Hoops Haven

With seemingly everyone and their mother firing up youtube videos lately, and considering that it’s NBA Playoff time, we’ve found a great combination of both.  Behold the “official” playoff anthem of the Cleveland Cavaliers, appropriately called “Tha Finals.”  If you listen closely, the lyrics are set to the old Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony joint, “Crossroads.”

Not many rookies get to be on a poster in just their first year in the NBA.  Apparently Lebron James was in the giving mood since he decided to dunk on Chicago Bulls rookie James Johnson in Game 2 of the Cavs/Bulls playoff series, so violently that it had flash bulbs popping, and in turn probably put Johnson on his first poster, even though he was on the losing end.

Welcome to the playoffs rook!

Check out the posterization:

I See Your Jrue Colors

So what have Sixers’ fans learned in the last few weeks?

Allen Iverson has issues. Divorce, alcoholism, and gambling addiction just to name a few.

But AI’s personal meltdown has been a blessing in disguise for rookie point guard Jrue Holiday, who no longer has Iverson undeservedly taking away from his minutes.

Holiday has started the last 23 games for Philadelphia, but hasn’t fully been given the chance to flourish in terms of true, starter’s playing time. In the last 3 games, the leash has started to come off.

The former UCLA standout is averaging 18.3 PPG, 6.0 APG, 4.3 RPG, 1.7 STL, and 1.3 BLK while shooting 21-38 from the field (55%) and knocking down 7 of 12 from 3-point range.

Holiday is averaging more than 36 minutes a night in those 3 contests and had back to back 21-point performances to start the week, with both coming on the road.

It took the 19-year-old 49 games to eclipse the 20-point plateau in his rookie season, but he’s done so 3 times in his last 6 games.

We’ve already seen how rookie point guards can flourish early in their careers with players like Tyreke Evans, Brandon Jennings, and Darren Collison. Evans and Jennings were studs from day 1, while Collison and Holiday had to wait their turn through injury (Chris Paul) or degeneration (Allen Iverson).

As one can expect with a young point guard, Holiday has had turnover issues with at least 4 times in each of his last 3 starts, but that shouldn’t detract from his fantasy potential in almost every other category. He’s proven recently that, given the opportunity, he can be an asset in points, rebounds, assists, threes, and steals.

At this point in the season, young players on bad teams usually get a chance to show their stuff. At a microscopic 18% owned in Yahoo! Leagues, Holiday has the ability to provide a significant backcourt spark down the stretch.

Detroit Basketball

Rodney Stuckey owners likely didn’t see this coming. One of the Pistons only bright spots this year collapsed on the bench in a game against the Cavs last Friday, and is now out indefinitely.

Stuckey remains confident he can return before the season concludes, but the team has yet to release a timeline for his potential comeback. The Eastern Washington product was averaging 17.1 PPG, 5.0 APG, and 4.3 RPG this season, which is a lot to replace in Detroit’s backcourt.

Through 2 games minus Stuckey, Will Bynum has assumed the starting point guard role, playing nearly 77 minutes combined in those 2 starts.

While it’s a miniscule sample size, Bynum is averaging 13 PPG, 6.5 APG, 3.5 RPG and 1.5 STL in the 2 games, in which the Pistons scored a total of 214 points.

In terms of adding Bynum, it depends on your needs in the backcourt.

He won’t give you much from beyond the arc (9 of 42 from 3 on the season) and likely won’t light up the scoring column. With that said, he’s only turned the ball over 3 times in his last 5 games and is averaging 4.2 assists in less than 25 minutes per game this season.

The Pistons playoff chances are smaller than Earl Boykins, so they’ll have no need to rush Stuckey back into the lineup. While he’s gone, Bynum could pack a punch down the stretch, especially if Charlie Villanueva can wake up from a month-long coma.

To say Villaneuva has been disappointing lately would be a severe understatement. He scored double figures in just 4 games in February with an uninspiring high of 12 points. During the month, he averaged a season low 6.2 PPG on less than 40% shooting along with just 3.8 RPG.

Slowly but surely however, the former UConn standout is becoming a fantasy factor once again in Detroit. He’s reached double figure scoring in 3 straight games in March, draining 8 three pointers in that span.

In Detroit’s Wednesday night loss against Utah, Villanueva actually resembled the fantasy commodity that he became last year. The forward was 8-18 from the field for 19 points (his highest total since January 20th), 5 rebounds, 3 threes, 2 steals, and 1 block.

His 27 minutes against the Jazz also represented the most playing time he’s received since playing nearly 28 against Miami on January 29th. If Villanueva plays 25-30 minutes a night (which should be all but assured based on recent play and Stuckey’s absence), he’s worth of a spot on your bench.

Owners have either refused to give up on Villanueva (it was time to pull the plug 3 weeks ago), or they’ve realized his late-season potential, because he’s amazingly 76% owned in Yahoo! leagues.

It would appear as though injuries / facemasks are no longer an excuse for sub-par play, so hopefully he can salvage what’s left of a disappointing season thus far.

Odds and Ends

LeBron James is expected to suit up on Friday night against the Sixers after missing two games with a twisted ankle. He’s probably the only player on earth that could miss a week of action, play on a bum ankle, and still put up a triple-double.

Meanwhile, Antawn Jamison won’t be in action because of a cyst behind his left knee (I’d rather have two twisted ankles than that). Jamison has been playing with stiffness in the knee all year, and it’s something that will likely affect him heading into the postseason.

After a rough start in Cleveland, the former Wizard is starting to come around with his new team, averaging 17 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and shooting better than 48% from the field (all in 5 less minutes on average than he was getting in Washington).

