NBA Pump Up Video

If you can't name everyone in this video please leave this blog and never come back

Michael Beasley - A Phoenix Sun

$50 says Beaz sparks owls on gameday

From Marc Spears of Yahoo!! Sports:

      "I know the public sees me as a monster," Beasley told Yahoo! Sports. "That is what the media paints me as. But I'm me, a monster to some, a nice guy to some, a great father to four, a son, a brother just like everybody. What the media thinks or perceives me as, is not my concern. I'm just doing what I got to do to, first, help the team, second, help myself.
      "Five years in, I'm nowhere near where I thought or wanted myself to be. I don't have anyone to blame that on but myself. All I can do is look forward. On the court, off the court, I'm in a better space, better state of mind – the right track so to speak."
      The Phoenix Suns can only hope. They signed Beasley to a three-year, $18 million contract in the summer, banking on the belief he's matured enough to provide a good return on their investment. Beasley has made headlines in his first four NBA seasons, but most often for his behavior away from the court.
      Beasley was fined $50,000 by the NBA for being in a room where marijuana was found during the league's rookie symposium. Less than a year later, he entered a substance-abuse treatment center. The Miami Heat opted to trade him to the Minnesota Timberwolves after his second season to clear salary-cap room to help sign LeBron James and Chris Bosh. 

I've had my eye on Beasley this pre-season. He's new to the revamped Phoenix Suns with a nice, phat contract (bye-bye Nash) as the organization is trying to pair him with Goran Dragic, Marcin Gortat and to a lesser extent Luis Scola. Beaz shot the lights out in his last pre-season game going for 29 points and 10 rodmans. But can you trust him alongside the foreigners?

Beasley was the 2008 #2 draft pick behind Derrick Rose but in front of guys like (UCLA Bruins) Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love. He has 3 mary jane situations and attended rehab in Houston after getting caught at the frigging Rookie Transition Program smoking splifs in the hotel room with Mario Chalmers and Darrel Arthur.  More importantly, Beaz has 4 kids.  4 KIDS!  Wikipedia only shows him with two kids: "He has a daughter Mikaiya, born in May 2009 and a son Michael III, born in November 2010."  Where are the other two kids? Doesn't Wikipedia know everything?  For your information, my quick math shows that Beaz is 23 years old.

Hakeem Olajuwon Movie

This a fun online "dvd" of Hakeem's basketball life and career. Starting from humble Nigerian beginnings, learning the game at University of Houston as a member of Phi Slamma Jamma (love how this was written on the backs of their warm ups) to winning two Larry O'Brien trophies ('94 & '95 while Jordan was baseballing) with the Houston Rockets, Hakeem progressed through and through. Considering that went from an "offensive liability" in his Sophomore year at U of H as Clyde Drexler put it to finishing out as a top 6 center of all time in a Hall of Fame career ('98) is crazy to think about.

You see, kids, if you work hard (and are 7' with amazing speed, coordination and footwork) you can achieve (nearly) anything!

The best part about Hakeem, aside from him still being better on the post than many of today's centers who he schools for $50K for a weekend session, is watching how he leaves his defenders flat footed once he mastered his offensive game in 1994 and beyond.

The Rooks: Golden State Warriors

NBA TV is previewing all Association teams this pre-season. A part of each preview episode is a mini-sode called The Rooks.  Here is The Rooks piece for the GS Dubs featuring Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli, and Draymond Green.

SF Arena 2017 -- Artists Rendering

The city is very grey

Ominous clouds are on the horizon as a mist hovers over the retrofitted Bay Bridge. It is 2017 and President Hillary Clinton is just finishing her first year in office after holding Romney to one term. Somehow Cable News and the NYT convinced the sheeple that the collapse of the Euro was all Romney and Bush's fault as Hillary wins in a landslide.  She is a mere 6 months away from introducing Huma Abedin as her first lady. Sadly, Bill Clinton deteriorated to nothing just after her inauguration as President H.Clinton feels that enough time has passed before admitting to having an affair with Anthony Weiner's wife Huma for over 10 years. Weiner is made the Secretary of Health and Human Services for playing along.

The fog rolls over the city on a cold day yet sailboats harmlessly cruise the bay before a late fall Warriors game at SF Arena. There are no cargo ships in sight and sailing is of high importance. The sun is rising in the East meaning it's morning.  Wait a second, why are so many people sailing at sunrise?  And doesn't fog usually roll through the city like that in the evening? Does fog even make it to SOMA after powering it's way through the city? That's some serious Sunset District fog in this artists rendering of SF Arena, the most amazing Arena known to man.

In 2017 Kayaking is all the rage

 It is 2017 obviously meaning that people love to kayak. Especially old ladies in sunhats. Might as well get a kayak ride in before seeing the Dubs host the Seattle Superdupers.  Thankfully, Joe Lacob has free kayak parking. Roughly 25% of all Warrior game fans kayak to the game. Full grown Monterrey Pines tickle the landscape. They were imported from 17 mile drive as there are no Monterrey Pines at Piers 31 and 32 currently and they take forever to grow.

Warrior fans come in all shapes, sizes and colors. But not one of them is older than 35

Hot girls with butter faces and boob jobs are now Warrior fans. Franco Finn's younger brother and his nephew are at the game. Fans go crazy in the breezeway as the starting lineups are announced.  Hipsters wander and people still have smartphones in 2017. A full view of the Bay Bridge pulls fans away from their seats. Everyone wants to get a glimpse of the ubiquitous sailboats that this part of the Bay is now known for.

Hakeem Olajuwon Could Score

Yes, there's a reason why dudes like Kobe, LeBron, Dwight and now JaVale and Amare pay $50,000 for an offseason weekend session with The Dream. Hakeem had such amazing quickness and smooth pivots. But the best part about his moves was his ability to read the defense and use his scoring move when he knew his defenders were stunted.

Something tells me that JaVale and Amare won't look anything like Hakeem this season.