The NBA is poised to become the first major U.S. sports league to stream live games in local markets, an aggressive offering that will set up a showdown between cable operators and regional sports networks.

http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/59753

Hopefully the NBA does this, and with today's technology, they can offer HD feeds, too. I'd pay for this over giving money to Comcast any day of the week. Probably cheaper, too.

Apologies if this is more appropriate in the "FanShots" area, but it seemed like this question more suited for the "FanPosts" format.

Anyway, a few people that I know and I, have been talking about wanting to play basketball together for a few weeks now. The problem is, we cannot seem to agree upon which gym to play at. The main reason being, is because we really don't know any gyms around the greater Portland area where you can just drop in, pay a fee, and play.

Most gyms that I have looked at had some weird schedule that they always adhere to, like basketball for anyone under 18 years of age is a certain time slot, then over 18 organized basketball is a certain time slot, volleyball another, something for kid's another time, etc.

So, are there any gyms out here that don't adhere to any "organized" stuff, and it's just show up, and if a court is available, then play? Pretty much like an outside court, except, indoors!

I know the big places like 24 Hour Fitness have that type of open format, but not all of us are members, and non-member fees for a day are ridiculously expensive.

Any suggestions would be welcome at this point.

PHILADELPHIA -- The kid was seated on the floor of a gym at Philadelphia University, a few minutes after his first game at the Reebok All-American Camp on Tuesday, when a man in an official camp polo shirt walked by and mistook him for a different high-school senior-to-be. "Dan Jennings?" the man said, but received only a strange look in return.

The man altered his inquiry. "What's your name, kid?"

"Shawn Kemp."

The man's look said B.S. "What's your name?"

"Shawn Kemp."

"You," the man said, slightly annoyed, "ain't Shawn Kemp."

And then the man walked away.

The kid, who was wearing a No. 71 jersey with no name on the back, was not perpetrating a ruse. While he is not the Shawn Kemp of Supersonics fame and paternal infamy, he is Shawn Kemp Jr., the eldest child of the former NBA forward, and one of at least eight kids -- with at least six different mothers -- fathered by the elder Kemp. Out of the Reign Man's scattered DNA has grown another power forward who has played his way onto the national recruiting radar.

SI

The Philadelphia 76ers have apparently won the Elton Brand free-agent sweepstakes.

NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com on Tuesday that Brand has informed the Sixers that he will accept a five-year deal worth an estimated $82 million and spurn what was presumed to be a slam-dunk return to the Los Angeles Clippers to hook up with Clipper-to-be Baron Davis.

The Sixers cannot formally sign Brand before midnight, with Wednesday serving as the first day that NBA teams can officially complete signings and trades after the lifting of a leaguewide moratorium which began July 1.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3479059

So, after Sergio continues to presumably, play third string PG on this team, what is Portland to do with him?

Will people still blame Sergio not getting the playing time he "deserves" on Nate McMillan? Jarrett Jack is gone now, Blake will be presumably be gone within a year or twos end, and the question now is Sergio going to be that back-up to challenge Bayless?

Getting Bayless was a pretty huge no-confidence vote against Sergio.

What are your expectations of him and should Portland part with him sooner rather than later?

KP just made a bet with John Canzano that if Portland makes the playoffs, he'll shave his head.

Was anyone else listening? It's a pretty good interview.

Although, there are parts that annoy me about the NBA, mainly, what a team can and cannot say.

He referred to Rudy as "hopefully bringing over a certain Spaniard."

So stupid. He actually can't mention them being on Portland's roster, but he can talk about them in generalities at best.

HOLY CRAP ON A WHOA

Ex-NBA referee Tim Donaghy told the feds two refs fixed the outcome of one playoff series - and that officials were told not to eject star players from games for fear of hurting ticket sales.

The bombshell allegations are contained in a court document filed Tuesday by Donaghy's lawyer. It describes the “inner workings" of the NBA in which top league executives used referees to manipulate games.

Donaghy, who pleaded guilty in Brooklyn Federal Court to charges of betting on games he officiated, told FBI agents “league officials would tell referees that they should withhold calling technical fouls on certain star players because doing so hurt ticket sales and television ratings," the document said.

Donaghy claims he was told that two refs who were “company men” acting in the interest of the NBA conspired to extend a playoff series in 2002 to a seventh game.

