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Finals preview time:
Here we go for a remake of the greatest rivalry in NBA history

Greetings! Here we go for a remake of the greatest rivalry in NBA history, as the Lakers meet the Celtics in the NBA Finals version 2010.

Since I predicted a repeat for the Lakers before the season even started, I'm happy, but I admit I never imagined Boston would be the opponent after the mediocre second half of their regular season.

As far as aging teams go, Boston did better than San Antonio by finding their rythmn, defence, shooting and togetherness at just the right moment, which means coach Doc Rivers pulled a Popovich on us by bringing his players to top form just before the playoffs without being too concerned with the regular season standings, bravo!

Rajon Rondo is competing with Steve Nash and Deron Williams for the title of best point guard on earth right now and the Big Three of Boston is clicking like in 2008, when the Celtics outmuscled the Lakers on their way to the crown.

Will Boston's wide- body inside players once again be able to discombobulate the long and lanky tandem of Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom?

This will be the key! If Paul Pierce or Ray Allen can oblige Kobe to play a lot of tiring defense and therefore reduce Bryant's stratospheric level of play of the last few weeks, then Boston has a chance.

After the way they first surprised and then dominated favorites Cleveland and Orlando, you have to give them their due and maybe even fear them, and knowing Kobe, he's not going to let the Lakers under-estimate Boston.

The Lakers showed they can get a little too cocky vs. Oklahoma City and Phoenix whereas the wild inconsitency of Ron Artest can certainly give Phil Jackson headaches and Boston hope.

After six days rest, Rondo should dominate the point guard position and Boston's bench seems to have a real advantage in this series. An interesting tactical point might be that Rivers will be tempted to use more zone defence than usual after the success Phoenix had with the zone against LA.

The Suns, the other big surprise in these playoffs, came within a hair of taking game 5 in LA and Alvin Gentry, Steve Nash et al deserve nothing but colossal kudos for proving that their run and gun style added to a bit of defensive savvy can take them deep into the post-season.

Regarding Orlando, the loss of Turkoglou and the feeble production of Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis weighed heavily in the balance. Their series with Boston swayed with their poor management of the last few possessions in games one and two at home. Little details had big consequences for the Magic!




In the end, I feel that the triad of Jackson-Bryant-Gasol are going to impose their science, will and all-around brillance and experience along the lines of what president Obama recently predicted!

The Lakers will win in seven with Kobe authoring the coup de grace!

George Eddy from FIBA

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[marce_bol]

NBA Basketball & Free Comments • Baloncesto NBA & Comentarios Libres

Ricky Rubio’s, Wolves’ top pick, will someday suit up in Target Center !

As David Kahn gears up for this year’s draft, he sounds more excited than ever about … last year’s draft.

Kahn had dinner in Paris earlier this month with Ricky Rubio’s parents and a representative of his agent, then watched the Wolves’ top pick from last June lead his team to the European championship. Minnesota’s basketball boss sounded nothing like a man looking to trade Rubio’s rights.

“He was arguably the best player on the floor” in the semifinals, Kahn said. “There’s been a lot of talk over the last couple of years about his outside shot. He stepped up and shot a couple of threes that really looked natural. He’s really worked on that, and you can see it.”

Rubio remains the property of Regal Barcelona and will for another year or two, so Kahn limited his contact to a couple of text messages while he was in Paris, in order not to distract Rubio from the Euro Final Four. But he sounded delighted by the progress the point guard has made, and optimistic that he will someday suit up in Target Center.

“This kid’s different. You just don’t accomplish what this kid’s accomplished at this age without being really special,” Kahn said. “He’s 19. The notion of him wasting away over there is far-fetched. He’s actually getting better over there, on somebody else’s dime.”

Chad Ford theorized on espn.com Monday that the Wolves would be reluctant to draft John Wall, should they win the No. 1 pick on Tuesday, because they “may not want to scare (Rubio) off any more than they already have.” He also said he had heard that the Wolves have indicated to Evan Turner that he would be their choice.

But Kahn, though he cautioned that Wall’s status as No. 1 “isn’t open and shut,” didn’t sound afraid to pick the point guard if he’s available, either. “It’s only problematic in that we may have to make some roster moves down the road. But I don’t see those as problems, I see them as opportunities,” he said. “Especially in a league that seems to be gravitating toward guard-oriented, I don’t see how we can get hurt” taking Wall.

Meanwhile, Kahn also met with the agent for Nikola Pekovic, and said the 6-foot-11 Montenegrin center “wants to come over.”

“We are not anywhere close to a deal. The next step is, I want to take Kurt (coach Kurt Rambis) to take a look at him, and in June, we need to plug him into our plans and figure out if his future is with us, or is it to wait a little longer, or is his future for us to trade,” Kahn said. Pekovic is a good low-post scorer who can play with his back to the basket, Kahn said.

