This Is What Nike Basketball x Jordan Brand Rocked On Christmas Day

Above (from l-r): Carmelo Anthony wore his Jordan Melo M8 Christmas Day kicks in a win against the C’s, Chris Paul wore his Jordan CP3.V XMas day kicks in his debut with the Clippers, and D-Wade rocked his Jordan Fly Wade 2 XMas day kicks in the Heat’s blowout over the Mavericks.

Below (from l-r): KD rocked the Nike Zoom KD IV “Coppers” against the Magic, LeBron put on the XMas Day LeBron 9′s, Kobe laced up Nike Zoom Kobe VII “Cheetahs” in a loss against the Bulls, and Amare wore his special XMas colored Air Max Sweep Thrus.

All of the shoes are in stores now!

Carmelo Anthony Is The Knicks New Point Guard

When you think of Carmelo Anthony, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Scoring. There’s no question that ‘Melo can put the ball in the hole from anywhere on the basketball court — he’ll give you 26 a night, easy –, what about his passing, though? For starters, his career average of 3.1 assists doesn’t exactly jump-out at you, but Ive watched this guy play ball since his days at Oak Hill and I’ve seen him make some incredible passes, when he chooses to do so. I’ve seen him make no-look passes, behind-the-back passes, half-court passes and plenty of other jaw-dropping passes.

This video is a perfect example –

Amazing, right?

When ‘Melo was traded to the Knicks last February, things didn’t exactly go the way they had hoped. Did Amar’e and Anthony score a lot of points together? Yes. They even scored a bunch of points as a team, but their defense was non-existent and they had a 14-14 record post-signing. They couldn’t find the right spacing — which makes sense since both guys play from the same spot on the floor — and at times they looked lost. Shockingly, although not really since he’s playing under Mike D’Antoni’s offense, ‘Melo’s offensive stats skyrocketed once he could officially call Madison Square Garden his new home.

2010-11 stats with Denver: 25.2 points per game, 2.8 assists, 82.3% from FT, 33% from 3s and shot 45.2% from the field.

2010-11 stats with New York: 26.3 points per game, 3 assists, 87.2% from FT, 42.4% from 3s (which is just astounding) and 46.1% from the field.

Last month, D’Antoni stated that the Knicks offense would run through ‘Melo, not Amar’e (which makes sense). From high school, to college, to the pros, the offense has always ran through whatever team Anthony has played on. Offensively, he’s that good.

Kevin Clark of the Wall Street Journal put things in perspective when it came to Anthony’s new point guard duties:

So here’s how it will work — Anthony will decide when to run point (it’s mostly based on feel) and dribble up the floor. The former point guard will sprint to the corner and simply act as another shooting option or in some incarnations, there will be no point guard on the floor at all. Landry Fields, the team’s shooting guard, will be on the other side. From there, Anthony’s bottomless bag of moves will start. According to those that have guarded him, he is at an advantage because he is six-foot-eight, at least two inches taller than almost every guard, meaning he can see the defense in front of him without interference. He has fast enough feet to jet past even the peskiest of defenders and he has a quick release to his pass.

According to Iman Shumpert, the rookie who has guarded him in practice, he’s a threat to shoot as soon as he’s within 30 feet. Mostly, though, he’ll start a pick-and-roll, a play in which a player (Chandler or Stoudemire) sets a screen for the ball handler (Anthony) before slipping behind the defender. The big man not in the pick-and-roll will almost certainly be open for a jump-shot. It is, coaches say, an unguardable play.

Before this idea came to mind, ‘Melo always was an unarguable player. You can’t stop him. The only way he’ll be stopped is when he does it himself, which is when his shots aren’t falling and he decides to get trigger happy.

Although he’s basically done this his entire career, D’Antoni believes the Melo-run offense can be sustainable for at least 30 minutes a night:

“Oh yeah, it’s harder to isolate all the time and go one-on-one all the time. He did that 20, 30 minutes a game before anyway,” D’Antoni said. “I think it will be easier for him to run the point-forward, run the pick-and-roll and get easier shots. I think it will be easy for him.”

