Angelo Fernandez
Mr. NBA Obsessed

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“He’s a huge addition to our team. He’s got incredible versatility on both ends of the court,” Ainge said. “I think he’s got more offensive firepower than has been utilized in some of the places he’s been in the course of his career.”

Posey is a tough defender but his offensive game is pretty underrated too. His size and skills give him the versatility to play the 2 or the 3 spot, making him a valuable backup to Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. This is definitely a quality signing for the Celtics especially since their roster needs to improve their depth after the KG trade sent so many young talented players away.

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NBA player Eddie Griffin was killed in a car crash last week when his SUV collided with a freight train, causing the car to be engulfed flame. He was only positively identified from dental records. He was 25 years old.

He came to the NBA at a young age showing a lot of promise. He was drafted 7th overall in 2001 by the New Jersey Nets but his rights were later traded to the Houston Rockets. While many consider him to be a decent defender because of his rebounding and shot blocking ability he never really reached his potential. He struggled with alcoholism during his career which is the probably the reason why he under achieved.

I’m here to say that in spite of his checkered career, it’s sad news to hear that he is dead. It’s always a bad thing to hear about such tragic things. R.I.P. Eddie, the NBA will miss you. Us NBA fans will miss you.

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The arrival of 4th overall pick Mike Conley Jr. (the top point guard selected) together with their first round pick from the year before Kyle Lowry has changed the situation for Stoudamire. Instead of being THE man at the point, it seems like Stoudamire will be forced to take the mentoring role for the two young play makers. This isn’t what he signed up for and that’s why he hopes he can leave the team and play for a team where he really can contribute.

“I’m going to keep my fingers crossed (about being moved) but I’m not going to make any demands or nothing,” he said.

“Anybody who’s been in my position knows. You see the writing on the wall so I’m hoping at the end of the day we can work something out.”

If ever the team lets him go, I’m guessing it will have to be through a contract buyout. If this happens I know a team that I think would love to have him because of him talent and veteran presence – the Boston Celtics. They need a veteran point guard who can help the pressure off Rajon Rondo. While Eddie House can do the job, they need a true play maker who can distribute the ball to the big three. House is more of an undersized shooting guard with some play making skills. They let Brevin Knight get away but if Stoudamire becomes available I think he’d be a great fit for the Celtics.

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Word is the Heat is intent on making another push to acquire Ron Artest, trying to entice Sacramento with Udonis Haslem and others.

Miami Herald 8/19/07

Take a look at the Heat roster and you’ll find that they already have Antoine Walker, Dorell Wright, Penny Hardaway and a bunch of other guys who can play the wing. Word is rookie shooting guard Daequan Cook is showing improvement too. Acquiring Ron Artest isn’t exactly a need right now especially if the price will be Udonis Haslem.

Udonis Halsem is their young talented and hard working power forward who can score and rebound well. The Heat need him especially since Shaq is getting injured a lot more often now and Alonzo Mourning announced that this coming season will be his last. Artest could lend a hand to the Heat (I’m saying could because he wasn’t exactly spectacular last season) but his erratic behavior on and off the court plus the price of Haslem would just make this deal not worth making. I know Pat Riley is dedicated to make this team better but this just isn’t the way.

. . .

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Blatche is all about the promise his talent can give the Wizards. But so far he’s only had limited minutes. He averaged a decent 3.7 points and 3.4 rebounds last season in 12 minutes of action and even you extend those numbers to more playing time, he still nothing more than a serviceable reserve so far. But he shows promise and that’s probably why the Wizards signed him to long term deal. He has a nice combination of size, height, speed and build to be a pretty good big man for the Wizards especially with the kind of big men the Wizards have.

Of course the here and now is also a very big concern and Blatche just isn’t where he’s supposed to in his development to deserve a long term deal like this one. It’s too early to give the guy a 5 year deal even if it’s just $15 million for the whole duration. But if he turns out to be really great then good for the Wizards!

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With the core of the Pistons roster aging, GM Joe Dumars decided it’s time for a youth movement. It was time to get some good young players and give them playing time. It’s time to trust the young guys more so they can develop and hopefully be the replacements of Rasheed, Hamilton, Billups and the rest of the guys. I agree, it definitely is a great time to start while the older guys still have game.

