Amare Stoudamire dunk on Dante Cunningham of Blazers

The debate is on after the latest Amare Stoudamire vicious dunk just a few nights ago. Was that the dunk of the year, and possibly the dunk of Amare's career? Here's yet another Amare Stoudamire throwdown from this season. The Amare Stoudamire dunk on Dante Cunningham of the Trailblazers is pretty fierce in and of itself, but personally, I think his dunk on Anthony Tolliver of the Warriors several nights ago takes the prize. You decide based on the video below and here!



Recently, the Phoenix Suns website put up a poll asking fans to vote on their favorite WWE wrestler - NBA player nickname. They call him Amare "The Giant" Stoudamire. We've always known Stoudamire to be one powerhouse of a player but these recent throwdowns and vicious jams make you wonder if he's channeling some negative energy after not being traded to a different team this season? As fans of basketball, we sure don't mind seeing Amare posterize opponent after opponent!

Which do you like better the Amare Stoudamire dunk on Dante Cunningham or Amare's dunk on Anthony Tolliver?

Sacramento Monarchs done, Kings next?

Just four short years ago, the WNBA's Sacramento Monarchs were on top of the female basketball world, winning the WNBA Championship. Fast forward to 2009, with a struggling economy and slumping ticket sales for basketball, and the Monarchs are officially wiped off the WNBA's active teams list.

According to news reports, some Sacramento players didn't find out until logging into their Twitter accounts online. Rebekkah Brunson was one such player, who saw the news via her teammate Chantelle Anderson's "tweet".

The Monarchs general manager/coach John Whisenant broke the news earlier to a Sacramento TV station that his WNBA team was no longer going to be backed by the Kings organization. The Kings are currently owned & run by the famous Maloof brothers, Joe and Gavin. Despite the Maloofs being dedicated bball fans and very rich, their two teams have been in trouble in recent times. Many NBA teams are having financial difficulties coupled with lower attendance numbers, which could lead to problems. It's possible the Kings could be looking to move, while the Monarchs are currently homeless, but eyeing the Bay area for their WNBA squad. Golden State has already nixed the idea of adding a female franchise to pair up with the Warriors.

According to the Seattle Times:

"Everyone in this business environment ... you have to do what has to be done," Joe Maloof told the Sacramento Bee. "Our focus is to turn the Kings around, and to do that, we have to put all our efforts and good salespeople on the Kings."

Sacramento was one of the original eight WNBA teams, but also came off a 12-22 season, a league worst. During their history, they had a 224-200 record overall, with several playoff appearances including a 2005 Finals win over Connecticut, and a 2006 Finals loss to Detroit. In 1999, center Yolanda Griffith was the league MVP as well.

Attendance was down 5% for the team this year at Arco Arena, with overall WNBA attendance down a whopping 26% since it's all-time high of 10,864 in 1998. This isn't the first WNBA team to fold or move either. Other women's bball franchises which saw their demise include Cleveland Rockers, Detroit Shock (who recently moved to Tulsa) and Orlando Miracles, who found a new home in Connecticut as the Connecticut Sun.

(Story Source: Sacramento Bee)

Brandon Jennings' 55 - Bucks Record

Brandon Jennings hosted an NBA game last night between Milwaukee and Golden State...

So this kid from Lottomatica can play. Last night, Brandon Jennings put his name into the history books by notching an incredible 55 points. That makes for the most by a rookie since Earl Monroe 31 years ago, and the most by a Bucks rookie in a game ever. It beats the record of another guy you've definitely heard of: Lew Alcindor aka Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Jennings is the third guy in Bucks' history to have a 50+ point game, joining Michael Redd and Jabbar.

In last night's game, Jennings started off slow, with nothing in the first, then 10 in the second, followed by a huge 29 point third quarter and 16 to close out the Brandon Jennings scoring show. His 55 lead Milwaukee past Golden State in a close game. The rookie was the #10 pick by Milwaukee in this past year's draft and seems to be its best kept secret. He skipped a commitment to play college ball at Arizona then headed overseas to play in Europe for a year, which is why he's from Lottomatica. He soon may carry the nickname "Automatica" if he keeps scoring like this. Also playing in the game is another guy who may put in some big scoring performances in his career, Stephen Curry who is the song of retired NBA sharpshooter Del Curry.

