WHUDDUP.COM
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Feb. 7, 2012 - Jeremy Lin: 28pts, 8asts, 2rebs, 2stls. [watch]
Will my fellow Asian-Americans please stand up?
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Outstanding.
courtesy of: Casey at http://www.caseyouye.com/
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“My power is discombobulatingly devastating. I could feel muscle tissues collapse under my force. It’s ludicrous these mortals...
By request - Kevin Johnson vs Olajuwon #BangedOn
The infamous Scottie Pippen on Patrick Ewing dunk
Vince Carter vs Weis. I’m sorry but this is in my TOP 3 in game dunks of all time. Probably #1.
Michael Jordan v Patrick Ewing
Vince Carter vs Alonzo Mourning
Kobe vs Yao Ming.
Dominate Waffles! Dominate Breakfast! Dominate Ninjas!
Photos from the Lakers 96 - 91 win over the Clippers.
Chris Paul calls Pau Gasol soft.
It happened again. LeBron had another 4th quarter (and overtime) to forget. Take a look at LeBron’s play-by-play (not including defensive rebounds):
4TH QUARTER
7:31 - LeBron makes jumper. MIA 77- LAC 76.
7:18 - LeBron draws a charge
7:11 - LeBron turnover. MIA 77 - LAC 76.
5:48 - LeBron misses 1 of 2 free throws. MIA 79 - LAC 80
4:16 - LeBron makes 2 free throws. MIA 82 - LAC 80
2:44 - LeBron misses layup. MIA 82 - LAC 83
2:15 - LeBron turnover (offensive foul). MIA 82 - LAC 83
1:21 - LeBron misses 1 of 2 free throws. MIA 83 - LAC 83
0:33 - LeBron misses jump shot. MIA 84 - LAC 83
0:27 - LeBron fouls Chauncey Billips while shooting a three pointer (questionable call). Billips makes all three. MIA 84 - LAC 86
0:16 - LeBron misses 1 of 2 free throws. MIA 85 - LAC 86
0:05 - LeBron misses 1 of 2 free throws. MIA 86 - LAC 86
= = = = = =
OVERTIME
3:49 - LeBron misses jump shot. MIA 86 - LAC 88
3:29 - LeBron turnover. MIA 86 - LAC 88
2:39 - LeBron misses jump shot. MIA 86 - LAC 90
2:05 - LeBron misses layup. MIA 86 - LAC 90
1:24 - LeBron assists Chalmers. MIA 89 - LAC 90
CLIPPERS WIN 95-89
And don’t forget he missed a clutch 3-pointer two nights ago in an overtime loss to the Golden State Warriors, after not taking a shot in the fourth quarter.
There are a lot of unanswered questions: What is going on with LeBron James? Have a small group of reporters, and a large group of haters, actually affected the current best basketball player in the world? Is it mental? Are the fans on twitter in his wheelhouse? Are the jokes about LeBron choking becoming a mini-reality for James?
With a history of clutch performances in his past, James certainly has proved he can come through when his team needs it, but performances like last night’s make us all constantly question if he will come through?
I honestly think he needs to see a sports psychiatrist. Seemed to work for Ron Artest (for a couple months). Maybe Phil Jackson’s available? Or Tim Tebow? As loyal basketball fans, we deserve the opportunity to see LeBron at his best.
Either way, we win. If we get answers to the questions above, and LeBron figures out the mental side of the game, we’ll get to watch a runaway train. If those questions are asked time and time again this season, and for the rest of his career, we’ll get to enjoy one of the most fascinating sports figures of all-time.
(via sbnation)
Kobe speaks after his 48 point performance vs the Suns
Kobe Bryant wants you to say he can’t do it anymore.
He’s too old. He’s played too many minutes. He’s too hurt. He shoots too much.
After scoring an NBA season-high 48 points on 18 of 31 shooting in the Lakers’ 99-83 victory Tuesday over the Phoenix Suns, Bryant asked a reporter to tell him to his face he can’t consistently replicate such an effort through the rest of the Lakers’ (7-4) 55-game season. Even if he strung three 30-point plus games in the last four all on a torn ligament in his right wrist.
“Not bad for the seventh best player in the league,” Bryant said in a shot at the ranking a panel of ESPN writers gave him this offseason.
Even after seeing Bryant throw a baseline dunk past Grant Hill or catch Matt Barnes’ lob for a reverse slam, it’s fair to wonder how long he keep this up. It may be fun to watch. It may even lead Bryant to “Tebow” to cap off his 108th career 40-point game. But averaging a league-high 23 attempts hardly seems logical when wear and tear can further hurt his wrist. His six of 28 performance last week against Denver showed that approach can sometimes backfire, particularly when the Lakers have other options. But Bryant refuses to think in those terms.
