Hoops Haven

Everyone likes to express themselves in their own way, and NBA players are no different. From hairstyles to tatoos, to beards and mustaches, each player has their individual style. Some players take their individuality to the extreme for all of us to see. Here is my list of All-Time NBA players who were not afraid to express themselves and gave us a lasting image while on the court:

Honorable Mention:

Bill Russell – Style can also be expressed in jewelry, and no one has more championship rings than Mr. Russell.

10) Manute Bol – Who could forget his 7′7, “Daddy Long Legs” physique where 95% of his body was arms and legs. As a fan favorite in Philly, he once hit 6 of 12 on three point shots in a game against former teammate Charles Barkley, when with the Suns.

9) Stephon Marbury – By now we all are fascinated by Steph’s online antics eating glue and crying. He’s like a bad accident, we just can’t look away. We should have realized that he was heading down the oddball path last Summer when he was apparently influenced by Mike Tyson to get his Starbury logo tatted onto his head.

Adam Morrison – Although he was a tremendous player at Gonzaga, he is more known for his cheesy, shady looking mustache while riding the pine, in the NBA.

7) Anthony Mason – As a revered defensive presence in the NBA for 13 years, Mason may have been the first player to shave words and sayings into his head, like “I’m Ready” during the ‘99 NBA lockout.

6) Kenny “Sky” Walker – Although other players like Dell Curry, Sam Perkins, and most recently Brandon Jennings, rocked the high top fade, Walker’s was probably the highest. That along with his spandex shorts extending a few inches below his regulation NBA attire, and winning the ‘89 Slam Dunk title, made him a crowd favorite.

5) Chris “Birdman” Andersen – Everything about the Birdman is in your face, from his many different stylish hairdoo’s, emphatic dunks, numerous tatoos, to his hands flapping with his arms folded celebrations after a big dunk.

4)Kurt Rambis – The Wolves new head coach used to wear some stylish specs during his playing days, making millions of fans think it was cool to wear glasses……………..not!

3) “Dr J” Julius Erving – Early fans of the “Dr” remember he, along with Artis Gilmore sported huge afros, all the way back to their ABA days.

2) Allen Iverson – The “Answer” has his own style even today. Using his diminutive stature to score at will, to the many tatoos, the cornrows, and even his on and offcourt swagger, AI definately expresses himself.

1) Dennis Rodman – “The Worm” got under everyone’s skin, even his own teammates. While he was undoubtedly one of the best rebounders in history, Rodman without a doubt put on a show, from the outragious hair colors, to mocking opponents, kicking photographers, refusing to wear shoes, and even getting married to………………….himself.

In my opinion, the San Antonio Spurs are a dynasty. By winning four titles within the last eleven years, the Spurs should be considered among the elite franchises of all-time. Their four championships rank them 4th behind the Celtics, Lakers, and Bulls. The one constant on all 4 championship teams is future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan. The Spurs were good during the mid 90’s with stars like former MVP David Robinson and Sean Elliot. In the ‘96-’97 season, Robinson was injured and played in only 6 games while the team finished with one of the worst records in the league at 20-62. The Spurs were stuck in NBA no man’s land of being good but not great.

The Spurs should be the model for the old adage,”You must get real bad before you can get real good.” Because of their bad record, they secured the #1 pick in the ‘97 draft, in which they selected Tim Duncan out of Wake Forest University. The rest became history, since the Spurs paired Duncan with Robinson, forming a modern version of the “Twin Towers”, and won the franchises’ first title in only Duncan’s 2nd season in 1999.

Fast forward ten seasons to ‘09-’10, and the Spurs could be considered the model franchise in the NBA because of the management’s willingness to surround their superstar(Duncan) with high talent role players through either free agency or the draft. San Antonio is once again one of the favorites to win another title because they went out and spent to acquire Richard Jefferson to add to an already tremendous nucleus.