WOW. This is horrible.

Link

Kings - Lakers 2002 WCF?

Before

After:

via media.katu.com

via www.draftexpress.com

Didn't see this posted. Basically, holy cow look at his forearms!

OT: Finals week is kicking my ass. I need about 29 more words to fill this up so that I can post this. It's not just finals, it's the combination of freelance work along with finals. But, mmm, money. Holy crap I need 12 more words?

Gob: [arms crossed] Then there's me. The joker. The goofball. The magician.
[quickly makes a magician's gesture with his hands]
Michael: I thought you were gonna do a little fireball there.
Gob: I was. It didn't go off.

Ugh. Screw you Stern.

Am I the only one that cannot stand a single player from either team? If someone said Celtics vs Lakers in the finals, it's something I would tune into... in the 1980s.

Magic, Bird, Kareem, Walton? Hell yeah. Plenty of players to love on those teams.

But now? So many unlikable players on both franchises, and this is supposed to be "good" for the NBA?

Mind you, today is the one-year anniversery of when Kobe demanded to be traded from the Lakers. Not only that, but it was around this time the Celtics were screaming bloody murder after tanking their entire season in disgusting fashion and not getting a top two pick - only to be outdone by the Heat this season.

The influx of bandwagon fans is going to be vomit inducing. The same Boston fans that were chanting "Kobe for MVP" in the Boston arena, will be the same ones yelling "Beat LA" now.

This sucks.

The NBA: Where "all for ratings, all for egoes" happens.

... Danny Ainge!

Sporting News has named Boston Celtics Executive Director, Basketball Operations and General Manager, the 2007-08 NBA Executive of the Year.

Sporting News polled general managers and other executives from all 30 teams, and Ainge received 18 of the 47 votes cast. He beat out Los Angeles Lakers general manager, Mitch Kupchak, who had 14 votes, and New Orleans Hornets general manager Jeff Bower who had 12.

Link

"Did you hear, Danny Ainge got executive of the year?"

*group laugh*

It took 12 seasons, but Kobe Bryant has finally been selected the NBA's most valuable player, The Times has learned.

Sources familiar with the outcome who were not authorized to speak publicly about the award until the official announcement from the league said Commissioner David Stern will be in Los Angeles next week to present the trophy to Bryant.

Link

Le sigh...

I guess, he deserved it? I don't know. Maybe I am just a bitter Blazers fan that would rather not see him win anything.

[ Not that we needed confirmation... ]

If you never heard of Buffalo Bills rookie offensive tackle Demetrius Bell, you’ll be rooting for him when I tell you his story.

Bell was a seventh-round draft pick and two-year starter at Northwestern State, the same Louisiana school that produced cornerback Terrence McGee.

Bell is the son of Malone, but the Mailman had no role in Bell’s success except passing along athletic genes.

The two have had very little contact during Bell’s life. His mother, Gloria Bell, reportedly was only 13 years old and Malone a college sophomore at Louisiana Tech when Demetrius was born. Malone might have served jail time had her family asked the district attorney to file criminal charges.

Bell didn’t even know Malone was his father until after graduating from high school. When they finally met, Malone told the 18-year-old Bell it was too late to be his father, and that Bell would have to “earn his money on his own.”

“All of that’s behind me right now,” Bell said during a conference call Sunday. “I feel good I made it this far. Nothing against him, but I feel good at this time. If he would’ve been there, yeah, it would’ve been good. But if not, it’s even better. Everything is a plus right now.”

Link

Holy mother of wow.

via rotundity.net

I mean, really? A baseball blog! COME ON!

All joking aside, I like this color scheme on this design a little better than on the other SB Blogs.

Nice to have a real text editor though, so people can stop asking me how I insert pictures!

EDIT: HAH. They already fixed it. But can't fool me. You know, really! Let's see some of these new features, if I find something interesting, I'll let you know.

Okay, I understand that we all have bias to some degree. Some more than others, but that part comes with being a diehard fan like most of us are.

But glancing over ESPNs picks for Most Improved Player and Coach Of The Year really, uhm, how to put it as politely as I can? Pissed me off. That will do.

Why?

It's not the fact that no Blazer won any of those categories - I pretty much expected that... but not a single Blazer got a VOTE?!

