The Playoffs are Here!!!!

THEE ARTEEST

The NBA Playoffs have begun so it is time to look at the rundown of the results and what that means for the future of each series. I just want to start this post by saying the referees are terrible. They need to let the old school NBA players referee the game so it can be the playoff basketball that we love to see. The calls that were made last weekend were a mess unlike anything I have ever witnessed before. I just wanted to throw something at my TV. But let’s get to the real point of this post.

The Clippers and the Warriors played last weekend. They solidified what I wrote, that they would be best for the NBA and game one really showed why. As soon as the game started David Lee got into it with Blake Griffin. This game magnified Chris Paul’s struggle on offense and defense, and…

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Giving the Game to the Softies

THEE ARTEEST

I have been a fan of the NBA since I was six. I remember sitting in my house and watching grown men play the game I knew I was going to play someday. I saw how physical the game could be with men getting punched in the face or even getting kicked in the stomach. My thoughts from watching them were, “man, those are some strong dudes. I want to be just like them, physical and tough.” I remember seeing Kurt Rambis, on a sports replay, getting clothes-lined in mid-air and getting back up like a “G.” I remember actually seeing Michael Jordan take a beating every game he played during the season and the playoffs, but he kept getting stronger and didn’t back down. This is what made him great. He didn’t cry to the ref because he was confident he would be able to handle whatever was thrown…

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Clipping Away at a Championship

THEE ARTEEST

Image used from sportspeak.org

The season started rocky for the Los Angeles Clippers, but since the All-Star break they have been showing teams that they are competing for the championship. The Clippers were never a team that you would put in the same sentence with “playoff team”. No one in their right mind would even say they’d go see a Clippers game…unless they were a hardcore fan. The moves that they have made over the years have changed the dynamic of the entire franchise. Can we actually say right now that the Lakers are now the Clippers and that the Clippers are the new show in town? It’s so funny because they share the same arena but the Clippers were never filling seats. Well, welcome to town Blake Griffin and Chris Paul and hello playoffs and possibly a championship. Let’s look at the facts right now and see if they…

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OKC: Looking Ahead

THEE ARTEEST

The NBA season is almost over so it is time to think about the playoffs and the finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder have the best chance to win the championship. This will be the most amazing playoffs in the Western Conference because everyone is coming for them, but the Thunder will be the team to take it.

Russell Westbrook was injured half the season, but Kevin Durant carried the load, beating the elite teams in the West. Durant has had 11 40-point games and he is not stopping, reaching that level once again in Tuesday’s game against the Houston Rockets. Westbrook returned from his injury after the All-Star game and since then the Thunder’s record is 4-7, but that will not stop them from showing out in the playoffs. They have shown that they can beat teams like Houston, Golden State, San Antonio, and the Clippers, and well those are…

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Who is Terrence Ross?

THEE ARTEEST

No NBA fan will sit and waste their time watching the Toronto Raptors. The only people who watch the team are fans in Canada. Demar Derozan and Kyle Lowry were the only ones making a name for themselves until Terrence Ross came out of the wood work.

Terrence Ross first showed up in the dunk contest where he took home the trophy in 2013 as a rookie. People were astonished because no one had seen his game before that day when he put his dunking skills on the map. He came from the University of Washington. He played 35 games as a collegiate player and averaged 8 points per game but had spurts of 20 points when he got the chance to shine. Then he was drafted by the Raptors in the first round as the 8^th pick in the 2012-2013 season. The Raptors must have known something that…

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Kyrie Irving: Everybody’s Favorite Uncle

THEE ARTEEST

One dude that has come out of Duke who has blown my mind is Uncle Drew aka Kyrie Irving. How many players in college only played 3 games, got hurt and came back to play in the tournament, and then go on to the NBA as the first pick in the NBA draft?

Kyrie Irving was drafted to the Cleveland Cavaliers after playing 11 games with Duke where he was averaging 18 points per game. He was able to renew Cleveland’s love in the Cavaliers after LeBron James left to go to Miami. Irving showed that even though he only played 11 games in college, he was ready for the pros.  Irving maintained his 18 points per game as a rookie. That was a great beginning for a team that was losing hope. Although they didn’t make the playoffs, the future looked very bright for him.

That bright future took…

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Jamal Crawford aka J Crossover

THEE ARTEEST

If you are a fan of the NBA you know exactly who J Crossover is and why he has received that name. If you don’t know who that is I am about to fill your head with some realness.

Jamal Crawford has been in the league for 14 years and a lot of people didn’t even know that this man existed until he got to the Atlanta Hawks. He was drafted from the University of Michigan by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2000 and traded that same day to the Chicago Bulls. I wish the Bulls would have just kept this man on the roster but hey, it’s a business. He came into the league averaging almost 17 points a game and he was coming off the bench. He began getting traded from team to team spending time at New York, Golden State, Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trailblazers and now the Los…

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Houston, Dwight will be a problem!

THEE ARTEEST

The Houston Rockets are a well-known franchise that have had great players and championships to go along with them. The Rockets have boasted players like Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kenny (The Jet) Smith, and even Charles Barkley. As a dominant franchise in the 90’s they gave every opponent a run for their money. However, though it was fun to watch them play in the early 2000’s when they acquired young talent — Steve Francis, Tracy Mcgrady, Rafer Alston, and Yao Ming — during the playoffs they always came up short to other top teams like the Lakers and the Mavericks.

Although it seems they have acquired talent that will make them contenders for the NBA Championship this season, they will not get a chance to taste that opportunity. James Harden signed with them in 2012 and had a breakout year as a starter…

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Kevin Durant: What more can you say?

THEE ARTEEST

Kevin Durant was in college for one year as a freshman at Texas and oh boy did he ever show that he was ready for the NBA. Durant averaged 26 points and 11 rebounds during his college career. He showed out for that one season. I watched him play as much as I could because he came from Suitland, Maryland and I lived in Capitol Heights, Maryland, so I had to show my respect and represent for the home state. It did not matter where he was on the court because the ball was going through the hoop and he was the next big thing. Durant and the Longhorns made it to the second round of the conference and ended up getting defeated by the University of Southern California, but his future was a bright one and he did not disappoint anyone.

Kevin Durant was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics in 2007 and…

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Who’s a Professional? Not J.R. Smith!

THEE ARTEEST

It’s funny how you look at  certain basketball players and try to understand the mindset of that person just from watching them on T.V. I have been watching J.R. Smith since he got drafted out of high school and I have been trying to understand his game for the longest time. I had the pleasure of meeting this man after the game against the Bobcats in 2012. As we walked from the arena to the hotel we discussed my book Hustle: Street Power. He seemed like he had a good head on his shoulders. But as far as his game, I can see he is a streaky shooter and when he gets hot that man can drain a three. He is also a great dunker when he can get to the lane just like he did on Gary Neal. That is one thing I can honestly say about…

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