But, one look at the ages of their “Big Three” reveals that San Antonio’s “window of opportunity” to win is closing. Duncan will turn 34 by season’s end. Ginobili, who has had injury problems is 32. Parker, although younger will be 28 at season’s end, has recently also had injury issues. The newly acquired Jefferson, at 29, has also had injuries and played 82 games in only 3 of his 8 seasons. It appears that management recognizes this has chosen to try and win now…………….again.

While Parker, Ginobili, and Jefferson are good players, they would be hard pressed to carry a franchise to another title without their 2 time league MVP, Duncan. While Duncan has been relatively healthy, one has to wonder when the pounding of playing 900 games over 12 NBA seasons will take it’s toll on the 11 time All-Star’s ageing knees.

A knowledgeable Spurs fan knows to savor every minute that Duncan is on the court since replacing TD with another player of his character, stature, and abilities is maybe once in 20 years occurance.

There are many talented players in next season’s recruiting class. In this series, I will give a closer look at some of the best players who are probably one year and done college players in the Class of 2010.

While the 2010 recruiting class is lacking in big men, it more than makes up with backcourt talent. At or near the top of that list is combo guard Josh Selby. He ranks right up there with Kyrie Irving and Brandon Knight.

Selby could be the most aggresive and attacking scoring point guards in the country. Many potential suitors shouldn’t discount his lack of overwhelming height at 6′3 because can finish above the rim as well as anyone in the class. He can knock down three’s at alarming rates and competes with toughness and never allows his opponent to relax.

He is ranked anywhere from #8 at ESPN to #4 by Rivals. He impressed recently at the Boost Mobile Elite 24 Game in NY by totaling 18 points, 6 assists, and an ferocious 1 handed dunk over another top player, Kendall Marshall, which by now is all over the Internet. Brandon Jennings and Kevin Love were in attendance and described his performance “bananas”, “crazy“, and ‘Vince Carter like“. Selby averaged more than 16 points during his Junior season.

Selby, out of Baltimore Lake Clifton, recently decommited from Tennessee and is scheduling visits to top tier schools like Kentucky, Kansas, Baylor, and UCONN. Much has been made about Selby’s relationship with college hoops power broker William Wesley, who is a close personal friend of John Calipari.  Many speculate that he will now be leaning towards Kentucky.  Josh insists that will have no influence on his choice of college he will be attending.

Selby reminds scouts of a young Gary Payton or Ben Gordon, because of his temperamental attitude. It may do him good at the next level because he is a competitor and will do anything to win a ball game. It will be interesting to see where he winds up, because the sky is the limit for Josh Selby.

If anyone had any doubts about Jameer Nelson’s injured shoulder, he proved them wrong last week by making an appearance at a Phillies home game vs the Diamondbacks,and throwing out the first pitch. Many of his Magic teammates were along to witness their point guard’s appearance and even took in some pregame batting practice and watched the game from a luxury box at the stadium.

That wasn’t the only reason that the former St. Joe’s product and National Player of the Year in ‘04, was back in his hometown. He annually runs his own training camp with his Magic teammates like Vince Carter, Matt Barnes, Rashard Lewis and Philly natives and current players like Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Mo Speights, Kyle Lowery(Philly native and former Villanova pg), and Dionte Christmas(Temple). Since making it out of the crime infested Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Nelson has been a model teammate while in the NBA.

Nelson also spoke to his former Chester High coach, Fred Pickett, whom with he won 2 PA State Championships, about getting a Chester AAU basketball program under way. The Chester area has produced many Division 1 and NBA caliber talents like Tyreke Evans with the Sacramento Kings, Nasir Robinson at Pitt, Darren Govens at St. Joe’s, and Nelson with the Magic.

Most teams encourage players to work on their game during the offseason but very few actually follow through. They savor the time off and rest their aching knees and other ailments from the rigors and pounding of an NBA season. Nelson is one of the few who organize a training camp of their own to improve and get acclimated with new teammates.

