So I was informed last night that there is a live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot in the works. I was excited, then i read rumors that Michael Bay was involved. My excitement dropped off significantly. They also originally had the writers of Iron Man 2 writing it, then decided to get some dudes who write a crappy TV show and Mission Impossible 4 instead. My excitement dropped more.
The NBA Lockout is still going on. The meeting tonight (currently in progress, over 10 hours) is supposedly going positively, but I've lost hope and am not all that interested since the media gets fans hopes up, then cuts them down. I'll be pleasantly surprised if they have any form of a season, if not I'll find other things to do with my time.
I went to Chicago for Halloween, it was a very fun time. I saw friends I don't see nearly enough, went to a Blackhawks game on Halloween night, people in costumes at hockey games are a good time (One of my favorites was a Care Bear with the Blackhawks logo on its tummy). If you're wondering, I dressed as The Macho Man Randy Savage. Chicago has been a great time every time I've been there. I'm hoping to relocate there this Spring.
Childish Gambino's CAMP comes out Tuesday!
Kickin' it with Kel
Showing posts with label NBA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NBA. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
The Nuggets have seen 3 of their free agents sign in China, which means they can't come back to the NBA until that season is over (which will be toward the end of the NBA season) even if the lockout is lifted, and multiple other players are playing overseas with out clauses, which means they can return if the lockout is lifted.
I'm in favor or players going over and playing, expanding their game and learning to play different ways, and strengthening parts of their games that may be weak. Of the 3 players from the Nuggets who signed in China, at least 2 of them weren't expected to sign again anyway, and the other I believe can be replaced.
Even if Nene leaves, as he suggested testing free agency and chasing a ring in and interview, I think they'll be okay.
As it stands right now, the Nuggets don't have enough guys to man a roster, but I think they can be fine if the lockout is lifted. They have a strong front court with Ty Lawson and Arron Afflalo (currently a free agent who has shown interest in staying), then you throw in Gallinari and the two seven-footers (Timofey Mozgov and Kosta Koufos), the promising Kenneth Faried and the scorer Jordan Hamilton who dropped to them in the draft and you have a young core with promise to build together and play as a team. They also have Gary Forbes who is a free agent, and has shown interest in staying. He wasn't the greatest last year, but showed glimpses of high quality, and has shown he can play in multiple pickup and street games featuring other NBA players this summer. He's young and could turn out to be an asset.
I understand the concerns about the go-to guy who can take over a game when needed. I also think some of the Nuggets players could step up to be that guy (Afflalo and Gallinari come to mind, possibly Nene if he signs, maybe even Jordan Hamilton). If not, I think they have a solid core to drop a special player into. The Nuggets payroll is low now, with Carmelo and Chauncey now in New York, so they could pick someone up or possibly make a trade.
If they can run with this team state of mind they've started, maybe they can make some noise with undervalued guys. I'm personally excited about the team. Maybe I'm just a fan with rose colored glasses, but I like to think they've got a chance to build something great out of what they have. These guys are young and can grow together.
I have faith in Masai Ujiri and Josh Kroenke. I think they know what their doing. At least, it seems like they do.
NBA Lockout: Still Going...
The NBA lockout has already taken away the preseason, the first two weeks of the regular season and sent numerous players overseas. I really wish it would end, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
I believe both sides deserve their fair share. The players bring the talent that brings in the money. They also deal with being in the public eye, taking the blame when things go wrong and the credit when it goes right. Most, if not all, of the scrutiny lies on players. That being said, the owners provide the outlet and make the deals to bring in the money that the players' talent attracts. Both sides deserve their share.
I know I probably don't know the whole story, but I've been following what I can throughout the lockout. From what I've taken, the players have shown willingness to negotiate, they've given in areas. The owners have not from what I've seen/read/heard. Both sides must show willingness to compromise for this to work.
I'm trying to stay in the middle, but maybe I am leaning toward the players' side. Many of the owners have made horrible decisions and now are looking for ways to get out of dealing with it when they make more. If more owners took a genuine love in their team and the game, maybe it wouldn't be so hard. It's usually pretty obvious which owners are interested in winning for love of the game, and not just in making money.
