Ah, What a Day This Was...

You Look Bored.....

The And1 Tai Chi Returns!

Is Rafer Alston wearing two different colored shoes? Nooooope! The And1 legend, Skip to My Lou, is in fact wearing one of the ugliest sneakers to ever squeak the hardwood. White on the outside, navy on the inside. The most comfortable basketball sneaker I've ever worn. I. Must. Have. It. Now!

What's that? You don't remember the And1 Tai Chi mid? Maybe the man who made it famous can jog your memory....

Best of all, the usual suspects (Champs, Footlocker, etc) all have it in stock. Why didn't I purchase it? Because the only decent color scheme they have in stock is the red ones that Vince made famous. I wore the white and navy ones and Sports Authority has it close as they have it in white on the outside and black on the inside. May just have to pull the trigger on that one!

Verizon's Misfit Commercial

Now that I've been on AT&T for a couple months, I can say that I dearly miss "The Network". Often I have what appears to be a full signal, yet I drop a call or can't make a call at all. Much of the time, I only have the Emergency Only signal. Very frustrating.

In that spirit, I hope you all have seen Verizon's newest attack ads on AT&T. My favorite one is this one:

Disturbing Use of Technology

So I'm reading some articles from the usual geek sites I frequently visit and stumble upon this ad:


As an iphone user, I love having apps that do practically anything as much as the next person, but really? Really???

2010 Free Agency

So, I know this whole Lebron free agency thing has been a huge topic in the basketball world for the past couple years to the point that it's gotten downright annoying. Specifically, as a Nets fan, it seems like every story eventually comes back to the possibility of Lebron in a Nets uniform because of his love for the NYC area, especially Brooklyn, and close friendship with minority owner Jay-Z.

First off, let's be clear that Jay-Z owns 1.47% of the team. Hardly anything at all. Also, is it just me or are all these reporters ignoring the most obvious questions here? By now, everyone knows the Nets have a new Russian owner coming in with unlimited monetary resources. Why has no one even brought up the topic about whether or not Jay-Z will still own his 1.47% of the team? Jay-Z's stake in the team is part of current ownership. Once this sale is finalized, shouldn't the assumption be that Jay-Z will no longer be a minority owner? I realize it's possible that Prokhorov (the new owner) will keep him onboard for the publicity Jay-Z gives the team as well as connections to players, but no one is even asking this question. The sale was originally built around one big prerequisite. The Nets move to Brooklyn needs to be official before the sale goes through. Now, I realize Prokhorov has indicated that he still wants the team, under a new deal for less money, if the Nets stay in Newark. However, Jay-Z is all about Brooklyn and the whole reason he invested in the last sale was because the intent was to move the team to Brooklyn. Long story short, if the Nets don't actually move to Brooklyn, Jay-Z's biggest purpose for the investment is no longer there. He wanted a stake in an NBA team that played in his backyard, not Newark. And don't forget, this is all irrelevant if Jay-Z is no longer a minority owner under the new ownership group which is something no one is asking, but I would assume to be the case.

There's one other problem with the theory Lebron will sign with the Nets this summer. I've been saying it for a long time and the media has not even brought it up because, honestly, I don't even think they've realized it. John Williamson. He wore #23 for the Nets and it was retired about 15 years ago if my memory serves me correctly. I know what you're thinking, he'll volunteer to unretire his number. However, you'd be wrong because Mr. Williamson has passed away and I think it's safe to say that it would be in poor taste for the Nets to unretire it on their own. Would Bron be willing to play with any number other than 23? He did wear #32 in high school early on, but that's retired by the Nets also thanks to Dr. Julius Erving.

All this said, I'm not convinced the Lebron won't join the Nets. There is no team in the NBA with more unknowns surrounding it than the Nets and one of the possible scenarios is that this team with tons of young potential finalizes its plans for a state-of-the-art arena in Brooklyn with $27 million in cap space this summer to sign 2 legitimate all-star caliber players. Let's not forget a new owner with bottomless pockets willing to pay any price for an unstoppable team. Yes, I realize the NBA has a salary cap, but an owner willing to pay an unlimited luxury tax for going over that cap is a big deal to incoming free agents. Also, the Nets have two first found picks this year; they have the first round pick from the Mavs (from the Jason Kidd trade) and their own pick, sure to be in the lottery.

And now we come to the article that I woke up to this morning, causing me to resurrect this blog from the depths of the meadowlands. Lebron is suddenly thinking that no one in the NBA should be wearing #23, out of respect for Michael Jordan. Why didn't he think of this 7 years ago when he was entering the NBA? Possibly because he's been thinking about next season in NJ where he can't wear #23? Maybe he wants to start this "movement" because he wants the whole league to give up #23 before he's forced to? Hmmmm.....

It's going to be a long season for Nets fans. I'm enjoying watching Brook develop into a dominant threat now that he's added a great 18-ft jumper to his game, but really the only purpose of this season is to enhance that lottery pick as much as possible. With the two first round picks in the 2010 draft, $27 million in cap space, and a new owner with unlimited cash who is actually a fan of the game, I think this must be the most exciting time ever to be a fan of arguably the worst team in the entire league.

