Back British Basketball

HOOPSFIX EDITOR LAUNCHES OLYMPIC (2012) CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE BRITISH BASKETBALL

Sam Neter, editor of Hoopsfix.com and fellow basketball fanatic, has officially launched  'Back British Basketball' a blog-site which is the start of an integrated campaign to promote the Great Britain national basketball team (Team GB) and get people in the UK interested and following the team.

Basketball is one of the few sports in the Olympics where the home nation doesn’t get an automatic qualification. FIBA President Bob Elphinston in April 2010 announced that in order for Team GB to secure a place in the Olympics they would need to qualify for Eurobasket 2011, a campaign that begins with their scheduled games this coming August.

The campaign which includes online, some experiential marketing, merchandise and advertising will be seeded out across social media sites including Facebook and Twitter. The site will prompt people to show their support through purchasing branded T-Shirts, downloading banners, twibbons, website badges, desktop wallpapers and other merchandise. Fans will be able to submit photos, videos and comments fuelling the content on the site.

Sam Neter, Editor: Hoopsfix http://www.hoopsfix.com/  

‘The fact that Team GB has met and exceeded every goal FIBA has set out for them so far; yet they still don’t have a guaranteed place in 2012 is outrageous particularly given the fact that the UK is the host nation. As a committed fan I intend to drive this campaign and do everything in my power to get the nation on board and increase Team GB’s following ensuring their every chance of success in August’

HYPE BBall fully endorses Back British Basketball and hopes that it will have some effect on the quality of the game and the quality of supporters in the UK just imagine pubs across the nation watching GB Basketball in the EuroBasket 2011 tournament much like people filled pubs to watch England in its World Cup hopes. Basketball is a rapidly growing sport and we need to make sure team GB is at the forefront of that growth.   

Contact: Sam Neter, Sam@backbritishbasketball.com 07841591550

Rebranding of Behind the Back

ReBranding of the Behind the Back site

Hi everyone unfortunatly its come to a time where I have decided to rebrand behindtheback, this is due to a few reasons such as http://www.behindtheback.com/ already being a registered site as well as the lenght of the site most good sites in the USA are normally only a few letters such as http://www.scout.com/ and http://www.rivals.com/

The rebrand will bring us to out new site http://www.hypebball.com/ as we will be mainly focusing on young players and really trying to create some hype around British Basketball while also looking at Europe and the USA.

So I hope all you loyal readers follow me to my new site.

Thank you

Draft Prospect - Donatas Motiejunas

Vital stats
Position: Centre/Power Forward
Height: 7’0”/2.13m
Weight: 224 lbs/101 kg
Date of birth: 09/20/1990
Current Club: Benetton Treviso

Strengths: Donatas is a highly touted, talented centre coming out of Benetton Treviso (the same team that produced NBA draftees such as Toni Kukoc, Jorge Garbajosa and Andrea Bargnani) and is a shooting centre with range all the way out to the 3-point line and can hit it from almost anywhere, as well as this he has a good dribble-drive and can finish with either hand, resulting in him being exceptionally hard to guard.

Donatas has great agility and athleticism, and European Prospects’ take notes that “The combination of talent, size, coordination and skills is rare in European basketball,” i.e. as well as being a great outside threat, he can bring it inside and has a range of interior moves. His great court visibility and height mean that when double-teamed, he can easily spot the open man and hit him for the assist.

Read the rest at http://www.ballineurope.com/us-basketball/nba/draft-profile-donatas-motiejunas/

New York Knicks Made Mistake Picking Hill

In Junes 2009 NBA draft the New York Knicks picked up Jordan Hill, a 6ft 10" Power Forward from the University of Arizona. What they really neaded thought was an actual Point Guard who could run the team better then Chris Duhon and one that might help convince Lebron James to go to New York in the summer.

The 2009 Draft was guard heavy, and the Knicks had the 8th pick to pick one up, Brandon Jenning was still availible, Ty Lawson, Jrue Holiday, Darren Collison and Eric Maynor are just some of those that were also on the board when New York picked but still they decided to pick a PF.

Then after playing for New York for 24 games Jordan Hill was traded to Houston, Arizona, in part of the Tracy McGrady trade, luckily for him he now gets to play alongside ex-college team mate Chase Buddinger.... for the rest of the story go to - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/359045-knicks-made-mistake-picking-hill

Who Can Beat LA Come Play-Off Time?

When the season started the LA Lakers were supposed to be the un-disputed champions of the West especially after bringing in Ron Artest to replace Tevor Ariza and re-signing Lamar Odom.

However now the Dallas Mavericks have gone 9 straight games without a loss and are 9 and 1 in there last 10, only losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder the day after the trade deadline when Caron was new to the team and they were still building chemistry.

