments to get him more motivated for the series against the Orlando Magic.

“I don’t have to prove anything to that guy, plain and simple,” said Bosh. “If that’s what he wants to do, that’s what he’s going to do. If that’s what makes him happy, to try to bring other people down, good for him.

“If LeBron (James) wasn’t doing so well, he’d probably dog him, too. If Dwight (Howard) wasn’t averaging 20 and 10, he’d talk bad about him.”

It’s true, S.A.S. probably would be bashing Howard if he wasn’t posting double-doubles like a man possessed. But we wouldn’t recommend it. Heck, even good friend and 6-foot-10, 230-pound freak of nature Bosh wouldn’t recommend getting into a scuffle with the gigantic Howard.

Howard said the two would “wrestle” every now and then but Bosh wants no part of recalling any physical confrontation.

“I wouldn’t say that,” said Bosh. “I might grab him and mess with him, but as soon as he gets for real, I back off. He’s too strong.”

Links:

[TheStar.com]: Bosh takes a shot at ESPN’s Smith

Categories
Phoenix Suns

Around the Rim: Big time battle in the Lone Star State


1. Suns rise to the occasion
With 12 minutes left in the game, San Antonio looked like they might once again crush the hopes of the Suns, but Shaquille O’Neal and Steve Nash didn’t allow that to happen. Phoenix ran out of SA with a 96-79 victory after outscoring the Spurs 24-11 in the fourth quarter. Shaq recorded half of his 16 points in the period and two-time MVP Nash scored eight of his 12 points (10 ast) to win the season-series 3-1. The Suns are still sitting in sixth place, but with the victory they are now just ½ a game away from catching San Antonio, currently second, in the standings. As always, the bad blood was flowing throughout the contest, culminating in the furious fourth quarter when Bruce Bowen sent a forearm into the chest of Amare Stoudemire as the Suns forward set a pick at halfcourt. Guess who got called dirty after the game.

Bruce came elbow first. Elbowed me right in my rib cage,” Stoudemire said. “You know, definitely wasn’t a basketball play on his part and I reacted. I definitely didn’t appreciate it. So, I let him know about it.

2. Hornets romp the T-Wolves

The Hornets needed a win over Minnesota in order to maintain their lead over the rest of the West and, of course, they got it. Using a 41-point, third-quarter outburst, followed by 33 points in the fourth, New Orleans cruised to a 122-90 victory, grabbing its team-best 55th win. Chris Paul was back to his old tricks, posting 19 points and 16 assists while Peja Stojakovic finished with 24 and David West scored 22. It’s starting to look more and more like the Hornets are really going to grab the top seed in the West after missing the second season entirely last year. Byron Scott won’t get the coach of the year award over Doc Rivers this season, but the guy has got to get some credit for his abilities. He helped turn around the Nets when he was there and he’s shocked the world this season by taking his Bugs from worst to first.

3. Wiz continues to improve
Boston doesn’t have much to play for as the season comes to a close, but Washington certainly does. Thanks to a 109-95 home floor victory, Washington is now just two games behind a struggling Cleveland squad. The Wizards would love to steal homecourt advantage in the playoffs away from the Cavs and surprise the league with a deep run. It might sound crazy, but with a healthy roster and a raucous crowd, the Wiz could be in line for some a serious magic act. Antawn Jamison double-doubled with 27 points and 11 rebounds while Caron Butler scored 13 to go with 10 assists. Gilbert Arenas came off the bench to post 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting. The Celtics got 63 points out of their Big Three, but couldn’t recover from a 27-18 spanking in the third quarter.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Chris Bosh vs. Milwaukee 40 min, 32 pts (FG: 11-18, 3FG: 1-2, FT: 9-11), 11 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 4 blk

Thursday’s Game to Watch: Denver (47-13) @ Golden State (47-31)
Sure, Utah and Dallas are hooking it up in a battle of the West’s big boys, but the big game tonight comes from the worst of the conference’s best. The Nuggets and Warriors are sporting identical records, but thanks to a tiebreaker, the Nuggets are currently holding the last playoff spot. Of course, that might not last long because Denver isn’t nearly as good on the road (16-23) as they are at home (31-8). And we all know what an overwhelming atmosphere Golden State can be after watching the crowds go wild in last year’s postseason. If you want a preview of playoff intensity then this is the place to be.