Most Improved Player

RAJON FRACKING RONDO GOT 3 VOTES?! CHRIS KAMAN GOT ONE?

Where is the love for LaMarcus? Hell, where is the love for Rudy Gay? Even he only mustered to get one vote.

Coach Of The Year

I love Maurice Cheeks, and I have a ton of respect for Phil Jackson... but those two got votes and Nate McMillan did not get a single one, despite the fact that Mac-10 had less to work with and was playing in a much tougher conference than Maurice.

And what's even worse while glancing over those picks, it's like a collective hive mind over there. There is barely an dissension among the staff and when there is, they pick the most outlandish choices they can come up [RAJON FRACKING RONDO!?].

What a disappointment, but why am I even getting surprised these days?

But behind the scenes this season, the Trail Blazers have been trying to reinvent the small forward by turning Webster's focus more toward defense than offense.

"We are kind of changing Martell's attitude," coach Nate McMillan said.     

That attitude, McMillan hopes, will become a mindset of stopping the opponent's top perimeter scorer, and shooting three-pointers when they are presented.

Reinventing Webster is an example of how the Blazers' focus has shifted from acquiring and developing potential to filling specific needs to win a championship.

The Blazers are confident that in the coming years Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge can carry the offense, and that Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla will provide interior defense. But they are unsure whether they have a perimeter defender who can contain the likes of Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and Carmelo Anthony.

"We gotta get that guy," McMillan said. "And if we don't develop it from within, then we have to go out and get it. But I think we might have it here in Martell. He is a scorer, but what we want him to do, and for him to help this team, is for him to become a stopper."

Read Entire Article

"I'm not saying there is a guarantee I will be able to come back and play, but if I can, that's my goal,'' Roy said Wednesday. "Even if it's the last two games, I want to give it a try and finish the season.''

Roy writhed in pain at the end of the first quarter Tuesday against Washington when he landed awkwardly after leaping to defend a last second three-point attempt by Caron Butler. After Roy landed and lost his balance, Butler fell on top of him, straining Roy's groin and hip.

Jason Quick

So, here is the situation:

7     Dallas     45     26     .634
8     Golden State     43     27     .614
9      Denver     43     28     .606    

If Denver beats Dallas, and Golden State loses to Portland, Denver is in 8th.

Golden State is playing for something to prove - a playoff appearance. Every game matters for them. Dallas, meanwhile without Dirk, is also playing for a playoff spot. If they lose on Thursday, they will be only 1 game ahead of Denver in 7th.

Of course, the ideal scenario is Denver loses, Portland wins, but this is a real test for Portland, too. This will be a playoff intensity game, and if Portland wants to be successful next season, they will need to learn how win these games.

Of course, this learning experience all depends on if LaMarcus and Roy are playing. Without them, this game means little. Not to mention, this game is on TNT, which means the Warriors have a ton to prove.

Link

Read the entire article. It's great.

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No, sorry, not a Brandon Roy love-fest.

I was looking over Martell's last 24 games played. I found one simple constant: When Martell attempts more than 7FG in a game, he scores in double digits. Pretty simplistic, right? Well, the disparity is pretty huge.

In 18 games since February, when Martell attempts more than 7FG, he scores 12.75PPG.

In 8 games since February, when Martell attempts less than 7FG [meaning, 1 to 6FGA], he scores an abysmal 5.1PPG.

This, to some, might be a simple "duh" - attempt more FG, and you shall score more points! When he attempts 7FG+, Martell shoots 45% from the field.

But when he attempts less than 7FG, he shoots 37% from the field.

His rebounding also goes up: 4.3RPG vs 2.6RPG

I know I'm not one into quasi-mathematical formulas where you take the number of FGA, multiply that by some obscure number, divide them by the number of FGM, multiply that by another obscure number, plus the mean-root of rebounds per minute.

I like raw data, and the raw data here suggests: Have Martell attempt 7FG+ a game, and he will contribute.

This pretty much leads to the same conclusion as before: when Martell's shot is not falling, he does not contribute in ways to help the team. Let's hope he learns how to contribute in other ways when his shot is not falling.

But it begs the question... Martell was drafted for his shooting abilities... so why not have him shoot?

The magic number is seven.

HOW DARE YOU?!

Every Blazer fan took a collective sigh at the sheer horror of this aberration.

