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The Guangdong Southern Tigers and the Shandong Gold Lions met in Game 1 of the Chinese Basketball Association Finals last night, with the Southern Tigers taking an 88-81 win to go up 1-0 in the best-of-seven series.
Despite it only being the first game, the result was crucial: In the CBA’s 1-2-2-2 setup where the lower-seeded team hosts the first game, the Tigers now head back home with a chance to take a commanding 3-0 lead if they can hold serve.
The 15-day, 24 hour barrage of firecrackers that start on chun jie (Chinese New Year) ended two nights ago to the relief of this now nearly deaf blogger as China celebrated the final night of the Lunar Festival, yuan xiao (Lantern Festival).
Marking the 15th day and first full moon of the new year, the festival is the official end of the Spring Festival period… and of all of the loud firecrackers that are lit off in every corner of Beijing and other places in China.
But with the Chinese Basketball Association post-season set to tip off this Wednesday, there’s still a lot more fireworks to come in the month of March. Happily, they’ll only be metaphorical.
What do you do when you have thoughts about a big event going on in the country? You get on twitter, and you type in those 140 characters.
That’s exactly what a countless number of NBA players did when President Barack Obama was re-elected as the U.S. President for another four years on Tuesday night.
Kyle Lowry sprained his ankle against the Thunder, but that didn’t stop him from sharing his excitement.
Bryon Russell’s enthusiasm got him to say some inappropriate things.
Cuttino Mobley expressed his anger towards racism.
LeBron James expressed his love for Ohio, even though Ohio may never do the same for him.
Kris Humphries thought Mitt Romney might have won because his cab driver said so.
These were among the many reactions around the league. Almost everyone celebrated the big news, but there was one player in particular who was apparently furious over the results. See who it was in the following tweets:
The Minnesota Timberwolves made some serious roster adjustments over the summer, all for the better. The most notable move was the acquisition of a revitalized Brandon Roy, but they also got a huge upgrade at small forward by obtaining Andrei Kirilenko and signed the likes of Chase Budinger, Alexey Shved, Greg Stiemsma and Dante Cunningham. As Kevin Love would tell you though, the real best part may have been “cleaning out the bad blood in the locker room”, and he believes the current roster should make the playoffs. See what Love had to say about his team, why Channing Frye will miss the upcoming season, the reason for Keyon Dooling’s retirement from the NBA and much more below:
Kevin Love likes his chances of seeing playoff action for the first time, according to Kerry Eggers of Portland Tribune: “It would be a big surprise to me if we didn’t make a huge leap this year and make it to the playoffs,” the Lake Oswego native told me Wednesday… “We’re going to have a chance to be very good,” Love said. “We’re hoping Brandon can stay healthy through 82 games. Kirilenko is a big addition. Shved hopefully is going to be a big deal for us. “We’ll have more firepower in terms of veterans. Brandon and Andrei will help our locker room and on the court. It will make Coach Adelman’s job a lot easier. “If everything is put together, if Ricky comes back healthy, we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.”
Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic has updated news on Frye: “Suns forward Channing Frye told azcentral sports that he will miss the 2012-13 season because of medical concerns. Frye developed a dilated cardiomyopathy, which is an enlarged heart. This was found during a routine preseason physical by Suns team cardiologist Dr. Tim Byrne. ”The good news is it is a virus so it does have a good chance of going away,” Frye said. “My heart can be normal again.” Frye will not participate in any basketball activities and his progress will be re-evaluated in December. He said he would rest for six months, confining his activities to golf and yoga. Frye visited the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota Wednesday. ”It was very shocking and, at the same time, scary,” he said of his situation. “It’s not like an arm or a knee or an elbow where you’re like, ‘Maybe I can just rehab this.’ It’s something that keeps you going.”
The Celtics will instead work with Darko Milicic aka Mana from Heaven, according to Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated: “Free-agent center and former No. 2 pick Darko Milicic has agreed to sign with the Celtics, sources close to the situation confirmed. The deal is guaranteed for one year at the league’s minimum salary, according to one of the sources. Milicic, 27, had been looking for his next job since July 12, when the Minnesota Timberwolves waived him with the amnesty clause in order to erase the final two years of his controversial four-year, $16 million deal off their books for salary-cap purposes. Because Milicic will still be paid by the Timberwolves, he was less focused on the financial aspect of his next contract than he was finding the right fit.”