The Magic need a healthy Nelson, who averaged 16.7 points and 5.4 assists and named to the All-Star Team before the injury, to compete in an ever improving Eastern Conference and get back to the Finals.

There are many talented players in next season’s recruiting class. In this series, I will give a closer look at some of the best players who are probably one year and done college players in the Class of 2010.

One of the top point guards in the Class of 2010 is Kyrie Irving.  Irving has regularly impressed since transfering a year ago from Montclair Kimberley Academy(NJ) to national powerhouse  St. Patrick’s HS in New Jersey.  That’s an impressive feat considering that the annual HS power  has steadily produced Division 1 and NBA talent like Al Harrington, Quintrell Thomas, who is a sophomore at Kansas, and Dexter Strickland, a top 50 freshman recruit for UNC, along with Irving’s current teammate Mike Gilchrist, who is the #1 rated recruit in the 2011 class.

Irving is 6′2 and 175 lbs and is ranked #7 by Scout and in the top 10 by both ESPN and Rivals.  He has a good basketball pedigree since his father Dedrick, played at Boston University and his godfather, Rod Strickland was a good NBA player and current Kentucky assistant coach.

Irving could turn out to be the most polished  guard out of the top tier “big three” of  Josh Selby, Brandon Knight, and Irving.  Irving has the perfect blend of flash and substance.  He seemingly never takes a bad shot and is a consumate floor general who always makes the right play and is rarely out of control.  Posessing a high hoops IQ helps  Irving run an offense smoothly by passing to  open teammates in a scoring position and scoring when the opportunity presents itself.    He impressed recently, at the Nike Global Summit in Portland and proved to be the best point guard in attendance.  I have personally seen Irving in action at numerous HS Hoops Showcases inthe PA/NJ area, and he somehow emerges as his team’s best player once the game is over, never forcing the ball, taking what the defense gives him.

  The widespread belief is that Irving has the skills to be a major weapon in the open court at the next level. But he also has the instinct and decision making to pick teams apart in the half-court as well.  Most major Division 1 schools have interest but it seems that Irving has narrowed his focus to three schools, namely Duke, Kentucky, and Indiana.  Most scouts are in love with Irving’s savvy and decision making. At the AAU Nationals a few weeks ago in Orlando, Irving, with his NJ Roadrunners team, turned in the best performance of any player,  a 39-point explosion in a loss to the Baltimore Stars, which earned him MVP.  He has pledged to narrow his college choices after the Elite 24 Hoops Classic on August 22nd at Rucker Park, in NY.

Offensively, Kyrie Irving can do it all. He can get to the cup with ease, dunk the ball, hit shots beyond the arc, and distribute the rock. He has already identified the fact that he needs to work on his mid-range game, so expect that to improve.

At the NBA level he compares to Chris Paul on the high end to Deron Williams, or Randy Foye, since he doesn’t play with the flash of some other high recruits.  One thing is for sure, this will not be the last time you read about Kyrie Irving.

When two time NBA Champion Isiah Thomas, became the head coach at Florida International University back in April of ‘09, most of us scratched our heads at the NBA Hall of Famer’s most recent move to make headlines. After being dismissed from the NY Knicks organization in ‘08, amid sexual harassment, racism, and horrible basketball decisions, few gave Thomas a chance to succeed at the FIU. Amazingly, in an attempt to both help the university in these tough economic times and make headlines, he even agreed to forego his salary for the first year.

In only four months, Thomas is starting to make his mark on the college basketball landscape by landing 3, top 100 recruits to play at FIU in the upcoming seasons. Most notable is Dominique Ferguson, the #8 ranked player in the country for 2010, as rated by ESPN. Ferguson is a 6′8 power forward from Lawrence, Indiana. He averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds last season while playing many positions. He will attend Hargrove Military Academy for one season before joining FIU in’10. Ferguson chose FIU after decommiting from Kentucky after coaching changes and over other highly touted schools like Arizona, Florida, Duke, UCONN, and Alabama. Joining Ferguson in 2010 is guard Phil Taylor, the #37 ranked player, who turned down USC and NC State. The #5 center in 2011 Chris Coleman, has also given verbal commitment to play for Thomas in two seasons.