Now though Dallas are steam rolling towards the top stop in the West and have received a huge boost after beating the Lakers (without Kobe) in Dallas. If Dallas can continue this run long into the playoffs much like Golden State did back in 2007..... Read the full article at http://bleacherreport.com/articles/356410-who-can-beat-la-come-play-offs

My Free Agency Hopes For The Chicago Bulls

Summer 2010 - The biggest free agency period in the history of the NBA, with players such as Lebron, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Shaq, Dirk (eto), Paul Peirce (eto), Kobe (player option), David Lee the list goes on and on.......

New York will look to sign a player like Lebron and if they dont get him then its Chris Bosh, in general the Knicks will sign whoever they can get because if they dont the fan's will be looking for blood.

Boston will probably try to keep Paul Peirce and Ray Allen and then if they want to they may try to get someone to trade for Allen to get some more young bodies.

Dirk will stay in Dallas because its his team and they are still serious title contenders.

Everyone will try to get everyone, as a Bulls fan however I have one player that I hope will decide to sign for Chicago.........

For the rest of the article go to http://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/355637-my-free-agency-hopes-for-the-chicago-bulls

Chicago Bulls Playoff Hopes

The playoff hopes of the Chicago Bulls rest firmly on the shoulders of Derrick Rose, however for thus team to be competitive in the playoffs they need the bench and other starters just to step it up a notch.
Rookie power forward Taj Gibson has to continue his stellar play and grab rebounds while also bringing that youth and energy to the squad, Brad Miller who has played brilliantly as a back up centre to Joakim Noah has to continue to play well off the bench and score more inside resulting hopefully in fouls on opposing big men.
Starting shooting guard Kirk Hindrich played well in last years series with the Celtics but then he was a back up to Rose whereas thus year he will be starting and will need to continue to play well in crunch time.
Joakim Noah has to overcome injuries and give us a series much like last year but hopefully even better, Joakim brings hustle to the squad much like Kevin Garnett does for Boston.......

For the rest of the article visit - http://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/355223-chicago-bulls-play-off-hopes-rest-on-these-players

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod Touch

Team Profile - Solent Kestrels


The Solent Stars were founded in 1980 with a starting line up of Ken Walton, Trevor Denny, Marvin Johnson, J Robinson, Paul Philip and Jimmy Guymon, who later founded the Solent Stars youth programme for young kids (mainly his son Matt Guymon) in Southampton who had asspirations of playing in the USA. The club had been formed at the end of the previous season from two Southern League teams - Portsmouth Pirates and Southampton Sharks.

The Solent Stars were successful for many seasons and in the 80's and 90's had a few thousand as the average attendance (which in the UK for that time was very high) they were increasingly successful, winning three national cups and four play-off championships.



Despite this going into the new millenium the team was on a downward spiral and at the end of the 2000-2001 season finished second to bottom in the National Basketball League Confrence, with a record of 6 wins 15 losses Solent was lossing and lossing bad, they tried to make amends in 2001/2002 finishing the season in 3rd place behind Plymouth Raiders and Teeside Mohawks from there however the seasons got worse finishing from between 8th and 12th in the rest of the final years of the club, eventually finishing 8th in 2006/07 when the club finally folded after receiving minimal support.


The final closing of the Solent Stars was expected to end the Solent youth programme however they decided to break away from the Stars broke after the team started using the youth funds to pay for players and hall rental, this eventually leaded to the creation of the Solent Kestrels the current best youth team in Hampshire and possibly the South of England.....

Find the rest of the article at
http://www.ballineurope.com/countries/uk/club-profile-the-solent-kestrels/

Hasheem Thabeet Assigned to D-League

On Thursday 25th of February the Memphis Grizzlies assigned the number 2 overall pick from last years draft to the D-League after averaging 2.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game in 50 games on an average of 10 minutes per game, in my mind that is a waste of a pick especially the 2nd player drafted last year, the Grizzlies have instead opted to play Hamid Haddadi from Iran showing just how little confidence the team has in Thabeet.
Last night Hasheem made his D-League Debut by playing just 17 minutes 51 seconds and scoring a very low 8 points while grabbing 2 rebounds and a block, However this guy is like 7ft 3'' he should be grabbing more rebounds than that. Thabeet is know for his defensive presence yet last night he also got 4 personal fouls and 2 turnovers while only blocking 1 shot not much of a defensive presence to me.
The thing that I find shocking is that most people who play in the D-League either were not drafted or were second rounds picks or maybe even low first round picks, not the 2nd player taken overall. To me I always felt that Thabeet should have stayed in college and developed his game a little better improved his offensive repertoire rather than declare but no Hasheem felt that the NBA was where he deserved to be plus a multimillion pound contract does that to you.
There are guys in the D-League who are better than this guy yet thanks to the Grizzlies need for a big he was the one selected if I was the Grizzlies GM I probably would have picked Dejuan Blair because I have more trust in his Non-Existent ACL's than I do in Thabeet developing an offensive game.