In the cellar of the Eastern Conference, Rookie Terrence Williams is worth a look in New Jersey. Over his last 3 games, he’s averaging 11 PPG, 10 RPG, and 5.3 APG coming off the bench. He’s only 6-12 from the foul line in that span, otherwise his scoring numbers would be more impressive.

In 5 games during the month of March, the former Louisville standout has averaged 14 PPG, 7.8 RPG, and 5.4 APG while shooting 50% from the field. He’s also playing nearly 30 minutes a contest this month, and seems to be the 1st guy off the Nets bench on a nightly basis.

Lebron James is seemingly everywhere these days. Whether it is in his newest State Farm commercial, dropping 40 points in an NBA game, or recently sitting court-side at a Kentucky/Vanderbilt game.

In last weekend’s highly anticipated match-up between the SEC’s top two teams, I was surprised to see “King James” in attendance, dressed in Big Blue colors. James and Kentucky coach John Calipari have a good personal relationship, which started back in the mid 90’s when Coach Cal heavily recruited James to play for him at Memphis. James eventually decided not to go to school and became the #1 pick in the ‘03 the NBA Draft.

Before the game, Lebron was announced as the Wildcats’ special guest and was chosen to be the letter “Y” in Rupp Arena’s usual pre-game ritual where the cheerleaders spell out the word “K-e-n-t-u-c-k-y” in giant flash-cards. Lebron stood and did an imitation of his usual pregame ritual, known as the chalk toss, as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Was Lebron in attendance to catch a glimpse of Kentucky’s fantastic freshman John Wall, or did he have other reasons?

Upon some further research, James did have an ulterior motive to be at the game. The Wildcats were unveiling their new Nike LB23 shoes made especially for the Wildcats program. Check out Kentucky’s new kicks, in you guessed it, blue, white, and black.

Back in ‘93, come of the NBA’s biggest stars came together to make one of the most memorable commercials in recent history for McDonald’s that was titled “The Showdown.”

Michael Jordan and Larry Bird competed against eachother in a friendly game of HORSE with the winner getting to eat a McDonald’s quarter pounder. 

Flash forward to 2010, and Lebron James and Dwight Howard are now the league’s brightest stars and are featured in the remake of Jordan and Bird’s epic battle in a commercial.

The spot originally aired during the Superbowl, but here is the new “Showdown” in it’s entirety:

Almost a nightly basis, Lebron James does something to amaze me. 

Last night was no different as he once again dazzled the fans by making us all say,………..Wow!

Lebron did something magical last night, and it has nothing to do with him establishing a new high for assists in a game, when he dropped 15 dimes for the first time in his career.

In what is becoming a trademark defensive play, James chased down Memphis’ OJ Mayo who was attempting to finishing off a lay-up, and seemingly comes out of nowhere to swat OJ’s shot off of the backboard.

While we all have seen James do this before, what makes this particular play special is that he appears to have taken off from the dotted line, just inside the free throw line.

Check out the video:

During Lebron and the Cavaliers recent dismantling of Kobe’s Lakers, “King James” was in a groove, seemingly one upping his older adversary on the Lakers in earning the Cavs a 2-0 mid-season sweep of the teams’ two meetings so far this season.

While the game itself was one of the best I’ve seen this season so far, the most entertaining moment came nearing the end of the game when Lebron was set to inbounds the ball.

During the stoppage of play, Drake’s hit “Forever” featuring Eminem started blaring over the speakers at the Gund Arena to the obvious pleasure of James, who started getting into the song by bobbing his head and spitting Eminem’s lyrics word for word. 

Maybe he has a career in hip-hop after the NBA?

Check out the video:

Kobe Bryant has done numerous commercials for Nike over his career.  Many have been very interesting and entertaining. 

His newest doesn’t feature those lame puppets of he and Lebron James rapping or dunking on reindeer, but rather showing the intense, focused side of Kobe that has helped him win 4 NBA Titles. 

It is perfectly titled, “In the Zone.”  It shows a side of Kobe, which virtually no one else in the league seems to possess.  His inner passion and will to win is second to none. 

You can see it in his face:

Kobe Bryant – In The Zone 

Is Lebron James giving all of us an early indication to where he will be playing in 2010?  His newest kicks might. 

It has been well publicized that one of the best players on the planet will become a free agent after this season.  While everyone is speculating where “King James” will be playing next season, Lebron has been lighting up arenas on a nightly basis and has his current team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, atop the Eastern Conference standings. 

On a few occasions, he has shown up as a spectator wearing a NY Yankees hat, prompting everyone to think that he is leaning towards joining the Knicks next season.  While all the speculation makes for good articles to read, Lebron has recently given us more reason to think he will be playing his home games at Madison Square Garden………………………..his new “I Love NY” Special Edition Nike’s. 

From a side view, they look like his usual personalized models except in blue and orange.

But when you flip them over to the bottoms, the shoes reveal Lebron’s lions head emblem with the words,”I Love NY” on the middle of the heel.

It must be nice being rich.  Filthy rich.  Both Lebron James and Shaquille O’Neal fit that category.  As evidence, look no further than Lebron’s 25th birthday present from his new teammate this season on the Cleveland Cavaliers,………..a brand new 2010 Rolls Royce Phantom.  A Phantom is a top of the line Rolls which is worth anywhere upwards of $450,000 dollars.  What 25 year old doesn’t want a new car worth almost half of a million?  I guess that the horrific economy isn’t affecting these guys! 

Lebron celebrated his birthday in style by dumping 48 points in the Atlanta Hawks in a five point victory.   All that Shaq asks for in return is another NBA Title come June. 

Check out a pic of Lebron’s new ride(No the girl doesn’t come with it):  

Here is Shaq talking about Lebron’s gift:

Thanks to Huffingtonpost.com