So apparently Jennings was reported as unable to shoot by NBA scouts. Point taken, and thrown completely out the window. Jennings has arrived and will keep arriving in the 2009-10 season.

When It Comes To Brandon Jennings, The Hype Meter Just Got Cranked Up To 11

Ellis Moped Incident = 30 Day Suspension

The Golden State Warriors high-scoring guard, Monta Ellis, was injured in a motor cycle accident this past summer, hurting his ankle. While that is bad news in itself, Ellis then chose to lie to the team about the incident. Ellis told the Warriors he hurt himself playing pickup ball in Mississippi, but then came clean about the injury days later. Due to his lie, Ellis has now been suspended 30 games by Owner Chris Cohan, which will cost the guard a cool 3 million dollars.

When you see a headline about Ellis being suspended, you'd assume it was due to a fight in a preseason game, using drugs or some sort of off-court arrest/fan altercation. But for something that could have easily been avoided, Ellis has benched himself for almost half of an NBA season. Will the team be hurt by this? They might have been, as he was the second-leading scorer for the NBA's highest-scoring team last season, averaging 20.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists, helping his team try to make the final playoff spot. Ellis underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament and wouldn't be able to return to action to mid-December anyways.

In case you're wondering about the rule book, according to NBA.com: "Ellis violated Paragraph 12 of the NBA's uniform player contract, which prohibits a player from engaging "in any activity that a reasonable person would recognize as involving or exposing the participant to a substantial risk of bodily injury," including "driving or riding a motorcycle or mo-ped."

Other past motorcycle incidents in sports that are well known include Pittsburgh Steeler QB Ben Rothleisberger, and former Chicago Bulls/Duke guard, Jay Williams. Rothleisberger was able to recover from injuries he sustained, while Williams attempted to rehab but never was able to make an NBA return.

Read more about Ellis' Suspension by the Warriors at NBA.com

3 Teams & 2 West Playoff Spots

As of Tuesday night there are 3 Western Conference teams vying for the final 2 playoff spots. Dallas, Denver and Golden State are in the thick of the playoff hunt, and all 3 make for dangerous first-round playoff opponents. The records and standings are stacked up as follows:

7) Mavericks 49-29

8) Nuggets 47-31

8) Warriors 47-31

The Mavs currently have the 2 game lead on Denver or Golden State. All 3 teams were in action and picked up wins Tuesday to keep the playoff race competitive.

The Dallas Mavs defeated the Seattle Sonics 99-83 thanks to Jason Terry's 22 and Josh Howard's 17. Lead scorer for the Sonics was Earl Watson with 22. Durant had an impressive jam down the lane and also tossed a great ally-oop to his fellow rookie Jeff Green. Dirk Nowitzki was back from his home country of Germany to participate in the game, helping his team to the win. This marked Dallas' 13th straight victory over Seattle, and also marked Seatlle's 60th loss this season, a franchise record for them.

The Nuggets took out the Clippers to avoid their 3rd straight loss. Carmelo Anthony finished with 36 points and Allen Iverson had 21 to help the Nuggets win over the Clips 117-99.

Golden State was also able to keep pace by handling the Sacramento Kings 140-132. Then again most teams have this season. There was a sick behind the back no-look pass from Monte Ellis to Baron Davis amongst the top highlights in this one. In the Warriors' victory, scored 33 points to lead the way and Stephen Jackson chipped in 20. Andris Biedrins pulled down an impressive 17 rebounds.

All 3 teams have tasted the playoffs as of last season, with the Warriors playing spoiler as they took out the Mavs, shocking the NBA world. The Nuggets seem to have the better chance at landing a playoff spot based on their tie-breaker advantage. Denver heads into enemy territory in Oakland on Thursday which should decide the final playoff spot.