Suprises Since Trade Deadline

Since the trade deadline one team has made a serious surprise, Since trading away 2 of their former All-Stars (Caron Butler and Antwan Jamison) the Washington Wizards have won 3 and lost 2. Andray Blatche is averaging 24.8p.p.g in those 5 games, as well as 9.8 rebounds and 2.8assists, Al Thornton is averaging 16p.p.g and 6 rebounds, James Singleton is averaging 8.4 rebounds per contest and scoring 7.4 points, JaVale McGee is has started the last 5 games after starting the season as a bench player has gone to average 9.6 points and 5.4 rebounds, I could go on for another 10 lines but basically what I'm trying to say is that these guys are stepping up, they have not seen their all stars leave and decided to give up, they have continued to fight, they have committed to make this team better by using the youth which is available to run and play with energy, They have beaten teams like Denver the night after it beat the Cavs, they beat the Bulls who were on a 4 game winning streak, last night they lost by 5 to the Memphis Grizzlies a team that has proven scorers in Marc Gasol, Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph and OJ Mayo, a team who earlier this season were in playoff contention in a competitive Western Conference, The Wizards don't want to wait until the Draft to get a starting block to build the franchise around they don't want one of the free agents available this summer, they want the building block to be what they have now a team with young, dependable scorers who have the will power to make this team better each and every game.

Andy Salmon Makes All-District

Andy Salmon the Ex-Solent Kestrel has made the All-District Team in Mississippi (one of four guards) where he is currently playing High-School basketball, this will hopefully contribute towards him receiving a scholarship to a top NCAA or NAIA college in September. Andy also has England Under 20 trials this summer.

I would just like to congratulate Andy and wish him the best in the future.

Working Towards Greatness

So far its too early to tell who out of the 2009 NBA draft will reach greatness but seen as thought people thought this would be one of the weakest classes ever (i didn't, see my site http://www.behindtheback.webeden.co.uk ) this class has surprised and as the season has gone on people have realised just how good some of these players are, guys like Stephen Curry, Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, Dejuan Blair (a shock 2nd round pick) and all this without the number 1 pick Blake Griffen even playing a game, and he was expected to be the best player and clear number one out of all of his peers.
But now at the half way point of the season it is Tyreke Evans who is dominating this draft class and is probably the greatest last years draft will produce, he's on route to join elite company as one of the only rookies ever to have a 20 - 5 - 5 season, company such as Lebron James, Jordan etc. so far Tyreke Evans is the clear pick for Rookie of the year.
Stephen Curry is another player who has been playing great this season, he's had great numbers so far especially considering he has been playing along side guys like Monta Ellis and for the start of the season Captain Jack, he's an amazing 3-point shooter like he showed us in college at Davidson and he is defiantly living up to dads expectations.
Another player looking for greatness and looking to prove those who let him slip so low in the draft is Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings a guy who scored 55 points in just his 7th NBA game, yes his production has been down since but he is still scoring in bunches and is leading all rookies in assists.
Jonny Flynn is actually pretty used to greatness mainly from his days at the orange of Syracuse but now in the NBA hes been a solid starting point guard for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Hes scoring well especially considering hes been playing alongside scorers such as Al Jefferson and Kevin Love, and he is playing well as a starter ahead of Ramon Sessions a player who broke out last season in Milwaukee.
The last player I'm going to mention is actually one of my favorites, Dejuan Blair in the rookie challenge over the weekend he truly deserves M.V.P as he grabbed 23 rebounds and scored 22 points, but its not like hes not used to such large numbers such as his regular season game where he was the first rookie since Timmmy D to grab 20 - 20 in one game when he grabbed 21 and scored 28 in a game VS Oklahoma City on the 13th of Jan this year this hopefully will be just a look at things to come in the future.
This class has many many excellent players, if they turn great? well only time will tell, but I will enjoy watching this group of young men grow and continue to work towards that ever elusive goal.

The Shame at Fordham

When I was playing Under 14 basketball back in 2002 (I think) we went on a great trip to New York to take part in the Minutemen international tournament, this took place on the campus of Fordham therefore I developed a liking for this university I was actually there for the first game at the new Houlihan park where Fordham played Temple, I liked the university as a team and as a place, unfortunately Fordham is 0 - 9 in confrence play and 2 - 19 overall, pretty bad as you can see and I dont understand why? they have a nice court Rose Hill Gym, one of the oldest in college basketball, they have a relatively strong team and a good coach, so why cant they get a win in their confrence against teams like Massachusetts I hope to see Fordham improve over the years and I hope that they look into the players who once attended their college to play basketball in small tournaments such as this one they could look into the players who played along side me in that tournament, players such as Spencer Wells who im sure will one day play college basketball in the USA, Sam Dye who has developed well last season and this and is probably one of the best dunkers I have seen. There are also the players on the other Solent squads who attended that camp, Andy Salmon who is the quickest yet small point guard currently playing in high school in the states but should end up on a college roster next season.
Fordham are playing really bad and I think they need to look over their options so that they can improve in the future one of their options is the Solent teams who played in their gyms along time ago.