This youth movement so far has seen the Pistons re-signing forward Amir Johnson while also drafting versatile guard Rodney Stuckey and UCLA’s defensive minded Arron Afflalo. For the same reason, the Pistons also signed guard/forward Jarvis Hayes, who was a free agent out of the Washington Wizards.

“We are pleased to add Jarvis Hayes to our roster,” team president Joe Dumars said. “Jarvis has proven himself as a solid NBA player over the last four seasons, and we like the flexibility and depth he will bring to our team at the small forward position.”

Jarvis Hayes gives the Pistons more depth at the wing positions. He’s a pretty reliable mid range scorer averaging 8.9 points on 40% shooting from the field for his career so far. When Tayshaun Prince needs a breather, Hayes will be a decent and reliable guy come in for him. If only Hayes can prove to be able to stay healthy, this is one excellent signing for the Pistons.

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By having this nonpublic information, I was in a unique position to predict the outcome of NBA games,” Donaghy, standing ramrod-straight with his hands clasped in front of him, told the judge in a Brooklyn courtroom.

For committing such a felony that involved investigations by the FBI, Donaghy faces a maximum of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced on November 9.

While his guilty plea pretty much takes this problem off the NBA’s back, it does not prevent a similar situation from happening again. This is why NBA commissioner David Stern released a statement about the league’s effort to do something about it.

“As expected, former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty today to betting on NBA games, including games in which he officiated, and providing confidential information to others who bet on NBA games. We will continue with our ongoing and thorough review of the league’s officiating program to ensure that the best possible policies and procedures are in place to protect the integrity of our game.”

NBA.com 8/15/07

Personally, I’m quite relieved that this Donaghy scandal has come to this point. His guilty plea means that the NBA can put this behind them and focus on business as usual to make the league a better place in every sense. As for all us NBA fans, we can turn our focus on the great things about the NBA, the things we love instead of the bad things.

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For sure it’s for this same reason the NBA came up with a new advertising campaign for the coming season. The theme is “Where Amazing Happens“. The campaign was designed by the San Francisco based Goody, Silverstein & Partners who came up with the “Unbelievable” campaign for the 2007 playoffs. The finishing touches to their new ad campaign is still on the works.

The NBA has been through a lot the past few years and many of those have been negative things. The NBA has seen big brawls especially the infamous one at the Palace in Detroit. It has seen off court problems with the players like Stephen Jackson’s gun firing incident in a bar. And of course, the latest and worst of them all was the Tim Donaghy game influencing and gambling scandal. While definitely things are being done to help prevent such things from happening again, this new ad campaign is a sign that the NBA really wants to start clean this season. They want to put these things behind them and look to the future instead of dwelling in the past. After all, if you take away all the negative things that have happened, the NBA is indeed where amazing things happen.

The NBA is all about amazing things. Aside from the amazing plays we see day in and day out during the season, we also see that the NBA is committed to giving to the communities around them and helping people in need. The NBA is all about stressing the importance of an education. The NBA is all about uniting the world through the language of basketball. If you ask me, the NBA’s new ad campaign fits like an old shoe.

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Miami Heat head coach and team president Pat Riley announced that he wished to coach at least three more years.

“I don’t want to be a one-and-done guy,” Riley said.

For the sake of the future of the team. this is great news for members of the Heat roster and Heat fans alike. The problem the Heat had last season was not just because Dwayne Wade went down with an injury. Aside from the injuries, you know something was going to go wrong when both James Posey and Antoine Walker showed up at the start of the season out of shape. This lack of seriousness combined with an aging roster spelled a disaster in the making.

For the sake of the team, Riley needs those three years he just promised us to work to turn the team around and get it back into shape. Knowing Riley, he won’t stand for the disappointment they had last year again. If anyone can get them out of that mess, Riley the kind of guy who could just do it. It’s going to be really hard though since the team has an aging core of players but whatever happens, I guess Riley feels he has a duty to stick to his team at least a little while longer.

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