Perhaps making that decision more complicated: Darko Milicic has also informed the Wolves that he wants to play in Minnesota next season. “He had a really enjoyable two months, he likes the way we play and he responded well to Kurt,” Kahn said of the free-agent center, who averaged 8.3 points in 24 games after being traded to Minnesota in February. “And he sees that even though we’re not winning yet, there are some pieces here to build around and other pieces to come.”




From FIBA

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[nbafan]

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Elbows and heads:
This spring's NBA playoffs are turning into a bizarre bazaar!

This spring's NBA playoffs are turning into a bizarre bazaar! Several major questions with complicated answers are trotting around in the heads of many NBA fans, especially those in Cleveland!

What happened to LeBron James and the Cavs? What the heck are Phoenix and Boston doing in the conference finals? How do you explain San Antonio eliminating Dallas fairly easily and then getting swept by the Suns? Who could have imagined that the turning point in the series would be the last 14 minutes of Game 3, with Steve Nash and Amar'e Stoudemire on the bench and Slovenian back-up playmaker Goran Dragic turning into Dracula and sucking the life-blood out of the Spurs in their arena with 26 incredible points? Why did Atlanta play so listlessly against Orlando, seeming to tune out their fatherly coach completely? Will Utah EVER eliminate the Lakers again?

Of all these interrogations, the Cleveland question is the most complex. Okay, if LeBron's elbow was the main reason for his poor play, how do you explain his performance in Boston in Game 3 where he hit eight out of 10 jump shots on his way to 21 first-quarter points and a commanding lead? The Celtics looked cooked at that time. We all thought that the Cavs had woken up from their over-confident lethargy of the first two games at home and were ready to get SERIOUS.

Then something goes completely awry with the team's mindset, James plays like a one-armed man whose head is elsewhere and his team-mates lose confidence in themselves, their star as well as their coach in record time on the way to three straight and unbelievable losses! The "Lebacle" Game 5 was an all-time record loss (minus 32) at home in a seven-game series and once again we are amazed at how fast overconfidence can turn into doubt in basketball.

The fans watched the series, the season, and possibly LeBron James himself fade away into oblivion on that fateful, dreadful night for the sadsack sports town of Cleveland! The multiple changes undertaken and heavy investments made by the Cavs' in order to keep James were all for naught as were his two MVP trophies and two pole positions in the past two regular seasons.

The over-dependence on LeBron to do everything as a one-man wrecking crew was far from enough to beat a revived Celtics squad led by young gun Rajon "Ragin" Rondo, their best player now and the "Old" Three who backed him up a lot better than LeBron's supporting cast did for him!

For me, the difference between LeBron and Michael Jordan is the triangle offense which obliged Jordan's team-mates to participate and take on responsibilities instead of just standing around and waiting for the superstar to create something. This is the one giant and justifiable criticism that we can levy against Cavs head coach Mike Brown who also had a tendency to panic and over-shuffle his rotations when things didn't go his way against Boston.

In the end, Cleveland had the same problem as Dallas - lots of talented players who hadn't been together long enough to beat an opponent with more shared experience in tough playoff games. Shaquille O'Neal and Antawn Jamison didn't help Cleveland any more than Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood helped Dallas to reach a higher level because these things take time - just ask Jordan!

So now you can ask me, if shared experience is so important, why did the Spurs get swept by a Pheonix team that didn't even make the playoffs last season? My answer: speed, great shooting, depth, youth and, surprisingly enough, defense!

In all these aspects, the Suns were superior and when the Spurs give up around 110 points in each game, they are not the real Spurs and they won't win much. Against Dallas, they looked experienced and against Phoenix they looked old, whereas youthful subs like Dragic, Jared Dudley or Channing Frye gave old geezers Steve Nash and Grant Hill some extra bounce in their step!

I'd like to finish by pointing out that some sweeps are more painful and destructive than others. Just compare what happened to Atlanta and Utah. The Hawks were swept by an NBA record average margin of 25 points a game, seemingly giving up even before they had played a game at home. They watched the stock of their star, Joe Johnson, plummet for this summer's free agent market while the coach who helped them steadily improve, Mike Woodson, was shown the door. Ouch!

On the other hand, Jerry Sloan and Deron Williams are not going anywhere after the depleted Jazz put up a hefty fight in each game against the Lakers but just fell slightly short each time.

I guess the last questions we need to ask are: will the bizarre turn of events continue now that Boston has taken home court advantage away from Orlando? Is there one person on the planet earth that predicted a Suns-Celtics remake of that mythical 1976 NBA Finals before the season?




George Eddy from FIBA

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[pepebasquet]

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Twenty years of cooperation between FIBA and NBA

This past weekend marked the 20th anniversary of the first cooperation agreement between FIBA and the NBA that opened the path for many players under contract with NBA clubs to participate in FIBA World Championships, Olympics and FIBA continental championships.