Webber Comes Full Circle

Chris Webber started his NBA career with the Golden State Warriors. He then bounced around from the Wizards to Kings to the Sixers and then the Pistons. Now Webber has returned to his origins as he has been signed by Golden State. The Bay Area star is back, but aged of course. Webber hasn't played in any games since losing with the Pistons in last year's Conference Finals. Read the Associated Press story here

In other trade rumor news, Jason Kidd is now saying he is ok if he is traded. Kidd says he doesn't feel he'll win a title in New Jersey, and they need to trade him for a bunch of guys to give them a championship chance. Kidd also says when he would achieve a triple double in a game it usually meant a win, but it's just not working out right now. Heading to tonight's game against the Bucks, the Nets have lost 9 in a row, and are sub-.500 in the Eastern Conference. Possible teams interested in J Kidd right now are the Mavericks and Nuggets, so a deal is looming before the February 21st deadline.

NBA Standings Analysis 11.11.07

Checking out the NBA standings even though it's still early, there's some surprises. The division leaders as of today are Boston, Detroit and Orlando. Nobody is too surprised by the Celtics red-hot start. Orlando is definitely on the rise thanks to Dwight Howard who continues to shine. And Detroit is a stable team which plays like most teams should. But many are surprised by Chicago's lackluster start and the Wizards winless start. The Wizards do have Gilbert Arenas back, but he is reportedly trying to recover from knee/leg surgery still. Miami is also winless and sorely misses D-Wade. That most likely explains the new Converse commercials where Wade is shown in an empty arena announcing himself.

Out West, not too many surprises. The teams you'd expect to be good are good (Utah, Denver, Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio, Dallas), those you'd expect to be bad are bad (Seattle, Minneosta, Memphis). However, the Clippers would have to be the surprise at 4-1. Elton Brand has been a solid force for them over the past few seasons so without him, its tough to understand how they are pulling wins off. Upon further analysis, three of the four teams they beat are winless (Bulls, Sonics, Warriors). Their other win is the Pacers, and their loss the Pistons. Still, they are winning and leading their division. The other division leaders are Utah and Houston/San Antonio. Houston's looked great early on, and as usual the test will be that T-Mac and Yao stay healthy this year. Portland is interestingly sitting at 3-3 without Greg Oden, but this will most likely start to change. Winless teams Minnesota and Seattle are in true rebuild mode and Golden State is either really missing J-Rich or just had a big surge the second half of last season.

If you look at the overall early picture so far it makes you wonder if the East is that bad anymore? A team like the Wizards has been a strong contender the past few years, as has Miami. Boston was not. Charlotte may be coming in to their own, as Orlando definitely is turning into a contender, slowly but surely.

NBA Season Begins...

Last night the NBA season opened with just 3 games on the schedule. Here's a quick look and some thoughts.

Jazz defeated the Warriors 117 to 96

Carlos Boozer scored 32 pts along with 15 boards. I expect him to be in the top 10 maybe even top 5 scorers this season and to have a big All-star season for the Jazz this year. Deron Williams added 24 points and should continue to become the star player h was looking like last year.

Spurs defeat Blazers 106 to 97

Opening night action was supposed to see the big rookie Greg Oden match up against the champion Spurs. However, Oden is out for the season, so Mr. Duncan reigned supreme with 24 points and 13 rebounds, after getting his championship ring.

Rockets 95 to Lakers 93

The closest game of the night, Kobe Bryant showed his usual scoring prowess with 45 points total. T-Mac went off for 30 points and added 6 rebounds. Big man Yao added 25 points and 12 boards. It was Shane Battier who hit a tiebreaking 3 pointer with just 2.5 seconds left in the 4th quarter. A close contest, but the Rockets should be one of the top 5 or 6 teams in the West, and the Lakers may be as well.

Eight games on Halloween night, which include the Bulls taking on the Nets, Seattle vs. Denver, Dalls visiting Cleveland, and Milwaukee facing Orlando. See the full lineup here.