You ever feel like ditching your humdrum life to see if you can catch on with a semi-pro team in the Czech Republic? This guy did it, and wrote a book about it.
For years, the question has been: How can you keep Rasheed Wallace from mixing it up with the referees? The answer might be in a curry-flavored candy bar.
About the 0:44 mark of this video, you'll hear a guy say "OWWWW .... yeeee ha ha ha" in a way that seems to encompass how most of Portland is feeling about Rudy Fernandez right now. Sergio Rodriguez and Rudy Fernandez have a history together (here it is in video) and it shows. And Dave from BlazersEdge on Greg Oden: "I assume that the minute he stepped on the court everybody saw the difference between Greg Oden and not just everybody else in the game, but pretty much everybody else on the planet. I mean, 'RAAAAAWWWR! GREG SMASH NOW!' What? Huh? Say, you're pretty hu& 'YOU MOVE NOW! GREG DUNK BIG!' Oh sorry ... I was standing in your way there. My mistake. (I don't mean to convey any limited conversational skills on Greg's part ... there just aren't polite words and whole sentences for what he does out there. It's primal.) His offense obviously needs some work, but then again what's wrong with a back-down dribble, a spin, or an offensive rebound and then a monster slam? Sounds good to me. The commentators hit it on the head when they said even with Greg's limited repertoire so far you'll pretty much have to double team him just to keep him from taking whatever he wants. That's going to be a huge key to Portland's offense (and a good reason for those distance shooters to hit). You see already how he can catch the ball softly and pass. Start drooling. Once he gets a little jump hook going you can say bye-bye to your defensive plans. In the meantime he needs to take a page out of Shaq's book and simply run down the court and take position about three feet from the hoop on offense. No fancy moves necessary. Catch, pivot, slam, hear the crowd roar (or complain, depending on the venue)."
Best name in basketball, and it's not close: Steeve Ho You Fat. He's playing in France. Part of my brain refuses to belive this is real. But it appears it is.
Losing P-I-G to Dominique Wilkins. But if it had been a competition to set the best pick, 'Nique would have been chopped liver to "Nick the Pick."
Dan Labbe of Cleveland.com says Anderson Varejao is one of those energy players whose contributions really don't show up in the box score (I'm hoping that one day soon we'll figure out some stats where his contributions really do show up reliably. That's the kind of stuff stat geeks are working on these days.): "Andy's not about numbers. In fact, last season when he seemed to focus more on scoring and putting up numbers, he had a poor season. Fans and media alike cringed when he tried to put the ball on the floor or shoot a 15-foot jump shot. But at the same time, it was Varejao who was vital to the Cavs dragging Detroit to seven games in 2006 and beating them in 2007. And his defense on Kevin Garnett in last season's playoffs was, at times, outstanding. Andy's also the player that, at least before his holdout and injured ankle, played important fourth quarter minutes for Mike Brown when he would give LeBron James the ball late in games and spread the floor with shooters. What makes Andy so valuable is that he is, in essence, an energy player. And he's good at it. His best offensive skills are putbacks and pick-and-rolls with James that seem as uncoordinated as they are effective, complete with flopping hair and arms flailing and often resulting in a basket or a foul. When he goes against emotional bigs like Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace he gets under their skin. He flops, gets a call and smiles all the way down the floor as if he knows he just duped the officials. He's the type of player that makes opponents more and more angry the longer they go against him because he's not better than them but by playing cheap - flopping, swinging elbows, inciting the crowd - he's getting the better of them - and loving it. Not just anyone can do that. It takes a certain temperament and level of self-control. And on top of that, he's only 26. This will be his fourth season and he definitely can get better. He's changing his shooting form and working on his offensive game. When he was given the opportunity to start in place of Zydrunas Ilgauskas back in 2007 for a few nights, he excelled on the glass."
Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune with a funny note from the Laker/Jazz preseason game: "[Kobe] Bryant and Pau Gasol called out to the press table asking where Kyrylo Fesenko was from and then whether he played for the Ukrainian national team." I can only imagine it's a good sign for your career if Kobe Bryant wants a brochure on you.
Zack from 3 Shades of Blue on the Grizzlies first preseason game: "Watching warmups closely, Rudy [Gay] has this sense about him. This is his team. He is the leader, the star player. Unlike before, where there was guys like Miller or Damon or Pau that played that role, Rudy is now the guy. Us Griz fans take that for granted I think. But just think back to him falling asleep on the bench during the NCAA tourney and it really is a remarkable transformation. Rudy is one of ~30 Franchise Players in the NBA. Even in warmups, he knows it and is embracing the role. ... [Hamed] Haddadi on the other hand was bad. Not surprising though. Griz fans shouldn't expect much contribution from the Iranian rookie this year. ... O.J Mayo looked mediocre. Wasn't involved in the offense much. Sweet stroke on his mid range jumper. Showed flashes, but Iavaroni and the Griz have to get the ball out of Conley and Lowry's hands and into Mayo's. Wasn't quite there on defense either and it got him into foul trouble."
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