Buzzer Beater: In the “no duh!” moment of the day, O.J. Mayo declared that he is forgoing the remainder of his eligibility at USC in order to go pro. Mayo is expected to go in the first 10 picks and there’s no doubt that he will make some sorry team very, very happy. The freshman led the Trojans to a first round defeat at the hands of fellow phenomenal freshman Michael Beasley and his Wildcats by posting team-highs of 20.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Unlike his college coach, we should expect big things from Mayo in the NBA.

This comes as no surprise,” coach Tim Floyd said in the statement. “We are appreciative of everything O.J. did for all of us the year he was with us. We wish him well. I have no doubt that he will be a great professional.

Categories
Cleveland Cavaliers

Around the Rim: It’s a James thang


1. Another All-Star spectacular
As usual, the All-Star game was a can-you-top-this contest for most of three quarters before the players’ pride kicked in and they delivered a heck of a finish. The East led by six points after one, nine after two and 13 following the three quarters, but then the West put together a 15-4 run to open the final period, taking its first lead of the game at 112-110 on a Dirk Nowitzki layup with 6:52 remaining. The remainder of the game was back and forth until the East finally edged out a 134-128 victory in the waning moments. LeBron James slammed, jammed, rebounder and dished his way to the second All-Star MVP award of his career, barely missing a triple-double in the process [see below].

The game was missing some serious glitz as names like Kevin Garnett, Caron Butler, Tracy McGrady and Shaquille O’Neal were absent from the lineups, in addition to Kobe Bryant’s three minute performance, but there were still some straight ballers lighting it up in Nawlins. For the victorious East, Ray Allen came off the bench to score a game-high 28 points on 5-of-9 from behind the arc. Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade scored 14 apiece as Jason Kidd kicked out 10 dimes and Dwight Howard was perfect from the field (7-7) for 16 points and nine rebounds.

For the West, it was the bench that did most of the damage, combining for 94 points. Carmelo Anthony was the only starter to reach double-figure scoring, netting 18 points to match Brandon Roy and Amare Stoudemire for team-high scoring honors. Chris Paul went nuts in his home arena, scoring 16 points to go with 14 assists and four steals while Carlos Boozer produced a double-double of his own with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

2. Dwight’s all right

If you missed the Sprite Slam Dunk contest then shame on you. It was as plain as the chiseled shoulders on his frame that Dwight Howard was going to make the judges pay for robbing him last year and he did. Howard put together the sickest routine of dunks since Vince Carter hung on the rim by his elbow. The man-child put in a dunk off the back of the backboard before donning a Super Man cape and literally flying to the title. But the cherry on top of the sundae came when he decided to play volleyball off the glass en route to a wicked powerful throw down. All in all, we hope your DVR was rolling because it was a slam jam performance for the ages. While Howard ran away with the trophy, Gerald Green took home the ingenuity award by blowing out a candle on a cupcake set atop the rim before throwing down a two-hander.

3. Second trophy is three times as nice
Jason Kapono shot the lights out in the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout, successfully defending his title by scoring 25 points to tie Mark Price (1986) for the all-time record. It was a dazzling display by the champ as he left Daniel Gibson (17 pts) and Dirk Nowitzki (14 pts) in his dust during the final round. Peja Stojakovic was the last player to earn back-to-back honors when he took the title in 2002 and then again in 2003. The Raptors are really hoping Kapono’s hot hand stays afire as they head down the final leg of the regular season.

2008 All-Star MVP: LeBron James vs. Western Conference All-Stars 30 min, 27 pts (FG: 12-22, 3FG: 2-7, FT: 1-1), 8 reb, 9 ast, 2 stl, 2 blk

Buzzer Beater: Believe it or not, but there was actually some business going on during the pleasures of the All-Star break. Sacramento sent Mike Bibby to Atlanta for Anthony Johnson, Shelden Williams, Tyronn Lue, Lorenzen Wright and a 2008 second-rounder. The Hawks gave up a lot, but they’re hoping the move provides the spark and veteran leadership that will take them deep into the playoffs. There’s no doubt that the trio of Bibby, Joe Johnson and Josh Smith will be a formidable one that could turn into a serious contender once they have time to gel.

Categories
Toronto Raptors

Around the Rim: Bosh extinguishes the Blaze


1. He’s got our vote
Chris Bosh is determined to make it to New Orleans for this year’s All-Star Game. On Friday against the Knicks, Bosh scored 40 points inside Madison Square Garden to go with 11 rebounds and a road win for his Raps. On Sunday afternoon, Bosh was equally impressive, scoring 38 points and grabbing 14 rebounds as he lead Toronto past Portland in double-overtime, 116-109. The defeat was just the second in 19 games for the Blazers who began a seven-game road trip in Toronto and next head to New Jersey tonight. Brandon Roy was excellent in defeat (33 pts, 10 ast, 5 reb) and like Bosh, should be a coaches’ decision for his respective All-Start roster.