Was anyone surprised by the fact that the USA got third in the World Basketball Championships last week? If so, you shouldn't be. These guys were constantly playing an isolation offense, playing 1 on 1 against teams who play with the epitome of teamwork. These other countries' teams are constructed of player who have playing with eachother for six years or more. Their talent level doesn't come close to that of the NBA superstars and they admit this regularly, but their teamwork is something the NBA simply does not have on any team.

In the quarter-final match against Germany, they attempted forty shots from behind the arc. I have never heard of anything even close to this and it's disgusting to be quite honest. They weren't even hot, making only about ten of those forty if I remember correctly. I have to say, it was quite satisfying seeing Lebron and Wade both get called for travels constantly. When they don't have the NBA officials allowing them to get away with anything they want, they begin to look like amateurs. Props to Wade though, for taking on a role off the bench even though he was one of the team captains and embracing it rather than complaining at all.

Now that the US finished third in the Worlds, they need to play again next summer to qualify for the 2008 Olympics. Some are looking forward to a better team next year, though, because Kobe Bryant will be with the team. However, this just means even more 1 on 1 isolation and even more 3-point attempts. Hopefully this extra competition will be a blessing though, allowing the team to gel more before the 2008 Olympics.

It's been so long since I've last blogged that I feel like I don't even know where I should start. So much has been happening that it almost feels overwhelming at times. For starters, my last year of college is already upon me. To top it all off, the month of September (which will have officially started by the time this post is finished and published) is one of the coolest months in the world of sports.

I'm really looking forward to getting back to school next week to be reunited with awesome friends and also to be finally living in the Village. I have never even been in the Village at all except the Commons building. The website's virtual tour is the only glimpse I have gotten so far into what it's like inside those apartments (or condos or whatever they're called). I'm not looking foward to schoolwork, but I am looking forward to having 3 classes on Wednesday and 1 joke class on Thursday night. If that isn't the sweetest schedule, I don't know what is.

As far as sports goes, who doesn't love September? Baseball playoffs are approaching, NASCAR's Chase for the Cup gets underway, the NFL regular season begins, and NBA rosters are being finalized for the opening of training camp in the first week of October. I'm sure you are wondering why you have come to my blog and have read all this stuff already and no mention of basketball until now. Well, I'm glad you feel that way because here comes my two cents on the current state of my beloved New Jersey Nets.

The Nets didn't make nearly as many big moves this off-season as they have in previous years, yet a lot has changed regardless. The only trade they made this off-season was trading a future 2nd round draft pick to the Seattle Sonics in exchange for Mikki Moore, a 7ft center who is a solid 12th man kinda guy for the bench. Free Agency was equally low-key this off season as the only move they made was signing another bench player in Eddie House. Perhaps the biggest thing to happen to the Nets this off season was a rediculously amazing draft. They got lucky when they were able to get Marcus Williams, who was projected to be picked in the top 13 lottery, at #22. They then were able to get Marcus's teammate at UConn, Josh Boone at #23. As if they're luck couldn't get any better, they somehow got one of college basketball most exciting young talents in Hassan Adams of Arizona at #54. In a draft that only has 60 picks, it's unheard for a guy of this caliber to slip so low.

There are definitely a lot of positives going into this 2006-2007 NBA season for the Nets. Most importantly, they still have their big four intact, with Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson, and Nenad Krstic all coming back. Kidd is getting older now, but he no doubt still has a huge desire to get that ring. RJ improves every single year and this year, hopefully, he will finally be recognized as an NBA All-Star. Unfortunately, that may never actually happen so long as Carter is still his teammate. The other big positive, although a bit risky, is the abundance of young talent we have this year. Once Mile Ilic is signed in the next couple weeks after he comes over from Serbia (the Nets drafted him last year but kept him overseas to further develop his skills), the Nets will have 5 players on their roster at the age of 22 or younger. Then you have Nenad Krstic, who is only 23 and is rapidly becoming one of the league's best centers. He has already been recognized this summer, after only his second year in the league, as the NBA's 7th best center according to Sports Illustrated.

The only negatives really going into this year are that the youth movement is quite risky, and could backfire as well as the uncertainty of Vince Carter's future with this franchise. The 07-08 season is a player option on his contract, so following this season he may elect to either stay with the Nets one more year for $16.8 million or become a free agent and sign with whomever he wants. Many believe he wants to stay with the Nets, but I really am not so sure. He could have signed an extension this summer for another 4, 5, or 6 years like Lebron, Melo, and DWade all did, but those talks never happened. He also recently got divorced and there is talk that if his wife gets custody of their one-year-old daughter and moves back home to either Carolina or Florida, he will sign with the Bobcats or Magic to be closer to his daughter. Honestly, I like the guy but I've never felt he really cares much about winning. Sure he says he does, but I really think he is genuinely just having fun playing basketball for a living and really does not care which team he plays with so I would not be surprised at all to see him go from a competitive Nets team to a lottery team like Charlotte or Orlando.

Well I think that will do it for this blog tonight. It's definitely good to be back and I'll blog again soon. Consider this blog updated.

Consider this blog updated.