“Just making adjustments. You have to figure out a way to get it done,” Bryant said. “There’s no time to make excuses. If I play bad or have one bad game like I did in Denver, everybody cries for a change or cries for the fact I’m too old when it’s just a bad game with a bad wrist. Nobody wants to hear that. So I make adjustments and go from there.”
That wasn’t the issue. It was that he didn’t adjust in the middle of that game. But Bryant’s made adjustments afterward. Instead of shooting less, Bryant’s shot more and in different locations more conducive to making them. He wishes his wrist would fully heal so he could improve his 20% mark from three-point range. But earning Western Conference player of the week honors and remaining second in the league in scoring (27.6) behind LeBron James will do.
For now.
“Not everybody is built the same way,” Bryant said. “That [wrist] hurts. But after the injections, you don’t feel anything. It just goes numb.”
And then he goes to work. Bryant scores 17 of the Lakers’ 25 first-quarter points on eight of 11 shooting (72.72%) after his teammates go four of 23 (17.3%) in an effort Brown described as “discombobulated.” When everyone from Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and yes, even Luke Walton thrive in the second half, Bryant complements them too. While the Lakers limited the Suns to zero field goals and one free throw in the final six minutes, Bryant provides the scoring. He banks a shot. He throws down the aforementioned dunks. He makes a fadeaway.
We’ve seen this happen plenty of times before, but even his strong supporters wonder how it’s possible. Lakers Coach Mike Brown has deferred to Bryant in every way about his injuries. He simply lets the trainers perform their diagnosis. If Bryant says he’s healthy, he can play. But he always says that even when the wrist has often ballooned in size.
“If you open him up,” Brown said, “he might be a machine.”
Whether it’s a machine or a body, Bryant’s always tinkering with it.
He receives pre-game injections every single day. Afterwards, he either wears a black oven mitt or kinesiology tape to control the movement. It’s similar to how Bryant refused to accept that his surgically repaired right knee and twisted left ankle last season were irreparable. Suddenly those parts look great after receiving innovative procedures on them this offseason in Germany.
Bryant does all this simply so he can win. So he can beat up on Phoenix, a team he still hates after it eliminated the Lakers in the first round of 2006 and 2007 playoffs. So he can “generate energy for our ballclub” as Bryant puts it. So he can satisfy his insatiable love for basketball at his most dominant.
But he also does this so he can provide another rebuttal regarding his age, his health and longevity.
He still remains Kobe Bryant. And being Bryant, he believes he’s far from finished.
“I’m ready for the next one,” he said.
We will soon see whether Bryant continues to conquer the odds or if he will crash and burn while trying. There will be many who believe the latter will happen. And, for better or worse, Bryant will try to prove you otherwise.
![gotemcoach:
THE END OF AN ERA…AND A TRIBUTE:
You may never see another Shaq again. Forget the size, athleticism, and power. Forget the championships, the Finals MVPs, and the 28,596 points. Forget the commercials, the rapping and Kazaam.
This guy was the King of Giving Himself Nicknames. Hell, “Shaq” is a nickname.
“In light of today, I am retiring all my nicknames. The Big Aristotle, Shaq-Fu, The Big Shamrock, The Big Cactus, The Diesel, and finally, the one and only, original, never to be duplicated or replicated … Superman. From now on, you can call me The Big AARP. Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons.”
You forget how he got half of these. While some are regional - “The Big Agave” - others need an explanation.
“’The Big Aristotle’ was coined the day I won the MVP last year [2000]. I stole a quote from that Greek philosopher cat: ‘Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.’”
“Wilt Chamberneezy” needs no further back story. “The Real Deal Shaquille O’Neal” had an intrinsic rhyming property that lends itself to a great nickname. I would have thought there would never be a way to beat “Shaq Daddy,” but he tried. Oh, how he did try.
“’The Big Stock Exchange.’ I start off at one price. Every now and then I’ll go down, but eventually I’ll go back up”
An apt comparison. Let’s stay financial for a second.
“‘The Big IPO.’ Put your money on me. Because when I go public, we all gonna make money.”
