Countdown to the NBA Season - 8/24

The off-season is the most difficult time of year for basketball fans, who are forced to dream about their fantasy team and refresh NBA.com every two minutes.

Don't fret though, because time will pass and the season will be upon us in no time.

NBA Headlines of the Day

- Eduardo Najera wants to bring an NBA team to Mexico.  Are the Raptors really that bad?

- Dwyane Wade says it would be tough for LeBron to top Jordan.  As long as LeBron has less than seven championship rings, that conversation shouldn't even exist. Not to mention that he has Wade, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, etc. while Jordan had Scottie Pippen and Scottie Pippen only. I could go on and on, but I'll spare you.

- Are you going to see "Thunderstruck", featuring Kevin Durant? Yeah, we're actually talking about this.

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NBA Players Destined to Start Off Hot

The NBA is filled with incredible players who just want to win the title. That's hard to do when there's two superteams in the NBA. The Lakers and the Heat. That is a favored finals matchup, as Kobe and LeBron will finally go head to head. The Dwight Howard would destroy Joel Anthony.

Let's not rule other teams out though. The Thunder, the Nets, the Warriors, the Hornets, the Timberwolves, the Sixers, and many other teams are capable of pulling off upsets in the first round. All these teams have a legitimate shot of making it to the finals. The question is, who wants it more?

- Monta Ellis/Brandon Jennings: I swear, I'm not being biased. Monta Ellis and Jennings are supposed to have the best backcourt in the NBA. With the added big man presence, the Bucks are looking to get it going.. They finally have what it takes.

- David Lee: He is 29 years old, and not getting any younger. Lee knows that it's time to go to work with his team's reloaded roster. Anything is possible. I don't think Lee is going to wait any longer to be in his first playoff game.

- D-Will: Obviously. Deron Williams hasn't been in the playoffs since the Jazz. He wasn't going anywhere with them, so he took his talents to New Jersey. With Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, Lopez, and Johnson, there's no limit to what they can accomplish. Especially if they can pull off an upset.

- Dwight Howard: With new hope on the Lakers, Howard looks to get into the finals again, but this time, he'll be playing alongside Kobe. With the addition of him and Nash, the Lakers must make a title run quickly, and they know that. Before they know it, Kobe's jersey will be hung at the top of the stadium.

- Carmelo Anthony: I'm sure Carmelo Anthony does not want to be the criticized one, just like LeBron was. Critics are already getting on his back about winning a ring. Bosh, Wade, LeBron, and even Darko Milicic have rings. It's time for Melo to get his. He carried team USA on his back most of the way, and he should be confident enough to do that with his Knicks.

- LeBron James: LeBron has had the taste of one title, and he's not going to stop there. He and the Heat without question have the most talented roster in the NBA. LeBron and the Heat are hungry, and they will crush any team that stands in their line of fire.

- Kobe Bryant: Kobe knows that in a couple seasons, he'll retire, but it'd be nice to get one more title to put him ahead of Jordan. The only downside to this is that the rest of the NBA will hear it from Laker fans that Kobe's better than Jordan. (He won't ever be, although he is close). Kobe will go hard from day 1.

- Kevin Durant: After a heart-breaking loss to the Heat in the NBA finals, Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka are looking for more. With the return of Eric Maynor, the Thunder should look to start off strong and hit each team hard. Durant will be relentless this season in his scoring, and will surpass Kobe and LeBron as the league's leading scorer again. He and Westbrook know that they have something to prove this season.

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Team USA Beats Spain for Gold Medal in Men's Basketball

USA Beats Spain in Gold Medal Game, Men's Basketball

Well most of us saw this coming. Team USA is undefeated coming into this game undefeated.. Duh! Well what about Spain? Marc and Pau Gasol are looking to get revenge and earn their gold medal for Spain. Tonight was a huge Gold Medal game, and players from both teams showed up and played their hearts out. In the end, however, Team USA pulled away in the fourth quarter behind Kobe, LeBron, and LeBron.

In the beginning, Spain kept control and tried to take over the tempo and slow things down. With KD, and Lebron, however that's hard. Team USA was explosive as always in getting to the basket and pushing after every made basket. Chris Paul also did a good job of maintaining the tempo. Obviously both teams started out hot. This got the crowd into it. Especially Juan Carlos Navaro's and 1 three pointer. Durant immediately answered.

The game was filled with smothering defense on the inside. Both teams pushed the ball. Navaro got off to a hot start. Both teams kept scoring. Three after three after three. The game was physical early.

Coming into the 2nd quarter, the Spaniards found themselves down by 8, despite Navaro's 14 point effort. Spain started the quarter on a small run of their own, making up some of the deficit. LeBron finally ended the run with a breathtaking dunk. 

Team USA and Spain both got into some altercations, the game started to get more physical. Marc Gasol got into a lot of trouble with 4 fouls in the first half. This was a huge part of the win for team USA.

Many parts of this game mirrored the Bejing Olympic game. 