Two top 25 players in the 2009 class, Lance Stephenson, the NY HS legend and Eric Bledsoe, one of the top point guards in the nation, flirted with playing at FIU after meeting with Thomas, before signing with Cincinnati and Kentucky respectively.

FIU may have a chance to make it to the NCAA Tourney in the coming years since they play in the Sun Belt Conference. Only hardcore NCAA fans may know of Western Kentucky, South Alabama, and Arkansas-Little Rock, who are annual conference contenders in the Sun Belt. Since most highly recruited HS players envision being one and done players en route to the NBA, it appears that Thomas and FIU definitely have an advantage over these other schools in recruiting because of his track record for success in the NBA.

Has Isiah found lightning in a bottle at FIU, or is he using the school as a stepping stone to coach at bigger school, or to get back to the NBA? I hope he realizes he is guiding and mentoring young, impressional kids of the NCAA and not babysitting pampered millionaires of the NBA. With his issues in the past, I’m not sure I would want my son under his guidance. As a player, Thomas was dynamite……one of the all time greats. As a coach and general Manager………not so much. Which Isiah will emerge in South Florida?

Every two weeks during the offseason, we at the Haven, will rank the Top 10 teams based on free agent moves, player development, and trades.

1) Boston – Adding Rasheed Wallace to a talented team that took Orlando to 7 games last season without Garnett means trouble for the NBA.  Resigning “Big Baby” Davis helps offset the loss of Leon Powe.  The only thing that can stop the C’s is the I word………………injuries.

2) San Antonio – Another already talented team that adds Richard Jefferson and Dejuan Blair through the draft to play off the bench.  Injuries to Parker and Ginobili are a concern.  If healthy, they are better than the Lakers out West……..at least on paper.

3) LA Lakers – You can at least book a return trip to the Western Finals.  Ron Artest will help especially on defense.  Getting Odom back was crucial.  Factor in the Zenmaster and Kobe’s quest to ”Be Like Mike”and LA may be playing for another title.

4)Orlando - You know Dwight Howard is the best big man in the game when other teams bring in players to stop YOU(See Cleveland).  At age 32, Vinsanity finally doesn’t have to carry a team since this is the best team he has ever been on.  A healthy Jamir Nelson, former NCAA POY and All-Star is a difference maker.

5) Cleveland – Adding the 4 time champion,”Big Shaqtus” from Phoenix to get past Orlando is a good move……..but not enough.  An older and slower O’Neal might clog the lane and  get in an even better, Lebron’s path to the basket.  Winning 66 games again may be tougher in an improved Eastern Conference.

6) Portland – The addition of Miller at the point should do wonders for a young Blazers squad in need of a veteran leader.  The move should take the some pressure off of the underrated Roy who can concentrate on scoring and defense.  Portland could have the best young developing frontcourt in the league in Aldridge and Oden,…………… if healthy. 

7) Denver - The Nuggets return essentially the same team from last season’s Western Conference Finals squad.  The drafting of Ty Lawson from UNC gives a good change of pace for Billups who’s not getting any younger………………………..Nuggets stay the same+Lakers, Spurs, and Blazers improve=Not good!

Washington - It’s not a typo………..With a little luck on the injury front, the Wizards could be the 4th best team in the East.  Don’t underestimate the additions of Foye and Miller to an already great nucleus of Arenas, Jamison, and Butler.  An improving JaVale McGee will help defensively against opposing big men.

9) Toronto – The EuroRaptors and Chris Bosh will be good but not great.  Adding the playoff proven Turkoglu helps but doesn’t come close to other teams improvements like the top teams in the East.