Rookie VS Sophomore Review

Sophomore Team

Russell Westbrook - Oklahoma City Thunder - PG

Russell is one of the leagues young PG's and has developed his game well in Oklahoma, the worries scouts had of his being a play maker are all but gone, he along with Kevin Durant and Jeff Green are leading a young team into a playoff contender down in OKC and is one of the entertaining high flying dunkers.

Kevin Love - Minnesota Timberwolves - PF

Kevin Love is one of my favorite players he can throw the longest out-let pass in the league with about 80% accuracy, he's a great rebounder and he is pretty much a double double machine, when he is assisting guards like Russell, OJ Mayo, Eric Gordon & Anthony Morrow expect him to maybe rack up a triple double in this game with the outlet passes and court vision.

Brooke Lopez - New Jersey Nets - C

Brooke is one of few bright spots in the New Jersey Nets future, they don't know where they will be playing next season probably Newark and then maybe Brooklyn after that but Brooke is still playing strong for this weak team scoring in double digits, rebounding in near double digits, he challenges everyone including Al Horford (All-Star) and Dwight Howard. and maybe one day will be an All-Star himself. We can only hope.

Michael Beasley - Miami Heat - PF

After a season of mishaps and dreadful numbers compared to what was expected of him Beasley is actually starting to contribute well this season and is deserving of a position on this team. Expect him to prove he is worth of the number 2 pick in the draft after Derrick Rose in this game. He should also dominate smaller opposition.

Marc Gasol - Memphis Grizzlies - C

A 7ft 1'' Centre from Spain, Marc is filling in well in place of his brother (Pau) since being traded to Memphis, Marc is part of the reason Memphis are in a playoff position and challenging for a good playoff seed. He is (along with Brooke Lopez) one of the best young Centres in the league and could turn into a huge force in the league in years to come.

Danilo Gallinari - New York Knicks - SF

Danilo is a great shooter and will be a good match-up between him and Omar Casspi, he will be taking part in the 3 point contest and has already guaranteed victory however i feel he will be disappointed and the rookie who beats him (Stephen Curry) in the 3 point shoot-out will also do well against him in this game as well.

Eric Gordon - LA Clippers - SG/PG

Eric is a terrific scorer, he is gunna be taking part in the Dunk-In at half time and will want to out show his rookie opponent both in the Dunk-In and over all rookies in the rookie challange, Eric shouldnt have much trouble guarding Tyreke Evans as both are sround the same size.

Anthony Morrow - Golden State Warriors - SF/SG

Probably the 2nd best Warrior in this game behind Stephen Curry, Anthony supprised alot of people during summer league and is incredibly entertaining he still holds the record for most points scored by an undrafted player look for him to set new records in this game.

OJ Mayo - Memphis Grizzlies - SG

OJ is one of the top young SG's in the L, Kobe has bragged about his work ethic, scoring and defence so obviously he's gunna be good, if Kobe thinks his defence is good he should have no problem guarding the likes of Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, James Harden and Jonny Flynn. He is a great scorer and shouldnt struggle getting to the hole against this smaller opposition.

Rookie VS Sophomore Review

Rookie Team

Brandon Jennings - Milwaukee Bucks - PG

Jennings will be tested in this game, Derrick Rose is a great defender and will make him force shots and force turnovers, Jennings however is used to pressure he is used to it, im 100% sure if you can score 55 points in your 7th NBA game then you can handle it so expect plenty of highlights from this guy. Jennings is also the top rookie for assists and is amazingly creative so he should have no trouble feedng players the ball in this game.

Dejuan Blair - San Antonio Spurs - PF/C

Blair is one of those players that I was shocked to see drop so low I hoped he would go to the Nets or maybe around there but teams were worried by his knees fortunately the Spurs seemed to be able to handle it os now he is learning from Tim Duncan! Blair is short for his position but more than makes up for it with his strenght and determination, expect him to use his strength to box out the sophomores taller forwards, grab rebounds and finish strong.

Omar Casspi - Sacramento Kings - SF/PF

Omar is a solid long range shooter and both he and Steph Curry will spread the defence for Evans and Jennings to drive to the hole, Also as we all know he is the first Israli to play in the NBA and therefore the first Israli to play in the all star weekend hopefully he will be able to represent well on the national/international level.