After all the buzz created last year that aided in getting the fan base back up, and getting more revenue, it's terrible that this is happening now to set the Association back instead of building on it.
I don't know what kind of deal needs to be made. All I know is I'm a fan missing out on the highest level of my favorite sport because people can't figure out how to divide their money. I'm sure there's more to it than I realize, but I'd really like to see some NBA basketball and see the next chapter in its story.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Why Charles Barkley Was A Good Role Model.
Growing up, I was a big NBA basketball fan. While my brother was a huge Michael Jordan fan (like everyone else in the world), I was idolizing Charles Barkley. He did not want to be a role model and proclaimed that he wasn't, but to me he was. I know my mother agreed with him in thinking that he shouldn't be. She seemed disgusted at his outspoken and scandalous behavior.
Many comparisons have been made and Jordan is known as the greatest ever, I personally don't believe that anyone deserves that moniker because so many things go into it and it is objective (I am not looking to get into this argument here). Charles Barkley had no championships, he also did not have the coaching and as strong of a roster around him in his prime. He was drafted to the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984, a year after they won a championship (the beat the Lakers!). In the 1992-93 season, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he would play his best years, before going to the Houston Rockets to join Hakeem Olajuwan and Clyde Drexler and to try to win a championship in his latter years before retiring before planned in 2000 at the age of 36, after rupturing a quadricep. Barkley was an undersized post man who made a bigger impact on the game than most in his era with hard work, honesty and passion.
Sir Charles began his career on a championship team. He was not a leader of the team, but he learned from the veteran leaders. Something we should all do, learn from those who have come before. While playing with Dr. J surely benefited him, he obviously took the most from Moses Malone. Moses Malone was a fellow post player, who prided himself on rebounding was a great mentor for "The Round Mound of Rebound" to have show him the way. He taught him to work hard and prepare for games, the seasons and the life of a professional athlete.
By 1988, Malone and Erving were both gone (trade and retirement), and Barkley was the team leader. Doing all he could with the limited resources the 76ers management gave him, he relocated via trade to Pheonix. When you try and try and things aren't working, change something. This obviously helped, as he was the league MVP that season and led the Suns to the Finals to an eventual six-game loss to Michael Jordan's Bulls.
"Just because I can dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids." - Charles Barkley
I AM NOT A ROLE MODEL. This was a popular Nike ad campaign designed around Sir Charles in the 90s. He didn't want to be one, but he was. I'm sure there were other kids around the country and the world looking up to him besides me. I mean, he WAS one of the most popular players in the league and he was a polarizing personality. He was honest about his thoughts and feelings and didn't sugarcoat anything for the public. He owned up to things he did, and did not make excuses for his mistakes. He took the credit for his faults as well as his achievements. He was passionate and competitive and often had skirmishes with players during games. Afterwards he was not afraid to say what he thought about it, rather than playing to the media as most did. He always left these grudges on the court, though.
He learned from his mistakes. Once, during a close game in 1991 he became agitated by a heckling fan and turned to spit on him, and ended up hitting a little girl. He apologized to the girl and became friends with her family and provided them with tickets to games. He also served a suspension and paid a fine for the incident. He learned from this. Here's a quote from around when he retired.
"I was fairly controversial, I guess, but I regret only one thing—the spitting incident. But you know what? It taught me a valuable lesson. It taught me that I was getting way too intense during the game. It let me know I wanted to win way too bad. I had to calm down. I wanted to win at all costs. Instead of playing the game the right way and respecting the game, I only thought about winning."
Charles got in many fights through his career. He threw a guy through a window, he jawed refs, he played rough and took some cheap shots, but he was always standing up for what he believed. He stood by his opinions and fought for them.
Barkley never won a championship, but in later years of his career he chased his dream, joining Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler and the rest of the Houston Rockets to try to achieve his goal. You should always try for what you want, don't leave yourself wondering what if. Though he did not succeed, he tried.