10) Atlanta – The young Hawks have something good brewing in Atlanta.  An aging Bibby is a good architect to a nest of budding stars in Smith, Horford, and a resigned Williams.  The Hawks did right by waiting for their players to develop since their wasn’t a free agent move out there to put them in the title hunt.  The best is yet to come………….  

Next 5 – Dallas, Utah, Miami, New Orleans, and Philadelphia

There are many talented players in next season’s recruiting class. In this series, I will give a closer look at some of the best players who are probably one year and done college players in the Class of 2010.

Harrison Barnes is the #2 ranked player by Rivals.com and ranked #1 by Scout.com in the 2010 recruiting class.   Barnes is listed anywhere from 6′6 to 6′8 and 209lbs and is the #1 ranked small forward in his class. Amazingly gifted with long arms giving him a 7 ft+ wingspan, Barnes excels at many of the necessary tools to be a superstar at the college and probable NBA levels. He has been on a steep learning curve since switching from post player to a wing, during his sophomore season. The flexibility and ease of how quickly he learned the new position bodes him well as he adds muscle to his lean frame.

Hailing from Iowa, Barnes can score from a variety of ways and from anywhere on the court. He recently averaged over 31 ppg during the Nike Global Challenge, even though his team won only one game. He shows amazing poise for a player of his young age by being a two way player, regularly guarding the opposing team’s best player. He has excellent shooting form and as a result, shoots a high percentage from the field and FT line.

Barnes averaged 19.7 points and 8.8 rebounds as a junior, leading Ames HS to a perfect 26-0 record and Iowa State 4A Championship.

Because of his length and ability to shoot over smaller defenders , Barnes has the look of a Kevin Durant clone at the college level. Many NBA experts have him pegged as a Luol Deng clone or possibly Ray Allen, if his shooting continues to improve. Virtually every major NCAA school has interest like Duke, Kansas, Florida, UNC, Oklahoma, and UCLA.

Since the ‘98-’99 season, the Western Conference has produced the eventual NBA Champion 8 times in 11 seasons. Only Detroit in ‘04, Miami in ‘06, and Boston in ‘08 have won an NBA title from the East. In addition, the West has just been a deeper conference from #1 through #8 from teams making the playoffs. Case in point being Phoenix last season winning 46 games and missing postseason play where 46 wins would have been the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference. Whether it was parity or good competition, the East’s final #5 through #12 seeds were constantly in flux right until the regular season finale, with the final 3 spots finishing with record of .500 or under. The West’s top seeds beat up on the bottom teams within the conference as evidence of their conference records and that the #10 – #15 teams all had winning percentages below 36%.

The ‘09-’10 season should see a swing in power to the East. Through player movement in free agency, prime talent returning from injuries, or young nucleuses maturing, the East could have upwards of 6 teams winning 50+ games. Boston, Cleveland, Orlando, Toronto, Atlanta, and Washington are all capable of reaching the 50 win plateau.

Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando should be legitimate title contenders through free agent acquisitions. Boston has now has the “Big 4″ for teams to contend with since adding Rasheed Wallace to the ‘08 Championship trio of Garnett, Pierce, and Allen, along with budding star Rajon Rondo, who may challenge for an All-Star spot. Cleveland has added “Shaq Diesel“, “The Big Cactus”, or whatever O’Neal, the 7 foot, 4 time NBA Champion calls himself these days along with a slew of new supporting players to add to a team that won 66 games and had the best record in the league. Orlando chose addition by subtraction by choosing not to resign Hedo Turkoglu and bringing in Vince Carter, an 8 time All-Star from New Jersey, to a team that advanced all the way to the Finals last season.

