Video: ‘Melo Gets Crossed By Anthony Morrow

‘Melo is my favorite ball player of all-time, and even I know that he tends to lose focus and not give a full effort on the defensive side of the ball, but this was just nasty. In all honesty, I didn’t know Anthony Morrow had handles like that, ha. Despite this embarrassing moment, the Knicks pulled out the win at home and Anthony finished the game with 21 points and 8 rebounds.

Preview: Toronto Raptors Reveal Camouflage Jerseys

I love camouflage, especially cargo shorts. If you wear it right, your swag will be at a high level, but if you wear it wrong, you’ll just end up with a bunch of people wondering, “what the hell was this guy thinking?” In this case, I’m doing the same after I saw photos of the Toronto Raptors camouflage jerseys they’ll be sporting in four games this season in order to show support the Canadian Military (nice gesture, though).

The Raptors are terrible — even some went as far as to say they were the worst franchise in the league — but lets not get that carried away. These uniforms are terrible and I don’t see them helping the Raptors in hopes of trying to fix being the somewhat of the league’s laughingstock. It might be a showing of respect, but most will choose to overlook that and try to hold in a few giggles when the world lays their eyes on these uniforms March 21 against the Bulls.

Report: Derrick Rose Signs 5-Year Extension With Bulls

We all knew this was coming, it was just one of those situations of when it was going to happen. Derrick Rose, the NBA’s reigning MVP, blew up last season with career highs in nearly every statistical category, minus FG percentage (25 points per game, 7.7 assists, 85.8% from FT line and 33 percent from 3s (still mediocre).

According to the Chicago Tribune, both Rose and the Bulls agreed to contract terms of a five-year, $94 million extension to stay in Chicago making roughly around $18.9 million a year (the Tribune also reported that by becoming the youngest MVP in the league history, an additional $10 million was added).

Luckily for Rose, he’s going to benefit from his own rule — the Derrick Rose Rule –, which allows a player to receive a larger percentage of his team’s salary cap money if he has been voted to an All-Star game twice, twice been voted All-NBA, or won an MVP award during his rookie deal. He might have deeper pockets, but he’s also going to have a lot of work to do this season in hopes of coming out on top in the Eastern Conference because as of right now, the Knicks have the best front-court in the league with the addition of Tyson Chandler while both Miami (who relatively stayed the same but still have their Big Three) and Boston (who upgraded, but lost Jeff Green for the season), remain in the Top 3 out east.

Video: Amar’e Stoudemire’s New Nike Commercial

Peep Stoudemire’s new Nike spot while French Montana vibes in the background ..

John Wall Has The Pre-Season Dunk of The Year

Thank you basketball gods for having the NBA back. S/O to John Wall for the early Pre-Season Dunk of The Year front runner…

 

Nick Young Reaches 1-Year Deal With Washington, But He’s Worth More Than That

Other than Wizards fans, I might be the biggest Nick Young supporter out there. I love his approach to the game, his style, his shot, his Kobe-type level (shooting wise) and his incredible upside. Young thought he would himself a nice contract this year after having somewhat of a breakout season in 2010-11 after the shooting guard led Washington in scoring with a career-high 17.4 points per game, more than doubling the 8.6 he averaged in the 2009-10 season. Well, things didn’t turn out as well as he’d hoped. Just yesterday, Wizards Insider‘ own Michael Lee reported that Young signed a one-year, $3.7 million deal to stay in Washington.

Not exactly the kind of deal he was hoping for.

The reason Young felt he deserved a lot of money after posting career-high numbers is because well, he’s young (no pun intended). Right now he’s in his prime years at 26 years old, but the reason Washington didn’t give him a hefty pay raise is because we simply haven’t seen enough of him on the court. He started 40 games last season at shooting guard and he scored effectively and efficiently. I’ve seen his one-on-one defending and I have to say I’m really impressed, but he’s also a below average rebounder (66th in Rebounding Rate amongst SG’s) and a poor passer (77th in Assist Ratio amongst SG’s (6.2), even J.R. Smith cracked Top 50), nothing that can’t be worked on.

Most feel that Young is just a scorer and nothing more, as if he’s a liability in Washington, but they’re wrong. Without him in the lineup, the Wizards struggle, and mightily. In their preseason loss to the 76ers, Washington shot a horrid 33 percent from the field without Young. According to Hoopdata.com per 40 minutes, both Young’s PER and True Shooting Percentage were at the highest of his four-year career (TS%: 53,9 (could be better), PER: 14.49 (better than players like Jamal Crawford, Brandon Roy, Arron Afflalo and Kyle Korver).

I’m not saying that Young isn’t going to struggle at times — believe it or not, but in his first 20 games as a starter last season, he averaged 20.7 points with a TS% of 57, and shot 49.5% from 3 and connected on 57.4% of his long twos before fading away toward the end of the year with injuries and the fact that he never averaged over 30 minutes a night — but I expect him to make major strides this season in nearly ever aspect of the game. For the first time in his career, he’s actually being coached the right way and is receiving consistent playing time. Those are the type of things that will turn him into one of the best two guards in the league and earn him a possible All-Star birth before it’s all said and done.

