NBA ROUNDUP: 7/25 - 7/31

The best news for the Los Angeles Lakers this week is that Lamar Odom will be back to help defend the championship. It was a long drawn out contract negotiation but now that things are finalized he will be a huge boon for the team. The Lakers are still the best team in the league and looks like they have a superb opportunity to repeat.
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RIVALS LOADING UP

With the Los Angeles Lakers king of the castle, a few of the other contenders are bulking up with the hopes dethroning the champs. The San Antonio Spurs kicked it off by trading for All-Star-caliber forward Richard Jefferson. The Cleveland Cavaliers, however, seriously loaded up by pairing Shaquille O’Neal with LeBron James, setting up a dream NBA Finals match-up. Read more

NUGGETS BRING CHANGE OF PACE

While everyone assumes the Los Angeles Lakers will roll through the Western Conference, it’s been the Denver Nuggets that have dominated their playoff match-ups. A meeting between the two could be closer, and more entertaining, than most people expect. Read more

2009 NBA SEASON AWARDS

With the season nearly wrapped up, it’s time to present our awards for the end of the season. We’ve been treated to another strong season, and the playoffs promise to be even more intense. But rather than the usual accolades, we at Ball or Die have devised our own set of categories we felt deserved merit and recognition. They celebrate some of the best and worst of the season, which started as a tight multi-horse race that really came down to two superior teams. Read more

STREET FIGHTER 4 AND NBA SUPERSTARS, PART 2

Last week, I looked at which core Street Fighter characters corresponded to which NBA superstar. Well, Street Fighter 4 brought in some new characters, so let’s cover the rest of the cast from the arcade version. Read more

NBA SELLING OUT?

Increasingly, money is all that matters in the NBA. Recent deals made near or at the end of the trade deadline last week illustrated more than ever that basketball is a business before anything else. Read more

CHANDLER HEADING BACK TO NEW ORLEANS

Chris Paul and David West can turn their frowns upside down. Tyson Chandler is heading back to the New Orleans Hornets after failing a physical. He was supposed to go to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a trade designed to cut cots. Paul and West didn’t bother hiding their disappointment that the deal was made for financial reasons, rather than to build the team. Chander has missed the last 12 games because of a sprained ankle.

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NBA CORE WORKOUT

We all want Popeye biceps, or do a thousand crunches to get that six pack. But an overlooked part of the body is the core. The core comprises of the muscles in the stomach and the mid and lower back. Read more

CELTICS BOUNCE BACK

You can’t keep the Irish down. After back-to-back losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, the Boston Celtics held on topple the New Orleans Hornets. Paul Pierce led the way with 30 points, and the team overall stepped up their play in the final period. That’s a far cry from the fourth-quarter collapse saw in the previous two games. Chris Paul was largely ineffective, and the Hornets are still plagued by injuries.

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HORNETS WILL MISS PAUL

The New Orleans Hornets without Chris Paul is like a car with no engine. Sure, it can still move, but you’ve got to do a lot of pushing, and likely get a slow roll. The Hornets will have to do just that as they face off against the Chicago Bulls tonight without Paul. Hornets Coach Byron Scott says he wants more ball movement and balanced scoring. Paul was leading the league in assists (10.9) and steals (2.7).

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NBA HOLLYWOOD

Basketball has its hierarchy of players. You’ve got your legends, your superstars, stars, role players and scrubs. It’s like Hollywood, where you’ve got your A-listers, B-listers and barely registers. So if the NBA constellation were moved in line with the Hollywood stars, who would play which role? Here’s a few suggestions for the who’s who row of merged NBA-Hollywood superstars. Read more

PAUL CLUTCH IN GAME-WINNER

Chris Paul’s buzzer-beating three-pointer, which allowed the New Orleans Hornets to edge out the Indiana Pacers, was another demonstration of CP-3’s clutch play. Slam Dunk Central makes a good point that the Hornets are a banged up team, and Paul is getting it done with little help. Centers Tyson Chandler and Hilton Armstrong both went down in the game.

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CHRIS PAUL IS OLD SCHOOL

For a superstar of the new generation, Chris Paul is remarkably old school. Read more

HORNETS’ PAUL EMBARASSED BY LOSS

That probably wasn’t what the New Orleans Hornets were expecting with their first Christmas Day game. Chris Paul said he was embarrassed by the 88-68 thrashing by the Orlando Magic. With all the talk of the big three teams, the Magic deserve some props were having the fourth-best record and topping solid teams like the Hornets, and the Los Angeles Lakers. With a stud like Dwight Howard, it’s easy to see how.

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CHRIS PAUL AND DAVID WEST SHARE FIERY RELATIONSHIP

What fuels the New Orleans Hornets’ success is the fiery relationship that Chris Paul and David West have. Their competitive fire to win has lead to on-court verbal battles that may lead others to think they have problems with each other. In fact the inverse is true, they have a great relationship and their competitive juices to win push the team to greater heights.

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CHRIS PAUL BREAKS CONSECUTIVE STEALS RECORD

Chris Paul set an NBA record with 106 steals in straight regular-season game against the San Antonio Spurs. He broke Alvin Robertson’s record that was recorded in 1986. Chris Paul is running away with the title of best point guard in the league with his MVP play this season.

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