For the best years and majority of his career, he was competing with Michael Jordan. The two are widely known as being good friends. They had a healthy competition between them, which is important. Competing with our friends is always important. It does sometimes get out of hand. We've all had times when a pickup game at the park, a board game or even a game of Halo got out of hand and we lost our tempers. Competition brings out our adrenaline and testosterone and things get heated. This is why we should surround ourselves with good people. Our friends understand and don't hold these things against us.
I could go on, but I feel this is enough for now. Charles Barkley taught me a lot about life through his achievements and downfalls. He was a league MVP, an 11-time All Star, and All Star Game MVP, SEC Player of the Year and named one of the 50 Greatest Players of All Time in the NBA. He taught me roads to take, and roads to avoid. He taught me to be passionate about what I do, to voice my opinion on things, hard work and to stand up for what I believe. I am glad I went through life looking up to him.
I am a better man for having Charles Barkley as a role model......because he could dunk a basketball.
[I used Wikipedia to get some of the details like years and stats right, because as a kid, I didn't pay really pay attention to that stuff.]
Here are some of the gems from Youtube, there are more if you feel like checking them out.
^Start that one at 1:44
Many comparisons have been made and Jordan is known as the greatest ever, I personally don't believe that anyone deserves that moniker because so many things go into it and it is objective (I am not looking to get into this argument here). Charles Barkley had no championships, he also did not have the coaching and as strong of a roster around him in his prime. He was drafted to the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984, a year after they won a championship (the beat the Lakers!). In the 1992-93 season, he was traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he would play his best years, before going to the Houston Rockets to join Hakeem Olajuwan and Clyde Drexler and to try to win a championship in his latter years before retiring before planned in 2000 at the age of 36, after rupturing a quadricep. Barkley was an undersized post man who made a bigger impact on the game than most in his era with hard work, honesty and passion.
Sir Charles began his career on a championship team. He was not a leader of the team, but he learned from the veteran leaders. Something we should all do, learn from those who have come before. While playing with Dr. J surely benefited him, he obviously took the most from Moses Malone. Moses Malone was a fellow post player, who prided himself on rebounding was a great mentor for "The Round Mound of Rebound" to have show him the way. He taught him to work hard and prepare for games, the seasons and the life of a professional athlete.
By 1988, Malone and Erving were both gone (trade and retirement), and Barkley was the team leader. Doing all he could with the limited resources the 76ers management gave him, he relocated via trade to Pheonix. When you try and try and things aren't working, change something. This obviously helped, as he was the league MVP that season and led the Suns to the Finals to an eventual six-game loss to Michael Jordan's Bulls.
"Just because I can dunk a basketball doesn't mean I should raise your kids." - Charles Barkley
I AM NOT A ROLE MODEL. This was a popular Nike ad campaign designed around Sir Charles in the 90s. He didn't want to be one, but he was. I'm sure there were other kids around the country and the world looking up to him besides me. I mean, he WAS one of the most popular players in the league and he was a polarizing personality. He was honest about his thoughts and feelings and didn't sugarcoat anything for the public. He owned up to things he did, and did not make excuses for his mistakes. He took the credit for his faults as well as his achievements. He was passionate and competitive and often had skirmishes with players during games. Afterwards he was not afraid to say what he thought about it, rather than playing to the media as most did. He always left these grudges on the court, though.
He learned from his mistakes. Once, during a close game in 1991 he became agitated by a heckling fan and turned to spit on him, and ended up hitting a little girl. He apologized to the girl and became friends with her family and provided them with tickets to games. He also served a suspension and paid a fine for the incident. He learned from this. Here's a quote from around when he retired.
"I was fairly controversial, I guess, but I regret only one thing—the spitting incident. But you know what? It taught me a valuable lesson. It taught me that I was getting way too intense during the game. It let me know I wanted to win way too bad. I had to calm down. I wanted to win at all costs. Instead of playing the game the right way and respecting the game, I only thought about winning."