2. Pistons not firing on all cylinders

There is nothing worse than losing to the Knicks; unless it’s losing to the Knicks by 24 and only managing to score 65 points. Believe it or not, but that was the fate of the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. And it wasn’t just bad for the Bad Boys, it was downright horrific, like something from a Rob Zombie flick. The Pistons fell to New York 89-65, just barely avoiding setting the franchise record for futility which currently stands at 64 points, a two-point victory over Utah in 2005. Detroit shot 23-of-75 from the field against the Knicks while managing just 24 points in the second and third quarters combined.

3. Another win away from the Hive
Winning on the road has become New Orleans’ new calling card. Houston received the message loud and clear on Sunday when Chris Paul hit four crucial, late-game free throws to lock-up a Nawlins win in Houston, 87-82. The Hornets are now 15-5 away from home, already matching last year’s record. While Paul (19 pts, 11 ast) made the game-clinching shots, the Hornets were led offensively by David West’s 26 points. Yao Ming had another monstrous effort with 30 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks, but the Rockets still miss the scoring ability of Tracy McGrady who missed his 10th game with a knee injury. Luckily for Houston, T-Mac is expected to return to the lineup on Saturday when San Antonio comes to town.

Sunday’s Player of the Day: Chris Bosh vs. Portland 55 min, 38 pts (FG: 15-27, FT: 8-10), 14 reb, 2 ast, 3 blk

Monday’s Game to Watch: Washington (19-16) @ Boston (30-5)
Beating Boston nowadays is quite an accomplishment. Washington already knows how it feels to knock off the league’s best after winning in Washington 85-78 on Saturday and if the Wiz can do it again, they will become the only team to defeat Boston in consecutive games this year. Tonight the game will be played in the Celtics’ gym where they own a 16-2 record, best in the NBA. The Wizards haven’t won three consecutive games since mid December, but a win tonight could propel them on a nice streak as they next play a home-and-home with New York.

Buzzer Beater: Despite being a man on the court, LeBron James is still just a kid a heart and he proved his immaturity on his 23rd birthday. On Dec. 30, LBJ was ticketed by the Ohio State Highway Patrol for speeding. The King was just a little over the posted limit of 65 as he was clocked doing 101 mph on Interstate 71. His attorney entered a not guilty plea on Tuesday and a hearing is set for Feb. 11. Hey, it might be dumb, but at least he wasn’t carrying a loaded firearm in the car, like some other speeding ballers. You know who you are Sebastian Telfair.

Categories
Toronto Raptors

Give America what it needs, vote for Chris W. Bosh in ’08

You know Chris Bosh as rebound-grabbing, slam dunk-delivering, shot-blocking machine. Needless to say, some of you have already bubbled in his name on the 2008 ballot as an Eastern Conference All-Star. Well, Mr. Bosh appreciates all your recent support. And for all the undecideds, Chris W. is here to assure you that if you vote for Bosh, your vote will not be cast in vain.

Please America, don’t make W. beg. “For the love of god, just let the boy play in the All-Star game!!!”

Links:

[Chris-Bosh.com]: Home

Categories
LA Lakers

Around the Rim: The showdown repeated beatdown in Tinseltown


1. The purple and gold is getting old for GS
The Lakers and Warriors came into Sunday’s game tied for second place in the Pacific Division, but Kobe Bryant exploded in the second half to ensure the tie would break in LA’s favor. Bryant scored 20 of his game-high 28 points in the final two quarters and the Lakers won their third consecutive game, 123-113. Kobe also dished out a season-high eight assists as six other Lakers finished with double-digit points. Andrew Bynum tied his career-high, scoring 20 points to go along with 11 boards and five blocked shots as Los Angeles defeated the Warriors for the ninth consecutive time and the 14th time out of 15 tries. After the game, a disappointed Baron Davis hit the nail on the head.

They’re a big team, and we just got outhustled.

“Somebody for them is always having a career game against us.

Look on the bright side though, B. You guys sure can beat up on the Mavericks.