Stephen Curry - Golden State Warriors - PG/SG

Steph will hopefully take part in both the rookie game and 3-point shootout (I have already predicted him as one of the NBA's best shooters) and like Casspi above he will spread the floor. He is also a good defender and will hopefully be a good match for either Russell Westbrook or Derrick Rose. His versatlility will be hard to guard as he has a knack for getting to the rim and drawing contact.

Jonas Jerebko - Detroit Pistons - SF

He is playing well recently for the under-performing Pistons in place of Tayshaun Prince, I did hope that Demar Deroz would be in this position but I cant really argue as it cant be changed however Jonas is a good scorer with a goor feild goal percentage he also knows the meaning of hard work and hustle and hes shown that recently for the scrappy Pistons.

James Harden - Oklahoma City Thunder - SG/PG

Harden is another legitimate shooter however he can be quite streaky, one night he can go for maybe 80% from three point range and the next game hit 1 from 6. James is doing a great job as a scorer and defender coming off the bench for the young Thunder team he has accepted his role as a sixth-man and is also developing well as a facilitator not just a scorer.

Taj Gibson - Chicago Bulls - PF/SF

Being a Bulls fan I am glad to see Taj getting recognition from other coaches around the league unfortunately Rose wont be throwing him ally-oops but I will be happy to either see Taj block his sophomore team mate and/or get dunked on by Rose. Either way Gibson is a great pick for this team and him and Blair will hopefully rack-up rebounds for this shorer team.

Jonny Flynn - Minnesota Timberwolves - PG

Another PG for this short team luckily this guy is fearless and wont hesitate going up against stronger, taller defenders, his shot however has been off lately hopefully he will be able to get it going during this game if not he has the skills and vision to assist his team mates and lockdown the sophomore PG.

Tyreke Evans -Sacramento Kings - PG/SG

Tyreke is probably Rookie of the year looking to joing only those select few who have averaged 20-5-5 in their rookie season (Lebron. MJ, The Big O) and he is pretty much the future of the Kings young team. Expect Tyreke to work his magic in this game and come away with the most valuable player trophy.
I predict Sophomore win but in the closest game ever played between rookies and sophomores.

All-Star Review 2010

Starters West

C - Amar'e Stoudemire - Doesnt actually play centre for the Phoenix Suns but he is averaging 20.8 points per game, 8.8 rebounds 55% feild goal percentage but unfortunately on 1 assist, fortunately Amar'e is a great dunker and will be a good player to defend Dwight Howard, He is a strong player and will be a good match both offensively and defensively for the West and should put up a few highlights. Oh and working with Steve Nash will make him even better.

PF - Tim Duncan - Having one of his best scoring season propbably helps that he has had many games having DNP due to rest and also Dejuan Blair has been filling in well for him. Tim usually has parker giving him the ball and will also benefit from having Nash to find him open more often. He is also a solid rebounder (around 10 per game) and this will help him get serious put backs and tip ins in this all star game. However if this game is about entertainment I dont see how well tim will fit in.

SF - Carmelo Anthony - The league leader in points per game (29.7) could get All star game M.V.P this year depending on how well he defends Lebron, Hes a great shooter (46% fg) and a good dunker, he will provide plenty of highlights all will do well in this game. As this game is usually about entertainment expect to see something different from Melo compared to his usual games, such as Alley-Opps, Threes, Fericious Dunks and well actually what he normally does in games.

SG - Kobe Bryant - 4th leading scorer averaging 28.3 points per game playing lots of games injured, usually a bad finger, but he also shares his scoring options with the likes of Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum & Ron Artest. Kobe can pretty much score from any where and he was last years co-mvp with Shaq so expect great things from this guy.

PG - Steve Nash - One of the leagues top point guards and playing better than he did when he won back to back M.V.P's hes averaging 11 assists per game so expect him to maybe break the all star game assist record especially playing along side guys such as those above. However dont think that he cant score Nash has an amazing aray of lay-ups and is one of the leagues purest shooters.

Starters East

C - Dwight Howard - 13.3 Rebounds per game, 13.3 really, he dunked on a 12 foot rim, hes been in dunk contests, he is an amazing dunker and hes going to be in a game thats all about entertainment, and he also needs to be the centre in this league who may have to one day fill in for Shaq look for his to start to do that at this all star game.

PF - Kevin Garnett - Unless his Knee gives out and he cant play then im really looking forward to Tim Duncan VS Kevin Garnett, two of the best Power Forwards ever to play the game. His turn around fade away jumper VS Timmys straight up bank shot off the glass could be a great game, hopefully very entertaining.

SF - Lebron James - Another great match-up in Lebron VS Melo however I think this one may be more high scoring and high soaring than the one above. Lebron is looking to be M.V.P again and would like to add another all star M.V.P. to his resumme before the summer of trades.