The second tier teams in the East, Washington, Atlanta, and Toronto, have improved in different ways to almost certainly reach 50 wins as well. If healthy, the Wizards could vie for a #4 seed since they have made a decision to win now by trading their draft selections to Minnesota for a few good role players to compliment a talented trio of Jamison, Butler, and the oft injured Arenas. Toronto has two reasons for trying to improve in the standings. The Raptors have brought in Orlando Magic castoff Turkoglu and a few supporting players to try and move from mediocrity to contender and to persuade 2010 possible free agent Chris Bosh, to stay North of the border. Atlanta kept it’s young but talented nucleus intact for another run by resigning veteran Mike Bibby to be paired with newly re-upped Marvin Williams, Joe Johnson, and talented big men Josh Smith and Al Horford.

Miami, Philadelphia, and Chicago, while mired in mediocrity, have done little to this point to improve on their near .500 records and should be in the mix for the final two playoff spots with a noticeable dropoff with the rest of the East’s bottom tier teams.

Out West, only San Antonio and the LA Lakers are legitimate title contenders. The Lakers essentially return the same roster as last season’s championship squad with the exception of another adding by subtracting scenario. The Lakers allowed Trevor Ariza to defect to Houston while recruiting former Defensive Player of the Year, Ron Artest to Hollywood which is an obvious upgrade. San Antonio may now boast of having the deepest and most talented roster in the league by adding one of the NBA’s all around talents in Richard Jefferson and Antonio McDyess to future Hall of Famer Tim Duncan, and explosive guards, Parker and Ginobili. The West’s top two have improved to a greater degree than the rest of the conference and should separate themselves accordingly.

Although other Western teams are good, they aren’t on par with the NBA’s top contenders or even some of the second tier teams of the East. Denver through experience and veteran leadership, and Portland with their plethora of future young stars will hopefully prove me wrong by season’s end. The Denver Nuggets proved they are close by advancing all the way to the Western Finals last season and will try to improve after adding depth to an already talented roster through the draft. Although Portland, who with the addition of floor general Andre Miller should take some of the pressure off of the underrated and newly extended, Brandon Roy, are probably still a year or two away but would like to improve on their 54 wins and #4 seed last year.

In my opinion, the teams out West will see a drop off in wins after the top 4 teams. In the lead for the #5 seed should be the Dallas Mavericks. By resigning their on-court leader in Jason Kidd and bringing in Shawn Marion and other sharpshooters to be paired with Nowitzki, Terry, and Howard, the Mavs should be again be a very potent offensive quad but even things out by not playing much defense. New Orleans, while having arguably the best point guard in the league in CP3, better scorers in Doug West, and now having one of the best defensive big men in Okafor, are hamstrung by finances and will be hard pressed to duplicate their 49 wins last season. The consistently good Utah Jazz may have a decrease in wins depending on where they will undoubtedly dump their talented but unhappy leading scorer, Carlos Boozer and who or what they get back for him.

Two of the annual playoff participants in past seasons, Houston and Phoenix, should experience a major decline in wins because of injuries and player defections through free agency. This could create a logjam for the final few playoff spots which is similar to what the East has experienced the past couple of years. Young and talented squads like Golden State, Oklahoma City, and even the LA Clippers may contend for a spot in the postseason.

For the first time in a long while, I look forward to this wide open NBA season since so many teams have improved and have a shot at the title, especially in the Eastern Conference. I just wish my 76ers could compete with the big boys. Well, as long as we beat the Knicks……..!

These kids……The NCAA keeps changing the rules so the recruits find new methods of going around those rules.  Don’t blame Andre Dawkins for finding a loophole and figured out how to arrive on Duke’s campus in ‘09 instead of ‘10. 

Dawkins, who is was the #16 ranked player and #3 rated shooting guard by Rivals.com in 2010, did a very smart thing by taking an English course over the Summer.  He did so because he learned it was the only credit he needed for NCAA eligibility, enabling to join the Blue Devils this upcoming season. 

He thought he lost his freshman year when he transfered from public school to Atlantic Shores Christian School when the prep school reclassified Dawkins as a freshman.

I’m sure Coach K is happy since his program lost two guards from last season with Greg Paulus graduating and Eliot Williams transferring .  Dawkins should make an immediate impact with John Scheyer in the backcourt.