2. World’s Greatest Bosh

Chris Bosh missed five games with a strained groin and the Raptors proceeded to lose three of those games. Unfortunately for Houston, they had to face a healthy Bosh and ended up dropping their third game in five tries. Bosh was solid in his return, scoring 21 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking four shots. Equally important to the 93-80 home victory for Toronto was their bench production, totaling 45 points and 23 rebounds. For Houston, Tracy McGrady led his squad offensively with 23 points while Carl Landry, playing in just his second career game, led the team in rebounds with seven. We don’t know how on earth a 6-foot-7 rookie outrebounds Yao Ming (six rebounds) in just 10 minutes of action, but it happened. Of course, Landry also picked up five fouls in those 10 minutes while Yao had just one in 38 minutes. But, c’mon, six boards?! He does know he’s 7-foot-6 and weighs over 300 pounds, right?

3. Even slumpbusters need slumpbusters sometimes
There’s no doubt that when a team hits a slump, they start scanning for the Clippers on their schedule. Usually, that’s an easy win. However, when you’re the Miami Heat, there is no such thing as an easy win. It took 35 points and 10 assists from Dwyane Wade, but the Heat escaped Los Angeles with a 100-94 victory, the 1,200th of Pat Riley’s career. But with a 5-15 record, there was probably no champagne corks popping in the locker room celebrating the occasion. After demanding he receive the ball more, Shaquille O’Neal finished with eight points on eight attempts and was thoroughly outplayed by the Clippers’ Chris Kaman (14 pts, 12 reb). Miami hasn’t won consecutive games yet this year and don’t expect this win to trigger a streak either because the Heat will likely get burnt by the Suns tonight.

Sunday’s Player of the Day: Brandon Roy vs. Milwaukee 45 min, 26 pts (FG: 11-13, FT: 4-4), 8 reb, 9 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Monday’s Game to Watch: Atlanta (9-10) @ Orlando (16-5)
A few years ago you would have been committed for saying that Orlando and Atlanta were the top two teams in the Southeast Division and playoff bound. Nowadays you can get away with it because Dwight Howard is manning the middle in the Magic Kingdom and the hatchling Hawks are beginning to spread their wings. In addition to having four double-digit scorers, led by Joe Johnson’s 20.5 points per game, Atlanta also possesses the league’s top shot blocker in Josh Smith who is getting over three swats a contest (3.56 bpg). Orlando has slowed down a bit after jumping out to a 9-2 start, but Howard seems to be just heating up. At just 22 years old, the man child has upped his scoring average from 17.6 last year to 23.5 this year and currently ranks first in the league in rebounds (15.0 rpg), second in field goal percentage (61.43%) and fourth in blocks (2.90 bpg).

Buzzer Beater: In case you missed it on Saturday, the Timberwolves upset the Suns. Yes, the Timberwolves. Al Jefferson had a huge coming out party, racking up 32 points and 20 rebounds. Needless to say, the T-Wolves were pretty stoked.

Definitely this season, it’s the biggest of all three of our victories,” Marko Jaric said.

Unfortunately for Marko and the Wolves, he could be saying the same exact thing at the end of the season.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Sun burned


1. Another Mavs’ streak bites the dust
The last time the Mavs and Suns got together it was an instant classic, but the rematch didn’t quite have the same pizzazz. Dallas got spanked by 22, 126-104, as Phoenix shot 65 percent for the game and Steve Nash had another great game against his former club. The teams are 2-2 in the season series and the way it appears it’s going to shake out the two won’t be meeting up again unless they make it to the Western Conference finals. But Dallas shouldn’t take the loss too hard because they can still claim an impressive 61-8 record since beginning the season with a four game losing streak, and they are expected to sign veteran big man Kevin Willis to a 10-day contract today. That’s a great move because you can never have too many big bodies when it comes time to bang it out with the other power teams in the West.

2. Broken hand, broken heart

The Wizards win over the Bucks, coupled with a Miami loss to Detroit yesterday gave Washington a ½ game lead over the Heat in the Southeast Division. But the results of the day aren’t that great; after all, Washington lost their second best player with a broken hand which will keep him sidelined for what will most likely be the remainder of the year. Even if the Wiz get home court advantage in the playoffs, the loss of Caron Butler leaves Washington as a one man show with the hopes of the franchise riding solely on the shoulders of Gilbert Arenas. If the post season began today Agent 0, I mean the Wizards would be facing the Bulls in the first round. Good luck with that one.

3. It’s so good to be back
Toronto fans have known that this day was coming for some time now, but yesterday their dreams became a reality as the Raptors locked up a post season berth for the first time in five years. As usual, it was Chris Bosh who led the way by scoring 24 points and pulling down 16 rebounds in the 107-94 victory over the Bobcats. Right now Toronto has the third seed in the East which would place them against a hot Heat team that will be welcoming D-Wade back to practice today. So, the Raptors might want to enjoy this feeling while it lasts because it could be a very quick return to the playoffs, perhaps only a four or five game stay.