Austin Rivers explained how losing Ray Allen could benefit the Celtics, transcribed by ESPN Boston: ”As funny as it sounds, I actually think both teams benefited (from Ray Allen signing with the Heat,” Austin Rivers said. “I think the Heat got a lot better obviously, because now the floor is spaced with Ray Allen. ”And I think the Celtics got better, because first off it was disappointing to (see him) leave because he was a part of that whole buildup to the Celtics again, but now you have a better defender in Courtney Lee, who is a great on-the-ball defender and someone who is going to add to the great defense the Celtics play already. And then you have Jason Terry, who is instant offense, something the Celtics need when you have older players like KG and Paul Pierce that get hurt. So when you have guys that are going to be inconsistent, not due to how good they are but how old they are, and the fatigue of a long season, you have guys who can come in and give you instant offense.”
The Clippers have exercised a team option on guard Eric Bledsoe, from Ben Bolch of Los Angeles Times: “Eric Bledsoe’s strong playoff performance might have ensured he’ll be wearing a Clippers uniform for at least two more seasons. The Clippers exercised a team option on the third-year guard for the 2013-14 season after he averaged 7.9 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 58.7% in 11 playoff games. Bledsoe, who is entering his third NBA season, was particularly good against San Antonio in the Western Conference semifinals, averaging 11.5 points while shooting 70%. He will earn $1.7 million this season and $2.6 million next season. Bledsoe averaged 3.3 points and 1.7 rebounds while shooting 38.9% in 40 regular-season games, making one start.”
Stephon Marbury shared his thoughts on the combination of Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. In short, he doesn’t like it, from Ian Begley of ESPN New York: “Amare needs a point guard like Steve Nash (to thrive). He’s a pick-and-roll guy, a pick-and-pop guy. He can’t play in the half court where everything’s slowed down,” Marbury told ESPN New York during a brief interview in Manhattan on Wednesday. When asked if he thought Anthony and Stoudemire could flourish together, Marbury said flatly, “Nope.” Many have expressed the same concerns with the Knicks’ star duo. In their season and a half together, the Knicks have a sub-.500 record when both are in the starting lineup. But Marbury brings a unique perspective to the debate. He played with Stoudemire in Phoenix during the 2002-03 season and for 34 games the next season before Marbury was dealt to the Knicks. He also spent five mostly rocky years with the Knicks. In addition to his thoughts on Stoudemire, Marbury also questioned the Knicks’ motivation in obtaining Anthony. New York executed a three-team blockbuster deal to bring Anthony in from Denver in February 2011. ”I don’t know if (Knicks owner James) Dolan brought him in to win games or to make money,” Marbury said. “I think it was to make money.”
Mike Wells of Indianapolis Star details his workout session with Roy Hibbert. If you know Hibbert, you could probably guess that the workout wasn’t basketball-related: “The big fella took it to another level this offseason when he started doing MMA training at Integrated Fighting Academy on the Southside of Indy to help his conditioning. Hibbert and I have had countless conversations over the years about his workouts. But rather than talk about what goes into his MMA training, Hibbert invited me to participate in a session so I could get a first-hand experience of the sweat and pain he goes through. Pacers rookie Orlando Johnson and Hibbert’s nutritionist Mike Roussell also took part in the workout on Wednesday. We started with four, three-minute rounds of sparring with a trainer with only a minute break in between each round. I was good for the first two rounds, but that’s when reality set in for me. I was so tired by the third round that I was throwing three-six combinations instead of the one-two combinations my trainer Sam was calling for.”
Walt Frazier believes the Knicks must capitalize within two years to win a championship with the current roster, and Carmelo Anthony must follow the path of LeBron James, from Nate Taylor of The New York Times: “I think their window is a two-year window right now,” he said of the Knicks’ chances at a championship. “They have to capitalize right away.” Frazier knows what it takes to win a title. In the 1972-73 season, Frazier said that he, Bill Bradley, Willis Reed and other teammates had great chemistry. Like a number of Knicks fans, Frazier is eager to see if Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire can form a stronger bond this season. “They better forget last year and do whatever it takes,” Frazier said of Anthony and Stoudemire. “They have to look at Miami and what LeBron James was able to do, Carmelo especially because James became the consummate player — defense, passing and whatever else it took for that team to get a championship.”Brandon Roy admits “lift” is not what it used to be
From time to time, the world graces us with phenomenal basketball talents that simply do not make it in the NBA. Whether this is an issue of mentality, diminished talent or discipline, we’re often left wondering what could have been.