Heading into the second half, Navaro lead Spain with 19, and Durant lead USA with 17. The second half was where the USA really needed to attack.  By himself, Pau Gasol went head-to-head with Team USA. The pace really picked up. The Laker teammates went back and forth. They both suddenly exploded. The third quarter really set up the victory. Kevin Durant also went crazy in the 3rd quarter. He had 27 with only 120 left in the 3rd. 

Coming into the fourth quarter, the Spaniards needed to score major. You know that Chris Paul was going to pick it up. He scored 5 quick points. Gasol, an Navaro really picked it up as well. When LeBron picked up his 4th personal, Durant became more aggressive. Kobe Bryant extended the lead to double digits, but Navaro answered right back. 

In the end, the US didnt relinquish their slim lead. They pulled away with 3 minutes left. The dagger came at the 2 minute mark: LeBron James hit a killer three.

Team USA stepped up, and started making their easy shots. The second half was one of the most entertaining halfs I've seen. 

In the end, 

Chris Paul contributed in a big way with 7 points in the 4th

Carmelo finished with only 8

Lebron finished with 19

Durant scored 30

and Kobe, in his last Olympic game, had 17

As for Spain,

Pau Gasol scored 24

Marc Gasol ended up with 16

Juan Carlos Navaro had 21

and Rudy Fernandez finished with 13

In the end, Team USA had too many hot players, high basketball IQ, and experience. It was, as I said before, a hard fought game. 

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The Latest: LeBron to L.A.?

I would give credence to speculation like this from only a handful of NBA writers. Marc Spears of Yahoo! comes to mine, so does Chris Broussard of ESPN. I can mention a few other names as well, but the list is short: shorter than the reins Kobe Bryant has on the mercurial Ron Artest to fit in with the Lakers.

But it is hard for me to ignore the speculation when Sam Smith trots out a scenario on where LeBron James will end up next season.

Probably no player in NBA history has had his future examined through a crystal ball (or tea leaves, perhaps?) the way LeBron has had his. The constant forecasting of where LeBron will sign when he becomes a free agent after this season has, at times, been tedious to read. The talk has taken away an appreciation of one of the greatest players to ever play the game.

(Continue to Justice Is Served)

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Shaq Era Opens with Disappointment

Shaquille O'Neal had waited since June for this day, a moment in this man's storied NBA career where he could begin helping LeBron James and his hometown fulfill a dream. For their dream is also Shaq's dream; he wants what they have long wanted: a championship.

No team wins an NBA championship in late October, not even if it does have Shaq and LeBron in its lineup. To dream overly much about one now might prove a distraction with a full season and a long, arduous postseason left to play.

But after seeing Shaq, LeBron and the Cavs play Tuesday night, people will need to mute their talk of an NBA championship. They ought not discuss the topic just yet, because not much the Cavs did against the Boston Celtics, another team with title aspirations, suggested such talk was anything but wishful thinking.

(Continue to Justice is Served)

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Lights On for Shaq's Debut with Cavs

The Shaquille O’Neal era debuts tonight at The Q, but nobody, even Shaq, can be sure what it portends for the Cavaliers.

After a trade with the Suns, he arrived here in early summer with a big smile and big promises. Shaq said he was willing to play the enforcer’s role – to be the man whose task it was to ensure nobody messed with LeBron James.

Shaq would be LeBron's sidekick.

The Cavs had tried to find complements the past couple of seasons. They brought in Donyell Marshall and Larry Hughes a few years ago, and Lorenzen Wright came here last year.

(Continue to Justice Is Served)

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Predictions for NBA 2009-10

The 8th annual GM survey results were released earlier this week for the 2009-2010 NBA season.

While the general managers were on point with some calculations, they totally missed the mark on others.

Here are All Net’s 1st authentic predictions for the upcoming year.

Which team will win the NBA 2010 Finals? The Cleveland Cavaliers.

Kobe & Shaq (2001, 2002, 2003), D. Wade & Shaq (2006), LeBron & Shaq (2010).

Which team will win the Western Conference? The San Antonio Spurs.

The Big Three get big sparks from Richard Jefferson (above photo) and rookie DeJuan Blair and dethrone Lakers in Game 7 of Western finals.

(Continue to All Net)

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Stay or Go? Say Something, LeBron

Staying or going, I wish LeBron James would say.

Those words will be pulling at James, as they did last season, deep into the coming NBA season like a tugboat. He keeps evading questions about what his intentions are as if he were Osama bin Laden.

James had a chance to put the question to bed last month when he premiered his film at a convention in Tampa. He didn’t.

(Continue to Justice Is Served)

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The Best Baller? No Debate

Who’s the best baller on the planet right now?

Kobe Bryant or LeBron James.

This debate was seemingly raging highest during the course of the 2008-2009 NBA regular season.

A highly-anticipated 2009 NBA Finals showdown of the sport’s two biggest heavyweights might have provided a little insight, but Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic spoiled the suspense by knocking out King James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

On the September issue of Pro Basketball magazine, the Cavs phenom and Los Angeles Lakers superstar are pictured side-by-side with the huge headline “LeBron vs. Kobe. Who’s better?” underneath them.

(Continue to All Net)

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