SG - Dwayne Wade - One of the most athletic and dominant SG's to play the game, also one of the best defensive players and definately the best shooting guard when it comes to blocking shots, Wade can also being it on the Offensive end with high flying dunks and break aways generated by his great wing defence.

PG - Allen Iverson - I like AI but do I think he is worthy of starting PG position on the all star team NO will I miss him when he does finally go YES, Thankfully the reserves have been leaked and apparently Rose and Rondo will be backing him up this could mean he can move over to the two guard and be a sub for d-wade.

Prediction

East win as long as Iverson either doesnt play much or proves that hes deserving of an all star position

Robin Lopez an Extra Year in College Would Have Helped

His brother Brooke (nets) made the right decision leaving the NCAA a season early looking for sucsess in the NBA, Robin however did not need to follow him there, he was probably just too scared to stay at Stamford without his brother maybe he just couldn't stand being the lone 7 footer in the once feared twin peaks offence, so being tall and packed with potential he decided to declare for the draft and who wouldn't want a young 7 footer who would improve with time, he got drafted by the suns to play and learn from Amare and Shaq unfortunately he didn't develop as quickly as hoped, the Suns didn't make the playoffs and this summer they decided to bring in Channing Frye to play his position. Robin I feel would have had a better career had he stayed at college for an extra year and got used to not having another 7 footer to help you out especially when it's your bro who's got your back. If he had entered into Junes draft instead of when he did entre he could have gone higher (as there are not that many solid big men in this years class) and to a team that actually needs a 7 footer, he would have also developed better as a player. Instead he will have to wait develop slowly and probably just be a useful 7 foot bench warmer and only be use in blowout wins or losses always wishing he had stayed in college that extra year.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod Touch

All-Star Reserves Review

West Reserves -

Chris Paul - The East has Rondo & Rose, The west has Paul and Williams, unfortunatly CP3 will probably still be injured come all star weekend so look for either Jason Kidd or Chauncey Billups to replace him. PPG 20.4 RPG 4.6 APG 11.2
Brandon Roy - The league has many rising young stars and Brandon Roy is one of the best, actually he probably is already the best young shooting guard obviously below Kobe and D-Wade but not many SG's are more skilled than him. He is also a great team leader as shown in his play for the Portland Trailblazers. PPG 23.1 RPG 4.6 APG 5.0
Deron Williams - Deron Williams like Chris Paul is one of the best young PG's in the league, he's big like J-Kidd and has speed, scoring ability and vision hes an Olympic gold medal winner and will now add all-star to him resume. PPG 18.9 RPG 4.0 APG 9.7
Kevin Durant - Durant is probably the top yound player in the world (21years old), he is already the 2nd leading scorer in the whole of the NBA even ahead of players like Lebron and Kobe, a good rebounder and uses his rediculous wing-span to block shots, get steals, grab rebounds and score at will on his opponents look for this guy to dominate in his 1st all-star apperance. PPG 29.7 RPG 7.3 APG 2.9
Dirk Nowitzski - The best international player to play in the NBA, I expected him to start as the game is in Dallas which is where he plays for the Mavs but unfortunately he missed out to Tim Duncan, Dirk is a solid player who can shoot the 3, get to the line (and make the free throws - 89%) improved again this year and hopes to lead Dallas to the finals. PPG 25.1 RPG 7.8 APG 2.4
Zach Randolph - WOW! people were worried Zach would have a negative influence on the Memphis Grizzlies, worried he was washed up. Zach is averaging 20.8 points per game! and 11.6 rebounds! hes 12th in the league in scoring and leading his team in both scoring and rebounding. Im glad to see that coaches round the league are giving him the respect he is due. PPG 20.8 RPG 11.6 APG 2.0
Pau Gasol - Like the East with Al Horford I like Pau but I feel other players were overlooked in this position, I feel his brother Marc (15 PPG 9.6 RPG) and Chris Kamen (20.1 PPG 9.2 RPG) were more deserving of this position mainly Chris who is having a career high season and is leading his team despite the injury to Blake Griffen. PPG 17.1 RPG 10.7 APG 3.3

All-Star Reserves Review

East Reserves -

Rajon Rondo - When the Boston traded for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett people worried about the Celtics especially at the PG position, Rajon has silenced those doubters and me included, he lead the Celtis to a championship, and now has 21 double doubles and 1 tripple double this season. Hes playing better than almost every other Celtic and looks to be the future of the franchise. so far this season his averages are - PPG 14.1 RPG 4.30 APG 9.7

Derrick Rose - In only his second season Derrick Rose has become an All-Star and probably the best point guard in the east along with Rondo mentioned above. He is the 1st Bull to make the All-Star team since MJ and those are big shoes to fill, his season averages are - PPG 19.7 RPG 3.70 APG 5.9