Charles got in many fights through his career. He threw a guy through a window, he jawed refs, he played rough and took some cheap shots, but he was always standing up for what he believed. He stood by his opinions and fought for them.
Barkley never won a championship, but in later years of his career he chased his dream, joining Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler and the rest of the Houston Rockets to try to achieve his goal. You should always try for what you want, don't leave yourself wondering what if. Though he did not succeed, he tried.
For the best years and majority of his career, he was competing with Michael Jordan. The two are widely known as being good friends. They had a healthy competition between them, which is important. Competing with our friends is always important. It does sometimes get out of hand. We've all had times when a pickup game at the park, a board game or even a game of Halo got out of hand and we lost our tempers. Competition brings out our adrenaline and testosterone and things get heated. This is why we should surround ourselves with good people. Our friends understand and don't hold these things against us.
I could go on, but I feel this is enough for now. Charles Barkley taught me a lot about life through his achievements and downfalls. He was a league MVP, an 11-time All Star, and All Star Game MVP, SEC Player of the Year and named one of the 50 Greatest Players of All Time in the NBA. He taught me roads to take, and roads to avoid. He taught me to be passionate about what I do, to voice my opinion on things, hard work and to stand up for what I believe. I am glad I went through life looking up to him.
I am a better man for having Charles Barkley as a role model......because he could dunk a basketball.
[I used Wikipedia to get some of the details like years and stats right, because as a kid, I didn't pay really pay attention to that stuff.]
Here are some of the gems from Youtube, there are more if you feel like checking them out.
^Start that one at 1:44
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Lockout
So the NBA Lockout is in its third day. Nene opted out of his contract with the Nuggets; I'm still not quite sure how I feel about this. Nene's positives outweigh the negatives and he's a great player for the team, and would be with most teams. A good center is hard to find. He would also probably be better at power forward which rumor has it he'd be playing for the Nuggets next year. I completely understand his opting out of the contract, but I have no idea what he's thinking about as in staying versus going elsewhere to play. He can obviously make more money as he is one of the top names in this years free agent class, and he could just be trying to get more money out of the Nuggets. He is married to a woman from Colorado and they have a child on the way, but he also took the summer off from playing for his homeland Brazil's FIBA team to focus on contract negotiations and everything. So there's a lot of confusion when I think about this, if he does in fact stay I'll be happy; if he doesn't I will wish him the best and will still be pulling for his success and I will hope the Nuggets can sign Kenyon Martin to a new contract. I am very excited about the Nuggets franchise if the league ever gets going again. With the talented, young front court of Ty Lawson and Arron Afflalo, a mixture of youth and experience all dedicated to being a team, the new addition of the modern era NCAA's rebounding record holder and a scorer out of Texas, two young 7-footers who are expected to come into their own this year. A lot of things could go wrong, but a lot of things could also go right. I look forward to the NBA players and owners getting the new CBA worked out and getting on to the next season (hopefully next year).
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Warm weather has arrived, and it is tremendous. I had been spending quite a bit of time taking walks, running and going to the park working on my shot, but lately it's been raining a lot, on top of me working overnights and sleeping much of the day. Summer is my favorite season for these reasons, the outdoor activities and a more active lifestyle is easier to live.
The NBA season ended, with the Dallas Mavericks beating the Miami Heat in 6 games. Congratulations to the Mavs for the achievement. The Western Conference still remains on top! I'm looking forward to see the reshaping that happens this offseason. The Nuggets have many free agents, its pretty certain they will lock up Nene and Arron Afflalo, their two biggest free agents, though, which is great. Its also been talked about that Timofey Mozgov will be playing more minutes next year, he has high potential and I hope he works out. Free agents I would like to see the Nuggets pick up: Shannon Brown, Deandre Jordan, Dwight Howard would obviously be welcomed, as well. I don't know much about the Draft prospects, so I won't say anything about that, I hope they can get a solid player who can make a contribution to the team.
I also recently joined the Twitterverse. I had been anti-Twitter for a long time, and it just won me over. Follow me...REALKristopherK.