“When the agreement was signed on 9th May 1990 by Borislav Stankovic and David Stern, FIBA and the NBA put in place the most important protocol in the history of basketball after the rules written by James Naismith,” said FIBA Secretary General and IOC member Patrick Baumann.

“The agreement gave all basketball players the right to play for their national teams and still to this day regulates player transfers between both organisations. That was the start of a fruitful cooperation that helped tremendously the promotion of our sport on a global level.”

The appearance of the unforgettable Dream Team and other basketball stars such as the late Drazen Petrovic and Detlef Schrempf at the 1992 Olympic Games was only made possible through this agreement and provided a tremendous boost to the global outreach of basketball and their stars.

Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson became idols for billions of kids around the world, who wanted to follow in their footsteps. FIBA's member federations witnessed a tremendous increase in player's registrations in the following years.

“When we approached the NBA in 1987 with the request to give the opportunity to NBA players to play for their national team in the Olympics and the World’s we thought it was a great vision,” said FIBA Secretary General Emeritus Borislav Stankovic.

“Why should the 350 NBA players, who belong among the best in the world, not play with the best in the world?”

'Only if you play with the best, will you improve your game' – this was the common understanding that led to a constant development of the sport and its protagonists.

Since the agreement was signed, more than 300 players from around the world with valid contracts with NBA clubs have been able to represent their countries in FIBA World Championships, Olympics and continental championships.

The first NBA players appeared at the 1990 FIBA World Championship in Argentina – Vlade Divac and Petrovic for Yugoslavia and Alexander Volkov for the Soviet Union.

At the same time, many international players have gone to play in the NBA to perfect their skills and earn top contracts, allowing FIBA and the NBA to turn basketball into a truly global sport.

Currently 83 international players from 36 countries are under contract with NBA clubs and up to 50 could represent their countries at the upcoming FIBA World Championship in Turkey that will tip off on 28th August 2010.




FIBA

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[mondiale]

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When stars collide - NBA players getting injured
before the World Champs

Merhaba! I just watched Nene getting injured in the last game between Denver and Utah and I immediately thought:
Who is going to be left when the World Championships are going down in Turkey in late August?

Guys, please play carefully so I can see you on the court in Istanbul, Izmir, Kayseri or Ankara!

Andrew Bogut might be back in time after his horrible crash to the floor in a recent Bucks-game.
I won't post the video here as it's really not fun to watch how he twisted his whole arm under his body while falling to the floor after a successful dunk. Now, he might be joining Australia after recovering from a broken hand but Mehmet Okur most certainly won't.
Okur tore his achilles tendon which means he is not going to represent the host-country which is a big blow for the ambitious Turks.

It also looks like Nicolas Batum could be pulling out as well, as his injured shoulder might need some rest.
Fellow French Tony Parker is also thinking about passing up on Turkey while Spanish basketball star Pau Gasol wants a break off hoops this year and is officially out.

Chinese Yao Ming did not play all season long for the Rockets and told the press already that he won't travel to Turkey.  That leaves China with Yi Jianlian as the sole NBA-player within the team and may blow China's chances significantly to advance out of the group stages.

A big question mark is the U.S. team as a whole, as some players decided that they rather want to play in movies (Lebron James, Dwight Howard) while others might be resting due to injuries (Kobe Bryant) or because of a marriage /divorce (Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade).
Wade might still play and I wouldn't rule out Anthony as well, as their situations are less critical. Same goes for Chris Bosh, who is going to be a free agent this summer

If Kobe makes it to Turkey, then it would definitely make up for the loss of Lebron in my eyes, as he is by far the best player around (Now I'm awaiting a lot of critics here). With guys like Danny Granger and Kevin Durant eager to represent his country's colors, the U.S. might send a really motivated team under the tutelage of Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, who is coming fresh of a NCAA Championship under his belt.

Thanks to all these deflections mentioned above, there will be plenty of room for upcoming players like Ricky Rubio, Goran Dragic or Ersan Ilyasova among others to use this opportunity to present themselves to an even wider audience than before.

Plus there will be no shortage on touted international stars like Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Kaman, Hedo Turkoglu, Andrei Kirilenko, Luis Scola and probably Leandrinho Barbosa who all will be turning heads of basketball-fans while showing why they truly belong to the best what basketball has to offer these days.

So I still look enthusiastically towards Turkey as even with a few guys not making it over the ocean, the World Championships will be offering premium-quality basketball action and I bet we will be witnessing again a lot of hard-fought games paired with several highlights such as dunks, blocks and assists from the best players around!

I'm out like movie projects as an excuse.




Kris SANTIAGO from FIBA

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[nbafan]

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NBA Playoff pre- monitions

With the European season winding down and the NBA playoffs heating up big time, I'd like to throw out a few ideas that have been haunting me the last few months.