Kobe Has No Desire To Leave The Lakers, Says His Knee Feels 90 Percent Better

You see that picture above with Kobe holding up four fingers? Despite not having his thumb up due to him holding a trophy, the Black Mamba has won 5 NBA titles during his 16-year career in a Laker’ uniform. Why on earth would he want to leave? Because he lost Lamar Odom? Please. Kobe’s old enough now to know that losing a player doesn’t mean the world is coming to an end. In fact, according to RealGM.com, Bryant put a stop to all those rumors.

“I don’t have any feeling about [leaving] whatsoever,” Bryant said, addressing speculation that he might request a trade. “I’ve been here for 16 years. I’m going to up and leave now?”

He’s right, why would he want to leave now? Kobe’s not a quitter that’s for sure, he’s probably the only guy left in the league that has the Michael Jordan gene to do whatever it takes to win. He’ll throw his teammates and his own coach under the bus if it means winning a title. You need a guy like that on your team, you need someone who will ride your ass like Zorro when he feels like you’re not giving everything you have. You’re getting paid to play basketball and at the end of the day, winning a championship is the ultimate goal. Is the money nice? Hell yeah. But it’s not everything, and most guys figure that out rather sooner than later.

I expect the old Kobe to be back this season, not the banged up one with a bad knee and having to alter the way he plays just in order to stay on the court (see his index finger). He says his knee is 90 percent better than it was last season, and you know what? I believe him.

“I’m not a big medicine, techie guy,” Bryant said. “But I know my knee feels 90 percent better. My understanding was that the guy who invented it … [Germany] is where he’s from and where his home base is. So I didn’t want to go someplace else where he had to move his equipment. If I am going to do it, I want to do it right and do it in the place where he is most comfortable doing it.

“I can run. I can jump. I can run the track. I can lift weights the way I want to lift weights. I can practice every day. Those are things I couldn’t do last year.”

Traveling to Germany just to get your knee fixed? That’s dedication and motivation. Most guys would say screw it and find the best person for the job in the states, not in another country. If he’s back to the old Kobe, every team in the league better be on their toes because it doesn’t matter who has the best Big Three and this and that, Kobe has one thing that’s more dominant than anyone’s in the league: The will to win.

Amar’e Stoudemire Isn’t Interested In Recruiting Baron Davis

The offense might go through ‘Melo, but the muscle belongs to Amar’e. He’s the one who originally signed with the Knicks, he signed the $100 million deal, he’s the superstar and the New York recruiter. After the Cleveland Cavaliers put PG Baron Davis on amnesty waivers Thursday afternoon, many believed that the Knicks would try to recruit him since their a little slender at the point guard position. B-Diddy is out for the next 10 weeks with a lower-back injury, which STAT knows about, Amar’e has made it well known that he has no interest in bringing in the L.A. product:

‘This guy’s out for eight to 10 weeks, he’s not our concern at all,’ Stoudemire said of Davis. ‘We can’t do anything about his injury. Right now we can’t afford to have any setbacks. We have a positive thing going. We feel great about our guys. Everybody’s healthy, so we’ve just got to keep it going.’

Stat’s right; it’s bad enough that ‘Melo had both elbow and knee surgery and just hyper-extended his knee in practice earlier this week, not to mention that Amar’e himself has back issues amongst other things. Lets not forget that their new signee C in Tyson Chandler isn’t exactly bulletproof either. The Knicks need another PG, no question, but I’m sure they’ll find a solution better than Davis.

Mark Jackson Wants Monta Ellis In The Post

Since becoming head coach of the Golden State Warriors, Mark Jackson has stated some bold, and pretty unique plans for this team with the talent that he has; especially with Monta Ellis. There’s no question that Ellis is a tremendous offensive talent, can score from anywhere on the court and has late-game heroics, but what about defending constantly? What about playing the post? Yes, we’re talkin’ about post game (Allen Iverson voice).

Ellis isn’t exactly someone you’d picture banging in the paint (he’s 6’3, 180), but Jackson believes otherwise:

“He’s so skilled offensively, and so unselfish that you’re going to get a good play out of it,” Jackson said. “We’re absolutely looking to capitalize on having him in the block.”

It does make a little sense to me; Ellis is a such a focus offensively from opposing teams that by him playing more down-low, it will give the Warriors plenty of opportunities for kick-outs and maybe Ellis himself will be able to score on his own and become comfortable. M8 is no slouch when it comes to scoring in the paint: According to Hoopdata.com, Ellis has scored 60 percent or above at the rim ever season since he’s joined the league back in ’07 (his highest percentage came last year with a whopping 69%, that’s just ridiculous). Monta is one of my favorite players in the league and now I’m really interested in seeing how this all pans out.

NBA Gear: Miami Heat Reveal New Black Jerseys; Warriors Also Show Off New Anniversary Patch

I love media day sessions. Why? Because that’s usually when the everyday basketball fan gets to find out whether or not teams will be showing off their new jerseys, ect. The Utah Jazz were the first to show off their new forest green unis, then you know the Kings had to reveal those new dope black jerseys (same link, just scroll to the bottom) with script lettering. Brought out yesterday, the Miami Heat have another arsenal added to their already stacked squad: all black with white outlining. Peep the photo below for the first look at South Beach’ new gear.

The Golden State warriors also revealed a little somethin’ somethin’ on their new jerseys: a new 50-year anniversary patch near the right shoulder. Rumor has it that the Mavs still have to show off their new alternate jerseys, Toronto also and a few throwbacks, not including the 2012 All-Star game uniforms.