Joe Johnson - So far this season Atlanta have exceeded expectations, Joe Johnson is the main reason for this, sure Josh Smith has shot fewer three's than ever in his career but Joe is the soul of this team and the franchise star unfortunately in the All-Star game Dwayne Wade will be starting and Joe may not get big time minutes. Averages PPG 21.4 RPG 4.80 APG 4.8

Chris Bosh - The best player in Canada and one of the best in the NBA, Chris Bosh is developing into one of the best plyers/best PF's in the league and im so glad hes been voted in by the coaches as an All-Star. his season averages are - PPG 24.0 RPG 11.4 APG 2.2

Paul Peirce - Pierce is getting old yet he is able to still do what hes always done, Score, Paul is averaging a team high 18.9 points and will be team together with Rajon Rondo coming off the bench for the East. Pauls season averages are PPG 18.9 RPG 4.7 APG 3.4

Gerald Wallace - Has deserved to be a season for the past few years and has developed well in Charlotte (hes the franchises 1st All-Star) espcially now he has been joined by Stepen Jackson who is another solid scorer for the Bobcats, Gerald is averaging a rediculous 11 rebounds per game! hes only 6ft 7, his other averages are PPG 19.2 RPG 11.0 APG 1.9

Al Horford - I like Al however other players were over looked in this position such as David Lee (19.6ppg, 11.5rebs ) and Joakim Noah (11.4ppg, 12.2rebs) instead they will have Al who dont get me wrong I do like but has averages of 13.3PPG, 9.6 RPG & 2.2 APG

Tommorrow we look at the West reserves

3rd Post Today

I dont know if their is like a record for the number of posts made in a day however I have alot to write and not alot of time t write it because tommorrow I will have thought of something else and something else and I will just forget so I may aswell write it all now just in case.

This article will be about Jeff Green -

Oklahoma City is a rebuilding team with a few corner stones such as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green is another one, Jeff was aquired from he Boston Celtics in the Ray Allen trade a trade that changed the face of the NBA, back then he was in Seattle now he and his team mates are balling for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is currently the teams 3rd leading scorer averaging 14.2 points per game, he is also grabing 6.2 reounds per contest 2nd on the team only behind Kevin Durant who is probably a future M.V.P Jeff Green is developing, Oklahoma is supposed to be rebuilding as in starting from the begining it was supposed to take them years and years to become a normal team (maybe 10th in the west) but no this team is thinking playoffs as in top 8 in the west they are basically aready there along with suprise team Memphis, This wasnt supposed to happen this fast but this wasnt supposed to have a future M.V.P s soon and they werent sure if Russell Westbrook was going to develop this well. The final addition to this Playoff potential team is Jeff Green scoring on offence and defending the opposing teams big men suc as Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan sometimes even Dwight Howard. Jeff Green has made that step up to playoff player and because of this Oklahoma has made the step to playoff team

The Washington Wizards

For the past few years I have been able to say with pride that my favorite team is the Washington Wizards, 3 all stars - Arenas, Butler & Jamison, solid back-ups in Nick Young, JaVale McGee & Andray Blatche. I no longer feel this team anymore and my new favorite is now the Chicago Bulls, as a kid I grew up as a Bulls fan but thats was when I wasnt really interested in basketball, then I pretty much liked every team, as I got older and started watching and following basketball closer I decided that Arenas was my favorite player and therefore Washington my favorite team, I liked the kit I had a kit which living in England is hard to get trust me, I would check the box scores daily but they let me down.
This season Gilbert Arenas made a mistake, a big mistake, however that does not mean that the Washington organization who made this man their star ($111 million dollar contract) now has to turn their back on him and remove ever sign of Arenas from the arena and everything which has any reference to him behing a Wizard. Basketball is a brotherhood and the Washington Wizards turned their back on a brother.
Washington was my favorite team and Gilbert was my favorite player, times change, players change. I now have a new favorite team probably the team I loved the most all my life i just didnt know it, im a Bull and will always be a Bull, but when it comes to Washington I have lost respect, I have lost that love that I felt for this organization, players make mistakes its up to the team to either help a team mate out or leave him out to the dogs so that he can be beaten down.
Washington has left Gilbert out to the dogs mistakes happen and Washington have made the biggest mistake.
What they need now is a change, basically get rid of everyone, maybe keep Earl Boykins because he's playing pretty solid, Washington you need to re-build get rid of Butler & Jamison let them challange for a chip because they aint gunna get it playing for you. Let the youth that you have go, Blatche has a bit of an attitude thats why hes been suspended so much, Nick Young no matter how much I like him would be better off coming off the bench for a sub-par team.
Lose games, get a high pick, clear cap space and sign an all-star in the free agencey.
Washington its up to you to make this team a contender that you were supposed to be this season but now it will take another 5-10 years instead of 1.