On the European scene, why is Ricky Rubio getting so much hype while Milos Teodosic from Olympiakos is getting so little? Because Rubio is younger and quicker, no doubt, but Teodosic is having a much better season, is a better shooter, and like any Serbian, knows how to play tough defence!

A Barcelona-Olympiakos match-up in the Euroleague final in Paris would be an ideal setting to settle this dispute and maybe awaken a few NBA General Managers to Teodosic's NBA potential. He's got some Steve Nash and Kirk Hinrich in his game and is the natural leader of his generation. This doesn't mean that I don't think Rubio is a future NBA star too!

On to the Eurocup Final Four in Vitoria where the French player Nando DeColo is making noise for Valencia the way his former team-mate in Cholet, Roddy Beaubois, made noise in last season's Eurochallenge Cup.

Again Nando is older and less athletic than Beaubois but he possesses some of the same qualities as Teodosic, although with a less glowing resumé. When you see the incredible success of Omri Casspi with Sacramento, you get the feeling that some of these Europeans stay too long under the NBA radar.

Another irony, the naming of my friend Elias Zouros, the coach of Panellonios as the Eurocup Coach Of The Year which puts into perspective how unfair his firing was by the Paris team a little over two years ago.

Now for some NBA playoff predictions and comments because the first round match-ups have me salivating like I do in front of a foie gras appetiser!

What a pleasure to see LeBron James and Joakim Noah trash-talking their way through a playoff series because when Noah stood up to James earlier in the season due to his cheesy celebrations which ridicule some opponents, a lot of NBA people were secretly applauding!

The Cavs must learn to tone it down in order to avoid another shocking disappointment similar to what happened to them against Orlando in last season's conference finals when LeBron walked off in a huff without congratulating the winners! This being said, Chicago will be lucky to win a game in this lopsided duel.

Another hot rivalry is brewing between those nasty Bostonians and Miami. This one should go to six or seven games with no one scoring over a hundred and Boston barely squeaking through, but an upset wouldn't surprise me either.

In the other East pairings, I feel that Charlotte can win two from Orlando (nice French duel between Boris Diaw and Mickael Pietrus) by defending and slowing the pace. Meanwhile, a diminished but international and courageous Milwaukee team would be lucky to win one game against Atlanta.

By the way, is Larry Brown doing the same thing to Charlotte that he did at the end of his reign in Detroit when he tried to seduce future employers Cleveland and New York during the playoffs? Definitely not cool!

In the West, I'd love to see Oklahoma City win a couple of games against the Lakers to confirm their excellent season despite being the youngest team in the league. Denver seems to have Utah's number whereas Portland-Phoenix could drag out but the loss of Brandon Roy condemns the Blazers in the end in my book. Maybe Portland needs to copy some of Phoenix's revolutionary preparation and prevention techniques to avoid so many injuries in the future?

Last but not least, the last stand! Will it be San Antonio or Dallas who rides off into the Texas sunset in this crucial playoff campaign where both teams KNOW, it's now or never? It's not an easy pick but I'll go with Dallas in 7 thanks to home court in a last-ditch battle for the ages.

Only a stratospheric Ginobili could turn the tide in this series which interests the French public because of the Tony Parker-Beaubois face-off. And speaking of international duels, are we not headed for a Western Conference final where the key actors will be Dirk and Pau? Time will tell.




George Eddy from FIBA

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[John Volger]

NBA Basketball  & Free Comments •  Baloncesto NBA & Comentarios Libres

•  NBA Reaffirms Support for International Basketball

Stern ‘encourages’ players to play for their countries

NBA supremo David Stern has reaffirmed his support for international basketball.

The NBA commissioner, speaking after the NBA Europe Live announcement about the league’s pre-season games to be played next summer on the old continent, said: "We encourage our players to represent their countries.

“The World Championship continues to grow and there will be a good competition in Turkey that will lead in to a good Olympics in London which will lead in to a good Championship in Spain in 2014.

“We are cooperating with FIBA on that as we have for many years and we hope to see the competition of national teams continue to grow.”

Many of the league’s biggest stars will be at the FIBA World Championship this summer, including Team USA, which will have an entire roster of NBA players.

Most of the national teams will have current or former NBA players on their rosters in Turkey.

As for NBA Europe Live, the following games will be played:




    • New York Knicks v Armani Jeans Milano, Oct. 3, Milan ‘Mediolanum Forum’
    • Los Angeles Lakers v Minnesota Timberwolves, Oct. 4, London ‘The O2’
    • New York Knicks v Minnesota Timberwolves, Oct. 6 Paris ‘Palais Omnisports Paris Bercy’
    • Los Angeles Lakers v Minnesota Timberwolves, Oct. 7, Barcelona ‘Palau Sant Jordi’

FIBA

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