Basketball (NBA, College, etc.)

geoffropuff wrote:cp3 wants out of NO. says he wants to play for the lakers, new york, or orlando. don't think it's happening unless NO just wants a salary dump.

It'd be great if he joined the Lakes, but there'd be a conflict for starting guard, since they just signed D-Fish... And Blake as number two. :sweat:

bmwracer wrote:
It'd be great if he joined the Lakes, but there'd be a conflict for starting guard, since they just signed D-Fish... And Blake as number two. :sweat:

Plus he's another player who also always needs the ball. :sweat: NY papers are already saying he'll be a Knick when he becomes a free agent, just like all the others who flocked there. :bleh:

hitomi #1 wrote:NY papers are already saying he'll be a Knick when he becomes a free agent, just like all the others who flocked there. :bleh:

LOL, any player who's on or near free agency instantly is a future Knick. :rofl:

bmwracer wrote:
LOL, any player who's on or near free agency instantly is a future Knick. :rofl:

They keep playing up their 'rich history' :rofl: and playing in the world's greatest arena. :beatyou: I can think of easily 5 teams that have a better history and that's not including any of the recent expansion teams. :sweat: Hmmmm, for their 'rich history' they have one more championship than the Syracuse NBA team. :doh:

hitomi #1 wrote:They keep playing up their 'rich history' :rofl: and playing in the world's greatest arena. :beatyou: I can think of easily 5 teams that have a better history and that's not including any of the recent expansion teams. :sweat: Hmmmm, for their 'rich history' they have one more championship than the Syracuse NBA team. :doh:

LOL, all they can rely on is their "rich history" because their "recent history" stinks to high heaven. :hehe:

Lakers sign free-agent forward Matt Barnes

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP)\Matt Barnes(notes) is going back to Los Angeles, this time to join the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers.

The Lakers announced Thursday they had signed the free-agent forward. Terms were not disclosed.

Barnes, a UCLA product who started 58 games last season for Orlando, said earlier this week on his Twitter page that he was headed to Toronto. But the deal fell through, and the Lakers moved in to grab the seven-year veteran.

The well-traveled swingman will be joining his eighth NBA team. He has averaged 7.3 points, with a career high of 10.2 for Phoenix during the 2008-09 season.

Yow, Lakers were busy today:

Lakers sign veteran C Theo Ratliff

LOS ANGELES (AP)\Veteran center Theo Ratliff has agreed to a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Ratliff said Thursday hefll join the two-time defending NBA champions as a backup to 7-foot stars Pau Gasol(notes) and Andrew Bynum(notes).

The 15-year pro played 49 games last season with San Antonio and Charlotte, averaging 3.6 points and 3.2 rebounds. He revived his career while starting 26 games with the Bobcats, averaging 5.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.54 blocked shots.

The Lakers will be the 37-year-old Ratlifffs ninth NBA team. The defensive specialist had his most productive seasons with Philadelphia, averaging a career-best 12.4 points in 2000-01.

^ Been reading the comments and buzz about the Lakers picking up Ratliff and Barnes... Everyone thinks they've not only improved their bench, but their team defense as well. :victory:

2010-2011 should be very interesting.

Surprise, surprise, the Big Tub O'Goo is without a team for 2010: http://tinyurl.com/2ce9kh8

Looks like he's doing his imitation of Babe Ruth in his later years: overweight, past his prime, and over-valuing himself.

bmwracer wrote:Surprise, surprise, the Big Tub O'Goo is without a team for 2010: http://tinyurl.com/2ce9kh8

Looks like he's doing his imitation of Babe Ruth in his later years: overweight, past his prime, and over-valuing himself.

What are you talkin' about. He has 4 titles left in him...for biggest eater at Chili's, Applebee's, TGIF's, and PF Changs.

Tu_triky wrote:What are you talkin' about. He has 4 titles left in him...for biggest eater at Chili's, Applebee's, TGIF's, and PF Changs.

LOL. :hehe:

You left out July 4th at Nathan's. :rofl:

bmwracer wrote:^ Been reading the comments and buzz about the Lakers picking up Ratliff and Barnes... Everyone thinks they've not only improved their bench, but their team defense as well. :victory:

2010-2011 should be very interesting.

Seems as though the stronger teams have really improved themselves in the off season, wonder if it's gonna play out like the MLB is now, such a big difference between the haves and have nots, :grumble: probably 6 teams with a chance to win it all and the rest really have not much of a chance :shakehead: ...signing Shaq though could put one of them right up there. :twisted:

hitomi #1 wrote:...signing Shaq though could put one of them right up there. :twisted:

With the have nots. :P

:hehe:

Yao says he may quit if foot doesn't fully heal

BEIJING – Houston Rockets center Yao Ming is considering quitting basketball after next season if he doesn't fully recover from his lingering foot injury.

In comments to Chinese state media Monday, Yao sounded far from optimistic about his future and also made a rare criticism of China's national basketball program.

"If the foot injury does not heal next season, I might choose to call it quits," he said.

Yao turns 30 in September and missed last season following foot surgery. He is set to return to the Rockets after deciding not to opt out of the final year of his contract. Though he has said his recovery was going well, the Rockets have signed 7-foot veteran Brad Miller to share the work at center.

Yao, who was in China for charity events and remains wildly popular in his country, all but ruled out playing in the 2012 London Olympics.

"The chance is very small," the 7-6 center was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. "The foot injury will not allow me to play so many games anymore. Like I said before, I will quit the national team and the sport one day. It's what happens to every athlete."

Without Yao, the national team has played lackluster ball, including an embarrassing home loss to Iran in the final of the Asian Championship last year. Yao attributed the poor showings to China's focus on the 2008 Beijing Olympics and neglect of development teams and the country's professional league.

"We are paying for what we didn't do leading up to 2008. We skipped the development of a reserve team and the CBA league and focused only on the national team and the Olympics. It's like you are killing the goose that lays the golden egg," he said. "I'm 30. As an athlete, I am not the future of China basketball anymore."

Can his career in the NBA be considered a flop? There was so much hype and the Rockets have done nothing.

Jav_sol wrote:Can his career in the NBA be considered a flop? There was so much hype and the Rockets have done nothing.

I wouldn't think it's a flop, but it's not nearly as successful from a basketball standpoint as he (or others) might have expected...

I think it's been very successful from a marketing standpoint: China's just ga-ga about b-ball... Actually Kobe's in China right now and it's standing room only.

bmwracer wrote:
I wouldn't think it's a flop, but it's not nearly as successful from a basketball standpoint as he (or others) might have expected...

I think it's been very successful from a marketing standpoint: China's just ga-ga about b-ball... Actually Kobe's in China right now and it's standing room only.

I was thinking from a basketball standpoint.
I'm sure the NBA is loving what Yao has meant for the sport over in China. I think it has become the most popular team sport over there.

Jav_sol wrote:I was thinking from a basketball standpoint.
I'm sure the NBA is loving what Yao has meant for the sport over in China. I think it has become the most popular team sport over there.

Just ahead of the sport of "Get in Your Tank and Run Down Dissenters." :beaten:

Jav_sol wrote:Can his career in the NBA be considered a flop? There was so much hype and the Rockets have done nothing.

Healthy may be the best center in the league, seems destined to join that long list of 'what would have happened if...' players, :grumble: hope he doesn't turn out to be one of them or a flop though the story doesn't sound too hopeful. :puppydog:

Video: Fan wearing LeBron Heat jersey escorted from Indians game

http://tinyurl.com/22ov5wa