NBA Review 1/02/2010

Boston VS Washington

The Wizards are probably the 2nd worst team in the east right now and Boston are probably the 2nd best, therefore an easy win for the Boston Celtics, Rajon Rondo had yet another double double (20 on the season) and 6 Boston players scored in double digits, Washington however only got 8 points (on 2 from 17 from the field) from former all-star Antwan Jamison the also as a team only shot 38.9% and 10% from 3 point range, however this bad shooting resulted in 9 offensive rebounds unfortunatly they couldnt make their put-backs.

Final Score - Boston 99 Washington 88


Milwaukee VS Miami

Dwayne Wade finished with 23 points after going on a scoring run of 11 to start the game befre the Bucks applied solid defence to hold the Heat to 36% fg shooting, Milwaukee ad 2 players record a double double as both Andrew Bogut and Carlos Delfino ad double digit rebounds and points, Bogut had 22(pts) & 11(rebs) and Delfino had 16 & 10. Bradon Jennings had an off day only scoring 9 points but dishing 8 assists. Beasley tried to pick up he slack for the Heat scoring 16 points and Udonis Haslem contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double double of his own Unfrtunately for the Heat they only made 68% of their free throws compared to the Bucks 82%.

Final Score - Milwaukee 97 Miami 81


LA Lakers VS Memphis Grizzlies

Kobe scored 44 points but only had 3 assists and his team mates just could not make a basket, Bynum finished with 5 points and 8 rebounds, Gasol finished with 10pts and 9rebs and Artest contributed 18 Points, Memphis on the other hand had the scorers gay scored a team high 25 points followed closely by Zach Randolph who ad 22pts and 17! rebounds, Marc Gasol grabbed 13 rebounds against his brother and scored 11 points, they also had a reat bench contribution from Luther Hudson who gave them 13 points ff the bench.

Final Score - LA Lakers 93 Memphis 95


Phoeix Suns VS ew Orleans Hornets

Stoudemire had 25 points, 12 rebounds and a block, Steve Nash had 12 assists, 2 steals and 18 points to overcome the short handed Hornets who were without Chris Paul. The Suns also got good contributions from normally benched centre Robin Lopez who started and gave them 6rebs and 18points and the bench came in well with 20 points from Channing Frye 20points and Jared Dudley 12points. New Orleans rookie Darren Collison continued t play well in place of injured Chris Paul as he had 14 assists and 16 points, rookie SG Marcus Thornton added 25points and held j-rich to a low of 3 points. David West added 20 points for the Hornets.

Final Score - Phoenix Suns 109 New Orleans 100


Sacramento Kings VS Denver Nuggets

Sacramento were without Tyreke Evans last night but had a close game with the Nuggets, Spencer Hawes ad a team high 23 points and Kevin Martin added 22, Omar Caspi scored 14 off the bench on 4 of 5 from the feild and scored 100% of his 6 free throws. Denver were without leading scorer Carmello Anthony but replacement Kenyon Martin had 24 points filling in or him, Billups took alot of the load scoring 23 points, rookie Ty Lawson one f my favorites scored 15 off the bench and fa favorite Chris Andersen added 11 and a block.

Final Score - Sacramento 109 Denver 112


Dallas Mavericks VS Utah Jazz

The Jazz held the Mavericks to 16points in the 4th quater and had a solid team game, Dallas n he other hand sarted well but couldnt finish in the final quater. Deron Williams had 15 assists, 18points and 7rebounds, Paul Millsap scored 10 f his 16 shots and finished with 25 points and 9 rebounds. 6 Jazz players scored in double digits and had a total of 26 team assists. Dallas ad big contributions from Dirk(28pts) and Jason Terry(19pts) but could not close out the game in the 4th

Final Score - Dallas 92 Jazz 104


Charlotte Bobcats VS Portland Trailblazers

Portland played amazing defence to limit the Bobcats in almost every quater and sowed that even withut Brandn Roy are a great team. Charlotte showed that appart from Gerrald Wallace and Stephen Jackson they have no serious scorers as only 3 players scored in double digits, 17 from Wallace, 23 from Jackson and 13 from Flip Murray. Portland had reat contributions from most players with rookie Dante Cunningham scoring 10points off the bench, Nicholas Batum addng 15 and Rudy Fernandez 11 all off the bench, The starters Webster(10pts) Aldridge(17s) and Bayless(15pts) all played well at home to secure the win.

Final Score - Charlotte 79 Portland 98

New Website

I created this website as a second site my main site is:

www.behindtheback.webeden.co.uk

I have created this site so that I can post things on this aswell as my other site at different times of day.