http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/tomasson HoopsHype.com NBA Blogs Sat, 08 Aug 2009 10:02:23 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Chauncey Billups isn’t worried about his Denver Nuggets not picking up any big-name players this offseason. But he is worried about a teammate who hasn’t exactly been helping his name lately. With that in mind, Billups will fly Sunday to Las Vegas, where embattled guard JR Smith has relocated. Billups will ... http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/tomasson/2009/08/08/billups-giving-smith-an-assist/ Robin Hood, who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, would have no place in today’s NBA. These days, it’s the NBA rich who pilfer from the poor. San Antonio was only too glad to take off Milwaukee’s hands the big contract of forward Richard Jefferson while giving up little. ... http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/tomasson/2009/07/21/spurs-are-summer-champions/ It’s the waning moments of a 15-point game in the summer league. Many of the fans already have hit the Strip, and they’re doubling down. Meanwhile, Blake Griffin literally is down. While it would have been easy for Griffin, the NBA’s top draft pick for the Los Angeles Clippers, to cruise during ... http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/tomasson/2009/07/14/the-griffin-show/ Cue up the grainy highlights. It’s a good time for draft anniversaries. It’s the 50-year anniversary of when Wilt Chamberlain was drafted, and the 40th anniversary of when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was plucked from the college ranks. It’s the 25th anniversary of Michael Jordan heading to the stage, although he did keep ... http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/tomasson/2009/06/22/whats-the-best-class-ever/ We’ve got Kobe Bryant and you don’t. It was pretty much that simple as the Los Angeles Lakers won their 15th NBA title Sunday by defeating the Orlando Magic 99-86. The debate will continue to rage next season as to who the best player is in the NBA, Lakers guard Bryant or ... http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/tomasson/2009/06/14/la-back-on-top/ Dusty, yellowed pages need not be turned back. It wasn’t a generation ago when he coached the Albany Patroons of the Continental Basketball Association in a nearly 100-year-old edifice known as the Washington Avenue Armory. But there was a time when a Phil Jackson-coached team actually choked big time. And it ... http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/tomasson/2009/06/13/choking-again/ All this talk of Randy Johnson and his quest for 300 wins conjures up thoughts of another tall guy who’s lost a bit over the years on his fastball. That would be Phil Jackson, the Los Angeles Lakers coach who, unbelievably, hasn’t won a title in seven years. There was a time ... http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/tomasson/2009/06/02/shooting-for-10/ There’s a new Cuban Missile Crisis. It has to do with the shots that continue to be launched between Dallas owner Mark Cuban and Denver forward Kenyon Martin. A movie was made on the 1962 crisis called “Thirteen Days.’’ The way this one is going, it might last a lot longer. “He’s ... http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/tomasson/2009/05/17/martin-vs-cuban-continues/ Out West, Denver Nuggets fans can thank Southern rock. Or, more specifically, a bunch of long-haired guys from Jacksonville, Fla. It was January 2006, and then Hornets center Chris Andersen had just had been suspended from the NBA for drug use, unable to apply for reinstatement for two years. Two days after ... http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/tomasson/2009/05/03/flying-high/ Wherever the Nuggets play on the road in the postseason, Carmelo Anthony can count on not hearing one thing. “DUI. DUI. DUI.’’ That was the chant at the Staples Center during a first-round playoff series last spring. The Nuggets star forward had been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving April 14, 2008, ... http://blogs.hoopshype.com/blogs/tomasson/2009/04/14/melo-getting-it/