If you missed last night’s Rockets-Suns beatdown, you missed a scuffle involving Matt Barnes, Rafer Alston and just about everyone in uniform. The highlight, undoubtably, was Shaquille O’Neal running to shove Tracy McGrady, knocking down three or four other players in the process. Unfortunately for the Rockets, they didn’t have the intimidating presence of Clutch, the Rockets’ lovable mascot. Thanks to Deadspin, we’ve found a hilarious video involving said mascot, scaring the bejesus out of little kids. Enjoy. 

There’s something more grotesque than the new Timberwolves jerseys in Minnesota.  It’s the floor they play on.  What’s up with the two toned action that they have going on there now?  It looks like a Chevy Caprice got flattened so ten guys could play hoops on it.  It’s ugly and it sucks.  But the puzzling thing is that it didn’t always suck, which leads me to believe that someone within the organization thought it’d be a good idea to change it.  That person should be fired.

I don’t normally hate going off the beaten path when we talk about changing some stuff up.  Hell, the Boston Garden floor was the coolest thing ever.  But this?  This looks like we should break out some YMCA teams and play.  Don’t take this as a suggestion; take this as a demand.  Change the floor.

It’s been a while since Isiah Thomas’ name was in the news, but I sure wish we didn’t have to hear him involved with something, you know, actually serious. Reports say the NBA Hall of Famer (and Knicks architect of fail) Isiah Thomas accidently overdosed on sleeping pills and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment. But in true Isiah fashion, this incident is already looking like a cluster.

Former Knicks coach Isiah Thomas was taken to the hospital early this morning because he overdosed on sleeping pills at his Westchester home, authorities said.

When reached on his cell phone today, Thomas, 47, denied those claims and inexplicably insisted that it was his 17-year-old daughter Lauren who was the one having an issue but it “wasn’t an overdose.”

Well, this is interesting. The Associated Press didn’t name names, but said that a 47-year-old man at Isiah’s residence was taken to the hospital. Oh look, Isiah Thomas happens to be 47 himself. I’m willing to put two and two together and assume that Thomas is the 47-year-old man in question, not his 17-year-old DAUGHTER. 

To kick off our NBA season preview, we talked about the Atlantic Division, home of the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics. With the Big Three finally getting rings, will we see Boston rule the Eastern Conference again? Or can the Raptors and 76ers, backed by big-time acquisitions, chase them in the division? Also, we talk about the New York Knicks and Mike D’Antoni’s impact on the team.

 

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Greek team Olympiakos, fresh off its’ acquisation of Hawks guard Josh Childress, is set to raise the bar in European basketball.  Olympiakos is set to offer Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant a three year deal worth $83 million in tax free money.  In addition to this contract, Bryant will be hooked up with a villa on the Mediterranean, his own boat, and a full service staff available around the clock.  For reference, Kobe a player option after this year that can allow him to opt out of his contract.

To an extent, having players leave the NBA to play globally is good for the NBA brand.  Guys like Josh Childress and Nenad Kristic will assuredly spread the excitement of basketball to reaches of the world that weren’t previously attained.  However, having a guy like Kobe or LeBron depart for Europe would be incredibly damaging to the NBA.  Can you imagine the Cleveland franchise if LeBron took off for Italy or Russia to play?  How the hell would the Cavaliers justify charging upwards of $100 for tickets to see a bunch of guys who, in all likelihood, wouldn’t win 20 games during the season.  Would the Lakers draw the star power and attention that they do now without Kobe Bryant running the floor for them nightly?  Doubtful.

I’m not sure how the NBA would remedy this nor am I going to spend hours of time to figure out a way to save the NBA from the world.  However, the NBA should change their public response to their players going overseas.  Stop being so ecstatic about it and start bunkering down and keeping the factions that make your league great.

Last week, I got the chance to review EA Sports’ NBA Live ‘09 a few days before it hit stores. While I felt the game had some great features and was moving in the right direction, I still believed it had a ways to go before reaching the level of the NBA 2K series. Now, after a few days of playing 2K9, the gap between the two franchises appears to be wider than ever.

When you first pop in NBA 2K9, you’re greeted by one of the game’s new features: Living Rosters. While not as deep and detailed as NBA Live’s incredible 365 feature, Living Rosters will enable players to constantly have the most updated rosters possible. Early reports say rosters will update weekly and there was already an update available on launch day. 

We know all about the deep franchise mode that sports video games possess. NBA 2K9 is no exception; “The Association” is incredibly deep. However, unlike NBA Live’s limited superstar feature, 2K9 does not offer a feature like this. However, if players want to control a single player, they have a chance to do so online. Read the rest of this entry »