"Ninety percent of Blazers fans are excited," said Dave Deckard, who operates Blazersedge.com. "They think he's going to be a slasher and a scorer in the backcourt, and they are really high on him. Most (online) comments suggest that people believe he will be a starter, if not immediately, then very soon in the future."

Oregonian

Congrats, Dave!

Poor kid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV_jAJataaw

I could never wish an injury on any player. Hope he is going to be okay.

Apparently since Portland was enticed enough with Calderon's play, they tried to pursue him heavily at the trade deadline.

Calderon, meanwhile, only gets to start under Sam Mitchell when TJ Ford is out with injuries.

What if Calderon decided that he would welcome playing with his Spanish buddies Sergio and Rudy together next season? What if he welcomed playing next to Brandon Roy in the back-court, and LMA and Oden manning up the front next season?

The problem is, Portland is still not under the cap this off-season. My question is, what are the chances of Portland pulling off a sign-and-trade with Toronto for Calderon if Jose told the Raptors that he wanted to play for a different team and was unwilling to sign with them? Remember, Raef is in the last year in his contract and his expiring contract could be very appealing to the Raptors. Meanwhile, Steve Blake is also a free agent this summer, and James Jones has a player option that he can decide to opt out of.

Let the games begin...

The good news was that it appears sharp-shooting forward James Jones has recovered from a left knee injury and will play Friday against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Rose Garden.

The bad news is that All-Star guard Brandon Roy is doubtful to play Friday because his sprained right ankle is still experiencing pain.

~ Quick

Chad Ford: I read that bizarre report in the NY Daily News that Dolan wanted to hire Kiki as GM and keep Isiah on as coach. Can the Knicks get more dysfunctional? The problem is ... the really good candidates for the position don't want to take the job unless Dolan promises them full control over all aspects of the team. That's going to be a tough sell for Dolan. Kiki may be the one guy that will just be happy with the job. Personally ... I think Dolan has to realize he's made things worse not better and turn the team over to someone who knows how to rebuild. Jerry and Bryan Colangelo are both great gets. So is Donnie Walsh and Jerry West. But here's a guy no one is talking about ... why don't the Knicks try to make a run at the Blazers Kevin Pritchard. He's a young, up-and-coming GM who has a magic touch with the media and has just completely rebuild a shameful Blazers franchise into one of the league's up-and-coming teams. I think he'd be great.

Yeah, I'm sure KG would love to leave Paul Allen money behind to fix the train wreck that is the New York Knicks working for an owner that is as bad as they come and would make his job miserable in a market that would crucify him even if he were to draft the next Magic Johnson... for drafting the next Magic Johnson.

KRIV-TV in Houston and The Houston Chronicle are reporting that Yao has a stress fracture in his left foot and the Rockets are expected to announce he will have season-ending surgery later Tuesday.

The team has scheduled an afternoon news conference.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3265631

Wow. That really sucks. Us Blazer fans can sympathize. The Rockets are on a 12-game winning streak, too.

How many games has it been going on already?

Jack and Blake in the backcourt together simply does not work. Neither offensively and ESPECIALLY not defensively.

Both are too slow and too short to rotate over to the average [think Ray Allen 6'5-6'6] shooting guard. The Celtics went off for 14-21 on 3pt tonight.

Stop for a second and think about that percentage - you are lucky to shoot that in a single quarter on ALL field goals. Hell, lately, Portland's FT% would be lucky to sniff 14-21.

How many times did Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and James Posey just shoot over one of our guards? Even Roy is too small to consistently rotate over and get a hand in their face.

The entire point in starting Jack alongside Blake was to turn Martell into that James Jones spark-plug off the bench, right? Then run some damn plays for him!

Roy is also not quick enough to guard most SFs in this league, so why play small ball? This team does not run - never has consistently, so go big, or go home. Right now, Portland is going home early.

Start Webster or start Outlaw and move Roy back to his natural position. Please.

PS: Come back to us James Jones and cure all these ills!

114-108 on TNT.

Portland is now within half a game of 8th.

Well, this puts to rest that Portland should have blown the Bulls out last night - they are just playing very good team basketball and do not give up.

No win in this league is guaranteed - which has been proven by Minnesota beating the Suns twice. Guess who has the best record in the West?

Warriors did not play since Friday, fyi.

Holy crap! He made it!

David West made it, too. Well deserved.

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