The NBA season ended, with the Dallas Mavericks beating the Miami Heat in 6 games. Congratulations to the Mavs for the achievement. The Western Conference still remains on top! I'm looking forward to see the reshaping that happens this offseason. The Nuggets have many free agents, its pretty certain they will lock up Nene and Arron Afflalo, their two biggest free agents, though, which is great. Its also been talked about that Timofey Mozgov will be playing more minutes next year, he has high potential and I hope he works out. Free agents I would like to see the Nuggets pick up: Shannon Brown, Deandre Jordan, Dwight Howard would obviously be welcomed, as well. I don't know much about the Draft prospects, so I won't say anything about that, I hope they can get a solid player who can make a contribution to the team.
I also recently joined the Twitterverse. I had been anti-Twitter for a long time, and it just won me over. Follow me...REALKristopherK.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
CLIPPERS BEAT THE HEAT!!!
Last night The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Miami Heat. The Clippers are a favorite team of mine, behind the Denver Nuggets. Miami makes the trip to Denver tonight, I'm looking forward to it, I have to work but should be able to watch most of the game.
Everyone was talking smack after the Nuggets lost to the Clippers and the Kings, which granted it was by more than the Heat did, but the Nuggets have had a lot of drama to deal with lately. I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm just happy to see the Heat lose and the Clippers win.
The Clippers are finally making a name for themselves behind Blake Griffin (24 straight double-doubles) and Eric Gordon. Baron Davis also has started playing to his ability again. If they can keep their young core together they could definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the next few years. Besides Griffin and Gordon, they have Deandre Jordan who is growing into a great rebounder and improving his game all the time. They also have Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe who are helping quite a bit as rookies (Bledsoe got a huge block on Lebron James last night, He's 6'1").
They haven't had the best season sitting at 13-24, but have gotten some key wins over the Spurs, Heat and Nuggets. I hope they realize what they have and stay together to become a force in the league. They have proven they can play with the top teams and they're starting to finish those games now (even if their way is to go huge in the first half, 44 pt first qtr vs. Heat).
The Heat are in Denver tonight, Carmelo Anthony guaranteed he'll be playing, we'll see how all that drama plays out, but tonight its Miami at Denver, and I hope the Nuggets are prepared because the Heat will be trying to prove themselves again after last night. The Nuggets are also trying to prove that they're still a contender, they've been left out of the talks this year, much do to the planned exit of Carmelo Anthony. But I am excited for this game, even more so after the Clippers taking the Heat down, both teams have some things to prove to the world.
Everyone was talking smack after the Nuggets lost to the Clippers and the Kings, which granted it was by more than the Heat did, but the Nuggets have had a lot of drama to deal with lately. I'm not trying to make excuses, I'm just happy to see the Heat lose and the Clippers win.
The Clippers are finally making a name for themselves behind Blake Griffin (24 straight double-doubles) and Eric Gordon. Baron Davis also has started playing to his ability again. If they can keep their young core together they could definitely be a force to be reckoned with in the next few years. Besides Griffin and Gordon, they have Deandre Jordan who is growing into a great rebounder and improving his game all the time. They also have Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe who are helping quite a bit as rookies (Bledsoe got a huge block on Lebron James last night, He's 6'1").
They haven't had the best season sitting at 13-24, but have gotten some key wins over the Spurs, Heat and Nuggets. I hope they realize what they have and stay together to become a force in the league. They have proven they can play with the top teams and they're starting to finish those games now (even if their way is to go huge in the first half, 44 pt first qtr vs. Heat).
The Heat are in Denver tonight, Carmelo Anthony guaranteed he'll be playing, we'll see how all that drama plays out, but tonight its Miami at Denver, and I hope the Nuggets are prepared because the Heat will be trying to prove themselves again after last night. The Nuggets are also trying to prove that they're still a contender, they've been left out of the talks this year, much do to the planned exit of Carmelo Anthony. But I am excited for this game, even more so after the Clippers taking the Heat down, both teams have some things to prove to the world.
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