The lovable Jail-Blazers + Bad Photoshop + E-Greetings = Timeless Comedy. Too bad most of the links are broken now. I hope someone still has an archive of the pictures.

Part 1 above

Part 2 below

http://www.columbian.com/weblogs/blazerbanter/2010/mar/13/interview-aldridge-on-positive-fans-the-future-his/

"I'm not going to name the brand of shoe it was [Ed. note: Woops!], but it has been banned from our locker room and the guys aren't allowed to wear it," Kander said. "These shoes had taken most of the support out of the sides and it was a lighter shoe. Most basketball shoes weigh between 1.4 and 1.7 pounds."

"These shoes were weighing 0.8 pounds, which was way too light as far as side support. Since we've banned the shoe, knock on wood, we haven't had any ankle sprains. Hopefully, the good Lord willing, we won't have any more and we can finish the season healthy and see what these guys can really do.

With training camps starting up and the regular season only weeks away, the smell of basketball is in the air. To get you fired up for hoops on the (virtual) hardwood, our PSP exclusive NBA 10: THE INSIDE will be hitting stores tomorrow, October 6th. As part of the launch festivities, our cover athlete, Brandon Roy, will be stopping by the Game Crazy store in Tigard, OR (right outside Portland) this Saturday, October 10th, to sign copies of the new game and meet with fans. PlayStation will also give one lucky fan a chance to play NBA 10: THE INSIDE with the All-Star guard on-site, so make sure to get their early to test your PSP skills against B-Roy.

Here are the event details. Hope to see you there!

WHEN:
Saturday, October 10th, 2009
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

WHERE:
Game Crazy
15660 SW Pacific Hwy, Ste. 100
Tigard, OR 97224

RSVP via our Facebook event page!

*Only one lucky fan though.

Stern.

The numbers for Pietrus are average but let's talk about Turkoglu's stats, which - I'm certain - will surprise people who don't follow or do follow the Magic closely. The numbers indicate that Hedo was an excellent defender during the regular season. It's clear that Howard's presence (the reigning Defensive Player of the Year) bears an influence on the statistics, when looking back at Turk's defensive stats last season in comparison to this season. So how good is Turkoglu, defensively, when taking that into account? Above-average, safe to say. He's certainly not a liability on defense. An example, Hedo's defensive work on Kobe Bryant during the fourth quarter in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. Need another example? Here's what David Thorpe had to say about Turk in an article posted on TrueHoop:

"He has length and feel. He's a coordinated athlete. He's also really tall and long. I don't think of him as winning the battle on grit, but it's not like there are a lot of times you watch a Magic game and think Turkoglu's getting killed! When he's engaged, I'd certainly say he's a net positive for your defense."

Hmm, Thorpe says he's is a net positive, which is what the statistics back up.

It turns out the NBA is returning to Seattle next season after all. There's twist to this basketball story, however.

The Sonics, the city's former team, will remain in Oklahoma City as the Thunder and the league will stage an exhibition Oct. 14 at KeyArena between the Sonics' former Northwest rivals, the Portland Trail Blazers, and the Phoenix Suns.

BIG BROTHER’S WATCHING: When a coach in a future NBA finals accuses his players of poor rebounding or defense, he’ll have a new way of proving he was right.

The NBA and STATS LLC are testing a new manner of statistical collection during the finals using six high-definition cameras placed around the arena. The cameras will track the 10 players on the court, the three officials and the ball. A dot placed over all of them can measure the heights and distances of their movements, allowing a coach to see, for example, how far a defender was from the player he was supposed to be covering.

"Player tracking is the heart of the new NBA stats collection," NBA executive vice president of operations and technology Steve Hellmuth said.

Hellmuth said teams are particularly interested in the program as a way to monitor defensive performances.

Hellmuth and STATS vice president of strategic planning Brian Kopp demonstrated how the system could also be used to evaluate the judgment of the officials by replaying a goaltending call against Orlando’s Dwight Howard in Game 3. It showed the height of the ball in meters, and the number was reducing by the time Howard swatted it away, meaning it was on its way down and the call was correct.