D’Antoni then went on to say that Anthony’s height is key:

“He’s 6-foot-9, he sees over the top of everything, he’s got good pace for it. Melo is a complete player, he understands the game, he has a finesse passing game with it and you can almost run anything with him at the point guard and it’s going to work,” Dan D’Antoni said. “I think Melo understands the positions to put Amar’e in, where can score, that’s what a point guard does. I think he has that mentality, he might be ‘Magic’ [Johnson] Melo, I don’t know.”

I mean, really, how do you stop a point-forward who’s 6-foot-9? Did you see how many guys struggled to guard Hall of Famer’s like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird? There’s a reason they have jerseys hung up in their respective team’s arenas. Those guys were phenomenal at what they did and paved the way for players like LeBron James and Carmelo to bring different attributes to the game than most would ever daydream about.

During the Knicks-Nets preseason match-up Wednesday night, I didn’t see a whole lot of the new offense, which is understandable considering that it’s only preseason (I wouldn’t want to play with all my new toys at the same time, either). The most important thing about all this doesn’t have to do with a new playbook, it’s the fact that ‘Melo has taken on an even bigger leadership role than he ever has. The ball is literally in his court now.

He’s now the guy who will have to develop a Chris Paul mind-state while maintaining his Michael Jordan scoring mentality..

If he makes the right decisions, the Knicks could be playing in the NBA finals come May.

And f he makes those decisions, he has a chance to do something LeBron never could.

Video: Amar’e Stoudemire’s New Nike Commercial

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

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.

#NBABack – Celtics vs. Knicks Season Opener Promo Videos

The lockout is over! #NBABACK! You all already know the schedule – Christmas Day, the Boston Celtics take on the New York Knicks for a rematch of last year’s playoff series. Both team’s took to their video production crews to cut a season opener promo – who did it better? Boston vs New York squares off again. “I Am” > Marvin Gaye. Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett > Chauncey Billups, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire. BUT, Chris Paul and Melo and Amare? I might even admit that might be the best trio in the league…

Read more

Video: Chris “Birdman” Andersen’s PETA AD

Easily the most colorful player in the NBA, Denver Nuggets shot-blocker and energy provider Chris "Birdman" Andersen became the recent addition to PETA'S "Ink, Not Mink" campaign, which has featured other ballplayers such as Amar'e Stoudemire and Gilbert Arenas. Checkout Bird's spot below for a behind-the-scenes look at his photo shoot and what really goes on in at some of China's fur farms.

#TeamNIKE Athletes Talk #BasketballNeverStops

Watch as the stars of Nike Basketball’s new #BasketballNeverStops commercial talk about what that phrase means to them. Starring LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Amar’e Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, Sue Bird, Coach K, Questlove, and J. Cole.

Amare Stoudemire Rocks The Nike Air Max Sweep Thru

If we had an NBA season right now, these are the Nike Air Max Sweep Thru’s that Amare Stoudemire would be rocking. Team Stat is giving Amare more push this year as he’s been making more and more appearances now that he’s in the Big Apple. But since he has no job, he’s applying for jobs where he’ll even be able to sell his own signature shoe.  Watch the hilarious Foot Locker Interview video below and then hit the jump for more images of different colorways of the Sweep Thru’s.

Read more

Nike Basketball: #BasketballNeverStops Commercial

No NBA season? No worries as Nike Basketball creates their new global campaign entitled #BasketballNeverStops. Although the NBA is a major part of the basketball world, life can go on without it. Watch as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Amare Stoudemire, Coach Kryzewski, Sue Bird, Dirk Nowitzki, and even J. Cole and Questlove make appearances in this awesome Nike Basketball commercial.

Read more

Rachel Roy And Amar’e Stoudemire Are Style & Power

I happened to be able to meet the lovely and beautiful Rachel Roy while her and Amar’e Stoudemire introduced their new Style. Power. womens fashion line to their fans at Macy’s during New York City’s Fashion Night Out. Learn more at Rachel’s website or Amare’s site.

Next Page »