He called himself the “The Big Quotatious” for his propensity to provide great soundbites - like the kind of soundbites that end with a guy nicknaming himself “The Big Quotatious.” If you couldn’t tell, “Big” seemed to be a recurring trend. Shaq had a game-saving steal in Orlando, which spawned, “The Big Felon.” “The Big Sewer” because he “had a lot of sh*t.” What about the time Shaq made his free throws, and referred to himself post-game as “The Big Havlicek?”
“Can’t forget ‘The Big Antarctica’ because I’m so cold.”
Don’t forget the abbreviations. “M.D.E.” meant Most Dominant Ever. “L.C.L.” meant Last Center Left. Wondering why did Shaq called himself “Shaqovic?”
“If you go around the league, anybody with the last name ‘vich’ is a great shooter. Radmanovic, Vujacic…all those ‘iches.’”
Makes sense. He wasn’t without a misstep here or there. After “terrorizing” Keith Van Horn in the 2002 NBA Finals, Shaq actually said the phrase “Osama bin Shaq” out loud. Not his finest locker room hour. When Shaq “fought” Oscar de la Hoya on an episode of his reality show Shaq Vs., O’Neal was coached by Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao’s world-class trainer, and dubbed himself “Manny Shaquiao.”
My personal favorite? In 2000, after eliminating foreign-born centers Vlade Divac, Rik Smits and Arvydas Sabonis on his way to the NBA championship, Shaq called himself, “The Big Deporter.”
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again - you’ll see another Michael Jordan before you see another Shaquille O’Neal. Thanks, one last time, Shaq.
@gotem_coach
(for the rest of the Shaq Retirement Tribute - click here)](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx8kseFVld1qcmnsoo1_1280.png)
THE END OF AN ERA…AND A TRIBUTE:
You may never see another Shaq again. Forget the size, athleticism, and power. Forget the championships, the Finals MVPs, and the 28,596 points. Forget the commercials, the rapping and Kazaam.
This guy was the King of Giving Himself Nicknames. Hell, “Shaq” is a nickname.
“In light of today, I am retiring all my nicknames. The Big Aristotle, Shaq-Fu, The Big Shamrock, The Big Cactus, The Diesel, and finally, the one and only, original, never to be duplicated or replicated … Superman. From now on, you can call me The Big AARP. Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons.”
You forget how he got half of these. While some are regional - “The Big Agave” - others need an explanation.
“’The Big Aristotle’ was coined the day I won the MVP last year [2000]. I stole a quote from that Greek philosopher cat: ‘Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.’”
“Wilt Chamberneezy” needs no further back story. “The Real Deal Shaquille O’Neal” had an intrinsic rhyming property that lends itself to a great nickname. I would have thought there would never be a way to beat “Shaq Daddy,” but he tried. Oh, how he did try.
“’The Big Stock Exchange.’ I start off at one price. Every now and then I’ll go down, but eventually I’ll go back up”
An apt comparison. Let’s stay financial for a second.
“‘The Big IPO.’ Put your money on me. Because when I go public, we all gonna make money.”
He called himself the “The Big Quotatious” for his propensity to provide great soundbites - like the kind of soundbites that end with a guy nicknaming himself “The Big Quotatious.” If you couldn’t tell, “Big” seemed to be a recurring trend. Shaq had a game-saving steal in Orlando, which spawned, “The Big Felon.” “The Big Sewer” because he “had a lot of sh*t.” What about the time Shaq made his free throws, and referred to himself post-game as “The Big Havlicek?”
“Can’t forget ‘The Big Antarctica’ because I’m so cold.”
Don’t forget the abbreviations. “M.D.E.” meant Most Dominant Ever. “L.C.L.” meant Last Center Left. Wondering why did Shaq called himself “Shaqovic?”
“If you go around the league, anybody with the last name ‘vich’ is a great shooter. Radmanovic, Vujacic…all those ‘iches.’”
Makes sense. He wasn’t without a misstep here or there. After “terrorizing” Keith Van Horn in the 2002 NBA Finals, Shaq actually said the phrase “Osama bin Shaq” out loud. Not his finest locker room hour. When Shaq “fought” Oscar de la Hoya on an episode of his reality show Shaq Vs., O’Neal was coached by Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao’s world-class trainer, and dubbed himself “Manny Shaquiao.”
My personal favorite? In 2000, after eliminating foreign-born centers Vlade Divac, Rik Smits and Arvydas Sabonis on his way to the NBA championship, Shaq called himself, “The Big Deporter.”
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again - you’ll see another Michael Jordan before you see another Shaquille O’Neal. Thanks, one last time, Shaq.
(for the rest of the Shaq Retirement Tribute - click here)
(via thegrandarchives)