The league hopes the technology will be ready for use by next season’s playoffs, where it could be an asset to the teams involved and the broadcasts.

Emphasis mine.

....just kidding.

Violet Palmer will become coordinator of women's basketball officials for the West Coast Conference and continue to officiate in the NBA, where she has worked for 12 seasons.

Earlier, The Associated Press incorrectly reported that Palmer would no longer officiate NBA games.

In Artest's post-game, he talked about playing in a pick up basketball game where a player died from a fatal stab in heart. The weapon was a broken off table leg. Now I thought this was Crazy Pills using his deadpan humor to dismiss the rough play in game 2, but it actually turned out to be true.

A 19-year-old basketball player from Queens was fatally stabbed with a broken-off table leg today after a fight broke out during a basketball tournament, the police said.

"A fight broke out between the players and about 40 fans in the stands," he said. "In the course of the fight, one person was stabbed in the back."

1st team:
G-Chris Paul
G-Kobe Bryant
F-LeBron James
F-Kevin Garnett
C-Dwight Howard

2nd team:
G-Rajon Rondo
G-Dwayne Wade
F-Shane Battier
F-Ron Artest
C-Tim Duncan

Measured, mature, and totally Brandon, but there's that edge to it that's conveniently absent from a lot of what the Blazers (or the Lakers) say or do. I think Portland might have even more work to do after the embarrassment that was Rudy's colossal flop.

First, here's what Van Gundy said, ""I was shocked, seriously, shocked. And very disappointed cause he knows what it’s like. Lets stand up and play like men, and I think our guy did that tonight."

Now, here is O'Neal with some more profane moments retracted:
"He (Howard) came with the same old, stale Patrick Ewing move so I tried to stand there and take the charge. The new rules say if you come through, you fall. But as I fell, I realized that it was a flop and it reminded me of Coach Van Gundy’s whole coaching career. The one thing I despise is a frontrunner. First of all, none of his players like him. When it gets tough, he will become the master of panic like he did before and he will quit like he did before. The one thing I despise is frontrunners. Yeah, he’s got a young team playing good but don’t be a frontrunner. Him and his brother and even the legend on the bench ain’t done what I’ve done in my whole career. So flopping would be the wrong choice of words."

Lots more at the link

Hollinger:

Finally, let me share a juicy tip from a league source on the state of the salary cap. Basically, the situation will be worse than many people expect, and the luxury-tax level next season will be set even lower than what several teams are currently planning for. The implications will be huge as we head into next season.

Here's the more interesting part of what I was told: Next season's luxury tax might just be the tip of the iceberg. The salary cap (and thus the tax level) could drop massively in 2010; my source used the term "bloodbath."

This would have huge effects on the pursuit of big-game free agents, of course, but also on the luxury-tax level for that season … which could push many more teams over the line and lead to fire-sale-type trades.

All this would be a prelude to the labor negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement in 2011. If money gets as tight as some project, things could get ugly.

[Update] MRI reveals no damage contradicting previous report.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6258863.html

Rockets guard Tracy McGrady could miss the remainder of the season, according to sources close to Local 2 sports. An MRI revealed missing cartilage in his left knee, which may require microfracture surgery to repair.

The possibility remains, however, that McGrady will try to finish the season. Dr. James Andrews, generally regarded as the premier orthopaedic surgeon in the country for this type of injury, will review the MRI before a final decision is made. Andrews advised those close to McGrady, that a microfracture surgery should only be used in a career saving situation.

McGrady and the Rockets will discuss options in a meeting at Toyota Center prior to tonight's game against Sacramento. At this point, the Rockets have no comment on the situation

Michael Jordan has been reading Isiah Thomas' guide to front office management. Give up a former #3 pick and expiring contract for a overpaid bench player with a terrible contract. At least the Lakers didn't get any 1st rounders from them.