Sunday’s Player of the Day: Yao Ming vs. Utah 40 min, 35 pts (FG: 11-24, FT: 13-15), 16 reb, 4 blk

Monday’s Game to Watch: Sorry, no games on the schedule for today. But do you really want to watch the pros play tonight anyway?

Buzzer Beater: Jordan Farmar became the first player to ever to pull off a head scratching feat in the NBA, and it wasn’t going 2-for-5 from the field for four points. However, Farmar did become the first player to play a game in a Development League and the NBA in the same day. Before joining the Lakers for a contest against the Kings in LA, Farmar scored 18 points to go along with six assists and three steals for the Los Angeles D-Fenders. While the pay isn’t as good, Farmar had to enjoy racking up 41 minutes and jacking up 16 shots in the contest. That’s the closest he’ll ever get to being like his MVP candidate teammate.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Artest gets arraigned


1. What did the five fingers say to the face?
It’s all fun and games for Ron Artest while he’s slapping his wife but now Ron Ron is facing the potential punishment for his lack of anger management. Artest will be arraigned today on charges of battery and corporal injury to a spouse, false imprisonment and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime. That sucks for Artest because each charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in the slammer. Artest should shoot a text over to Stephen Jackson and get some tips on how he’s managed to avoid jail time after his strip club incident. But the NBA’s bad boy has had plenty of time to prepare for this day considering that sheriff’s have made the trip to Artest’s home five times since last August, and two of those responses involved some type of domestic disturbance. In fact, the Tru Warier has been involved with the law so frequently that he will be eligible for a limited edition Pacman Jones bobble-head with just three more arrests!

2. Kids in men’s clothing

Last night was another great battle between two of the league’s most promising big men in Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard but Toronto got more help when it counted and the Raptors ended up on top, 92-85. But back to the individual battle; while Howard had a respectable night with 17 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and three assists it just wasn’t enough to outdo his fellow Eastern Conference All-Star who racked up 34 points, 16 rebounds and a pair of swats. And TJ Ford didn’t help Orlando out any as he put up 16 points and 12 assists. This Toronto/Orlando rivalry is becoming must watch TV thanks to the new breed superstars. The last time these teams hooked up on Feb. 7, Bosh had a career-high 41 points while Howard had a career-high night of his own with 32 points on 13-for-14 shooting.

3. Three down, 13 to go
With an easy victory over the slumping Pacers last night, the Spurs became the third team to lock up a playoff spot. The 90-72 win couldn’t have come at a better time for San Antonio who went on a two-game losing skid after winning a season-high 13 consecutive games prior to that. Tim Duncan beginning to look very spry with the post season approaching as he torched Indiana for 27 points on 11-of-16 shooting. He even hit five of his eight free throws and for Timmy, that’s pretty darn good. The Spurs have now joined Phoenix and Dallas in the post season with Utah and Houston set to guarantee their slot any day now. It’s really only a matter of which teams grab the final three spots and secure their series with one of the major players in the West.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Gilbert Arenas @ Seattle 38 min, 42 pts (FG: 13-24, 3FG: 6-12, FT: 10-12), 4 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Thursday’s Game to Watch: Los Angeles Lakers (35-32) @ Memphis (17-51) It’s really hard not to put Detroit at Houston as the game of the day but with the way Kobe Bryant has been stroking it lately you have got to tune in to see what he does next. And c’mon, it’s the Grizz; Bryant could be looking at a “double nickel” by the end of the third quarter if he’s feeling good. Should Kobe top 50 points he would become the first Laker to accomplish that feat since Elgin Baylor did it in December of 1962. That would be pretty freakin’ amazing considering that Kareem, Magic and Shaq have all worn the purple and gold. The Mamba has a two-game total of 115 points which is good for the third highest in the last 40 seasons. Only Michael Jordan and, well, Kobe Bryant have a higher total in two games after each managed to rack up 118 points. In other words, he’s hot.

Buzzer Beater: As pathetic as it sounds, the United States basketball team will have to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. If the red, white and blue is going to be involved in the Olympic experience they will have to start off by beating Venezuela in the Americas Tournament which will be held in Las Vegas from August 22 to September 2. Also in the same group as the US are Brazil, Canada and the US Virgin Islands. At least Greece isn’t in this tourney, because it was the Greeks that knocked Team USA out of contention for the championship round at the 2006 World Championship. And it was that loss that is now forcing the States to qualify before they can even get invited to the Olympics. As Charles Barkley would say, “Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson must be rollin’ over in their graves.”