I’m on record as strongly disapproving of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh taking advantage of Florida’s tax laws to stack a team. I know some guys are okay with it, but then again some guys are okay with baseball stars illegally using performance enhancing drugs as well. A lot of fans just don’t get it. But when James, Wade and Bosh chose to take a shortcut to glory, they likewise chose, no matter how many...

In case you missed it, the basketball world buzzed for about 15 minutes in September of 2009 about a possible one on one match between Michael Jordan and Bryon Russell. After Michael Jordan’s controversial Hall of Fame acceptance speech, Utah Flash owner Brandt Anderson announced he would donate $100,000 to the charity of his choice if Michael Jordan would play Bryon Russell one on one during halftime of the Utah Flash’s home...

During the 2009 NBA Playoffs: Trevor Ariza shot 50% from the floor. Ron Artest shot 39%. Trevor Ariza shot 48% from the arc. Ron Artest shot 28%. Trevor Ariza made clutch defensive stops again and again for the Lakers. Ron Artest, a supposed lock down defender, made boneheaded decisions that resulted in technical fouls and ejections. Trevor Ariza knows the intricacies of the triangle offense and is productive in it. Ron Artest doesn’t, and frankly doesn’t have a reputation for being the brightest bulb in the ceiling. Trevor Ariza is young and getting better. Ron Artest is declining. Ron Artest is a stronger BRAND name than Trevor Ariza, but Trevor is the better player — especially for the Lakers.

QUESTION: what does the McDonald’s fast food chain and NBA Officiating having in common? ANSWER: They are both run by a clown named Ronald. Retiring U.S. Army General, Ronald L. Johnson, was hired to be the NBA’s “senior vice president of referee operations,” a newly created position, In the aftermath of the Tim Donaghy scandal. Four things about this raised my eyebrows. (1) During tough economic times, when the NBA...

I’ve been rewatching Olympic Men’s Basketball, wishing the NBA preseason were already here. To keep from going crazy, I’ve decided to list out 20 things I wish the NBA would do to improve itself. Nearly all of these ideas are whimsical, nevertheless, I’d like to know what you think about them. And what are some of your own ideas? So, in no particular order, where is some of my wish list for the NBA… 1 –...

It had been EIGHT years since USA Men’s Basketball had won an international competition. Then, in USA’s EIGHTH game of the Olympics, the so called “Redeem Team” joined Michael Phelp’s EIGHT gold medal performance as the biggest stories of the 2008 Olympics, which started on… 08/08/08. That said, here are 8 observations about USA’s 2008 gold medal run think about. — 1 — If Team USA proved...

To my surprise, I started crying when the game ended, just a little, as I watched USA coach Mike Krzyzewski cry. Good job, Coach Krzyzewski. Good job USA. Game analysis will come other time; I’m just going to drink in this moment for now. I love this game, and I love this country… it couldn’t be any better, could...

Whenever there’s a conversation about USA Basketball, there’s always someone pontificating about the 1992 “Dream Team”  There should really be a special website for people who live in the past so they don’t keep cluttering up conversations about international basketball. And then there are the guys always harping on USA because it sends NBA players instead of college guys. Sigh. Today the best player on the...

redeem (verb) – to do something that makes other people have a better opinion of (you), especially after you have behaved badly or failed at something. — Cambridge Dictionary of American English. Whoever first coined the phrase, “The road to redemption” must have understood that redemption is almost never a single act or gesture. Redemption is a road that, like all roads, must to be traveled a step at a time. Today...

Perhaps the two most notable things about this game against Germany are: 1. How sharp USA played in a “meaningless game,” and 2. How USA strayed from the winning formula it has been using so far in international play. Because USA could force themselves to play with such sharpness in a meaningless game like this, I’m thinking there won’t be any let downs in the medal games to come. But it’s really remarkable how...

If you are a fan of USA basketball, this was a great game, but two numbers indicate Team USA wasn’t yet tested where it is weakest: inside. Those two numbers are 28 and 64. Twenty-eight. Spain committed 28 turnovers versus the United States. For perspective, Spain committed 8 turnovers in their previous game against Greece. Sixty four. USA shot 7 of 11 (64%) from the arc in the first half. For perspective, that is better than...

The first quarter was tense. In the first minute and a half, Jason Kidd picked up 3 fouls, none of them would have been fouls in the NBA. Enter Chris Paul, and he turned the ball over on his very first pass. Add bogus foul calls on Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant, (not to mention the fouls that weren’t being called on Greece), and in the first 2 minutes of play, Team USA found themselves with a 5 to 0 foul disparity, a starter on the...

Hot on the heals of Josh Childress’s departure from the Atlanta Hawks to play in Greece, the Hawks have just learned they may have missed out on a promising prospect that was almost on their front door step. According to this story… Matthew Whitton, a cop in Clayton County, Ga., and his friend Rick Dyer, a former corrections officer, say they recently found the body of Big Foot in the woods of northern Georgia. Veteran Bigfoot...

Observations about the USA vs. Angola game have me thinking USA has a problem with their “bigs,” or in other words, a BIG problem. — Angola’s 3 point shooting was about as bad as Team USA’s (29%), as was their mid range game, meaning most of Angola’s 76 points came inside, which is SERIOUSLY bad news for Team USA. USA’s bigs were dismayingly deficient defensively, especially since Angola may be the...

In sports forums all over the Internet, there is debate about the legality of face guarding in basketball. The debate was sparked by two events: an ABC / ESPN televised game between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers on March 16, 2008, and an article written the same day by well known basketball analyst, Charlie Rosen . Because much (but not all) of the face guarding in that game was against the world’s most controversial...

Being a little weary of all the speculation about how the Suns will do with Shaq, I’ve decided to write a piece that goes a totally different way. Teams such as the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, etc. have become known for their international players, however, 8 of 15 Lakers have strong international connections… giving the Lakers a very broad, worldwide fan base. — DJ Mbenga — Originally born...

Recently I was reading an old article by Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, entitled “More on USA Basketball,” (not to be confused with, “Moron USA Basketball”) . In this article, Mark Cuban focuses most of his propositions at the NBA — which isn’t surprising since he owns an NBA franchise. However, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail,”...