Guy Dupuy: The World's Best Dunker??

By: Naman "Tiny" Buch






Guy Dupuy is a young French dunker who has been a You Tube sensation around the basketball world. Dupuy has performed various acrobatic dunks and has proven to  take his dunks to the next level. Dupuy has been outspoken after Blake Griffin's all star car dunk and performed an even better dunk using a car which we expected Blake to do. There is so much creativity from Dupuy that he continues to outperform himself, and hopefully will be in a showdown with Blake for world dunk supremacy. In his latest video Dupuy, who has been with And1 Live Tour goes home to France to jump over many many guys and perform some spectacular dunks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucYsw7xcbo8&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmhEhQWemhY- Car Dunk Vid in Poland

Seize the day people.

White Chocolate, Jason Williams retires

By: Naman "Tiny" Buch







I know it's been a while since we posted, and anyone reading this blog is probably wondering why we haven't even talked about the playoffs. Well, I doubt people are even reading this blog yet, so I'm gonna hold off on the playoffs and with the talk about the Kings relocation talk about one of their best young players in the past. I'm talking about a point guard who was one of the flashiest players in the game, and put "Sacramento on the map" according to Shaq, Jason Williams.  White Chocolate, they called him Jason Williams was a player who made some of the craziest passes and was a highlight machine in the late 90's and early 2000's.

J-Will helped lead Sacramento with some very good players including Chris Webber, Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic into the Conference Semi-Finals 4 years in a row, including one year in the Conference Finals. The Kings were an exciting team with Williams leading the break and would make ridiculous plays that didn't even seem humanly possible. Williams was a bit of a problem on and off the court leading to numerous suspensions and violations of team policies. After bouncing around with the Kings and Grizzlies he landed in Miami. With the request from good friend Shaquille O'Neal, Williams was brought into Miami and was a key member of the Heat 2006 Championship team. He came off of the bench and provided 10 ppg off the bench and contributing 21 points in the series clinching game for the Heat.

Jason Williams seems like he always will be remembered for his off the court antics and personality and never for his on court abilities and talent. J-Will is the career leader for the Grizzlies in assists and according to his former Florida coach Billy Donovan was "the closest thing to Pete Maravich." Jason Williams in my opinion was underused for his last team in his career, the Orlando Magic. It seems like he was healthy and still could provide valuable minutes off the bench for the Magic in this year's playoff run. Announcing his retirement, at age 35, Williams retires being one of the flashiest point guards in the 90's and should be remembered for his incredible passes and abilities. Hopefully, this will provide fans a chance to see what Jason Williams once was in these links I have posted below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgoijMXFOmA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN1jFhVT4pY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUz18ewZlPo

Seize the day people.

Playoff Preview Western Conference #4 Oklahoma City vs #5 Denver

By: Naman "Tiny" Buch

The Oklahoma City Thunder last year gave the NBA the most exciting series of last year no only in the 1st round but, I would say in the entire playoffs. Thunder crowds were raving and cheering loudly for the 3rd youngest team in the NBA. After nearly scaring Los Angeles in 6 games, the question became can Oklahoma City compete year in and year out at a high level? Well the Thunder have proven that this is true, as the Thunder have improved from 50 wins last year to 55 wins this year, and a division title. On the other side the Denver Nuggets were expected to have a big step back after their big mid-season trade of Carmelo Anthony, but the opposite occurred. The Nuggets acquired several pieces including Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Timofey Mozgov. After giving up mainly their 2 big names in Melo and Chauncey Billups, the Nuggets have become a more well rounded team, though without a legitimate superstar.

Keys for the Nuggets to win the Series 
The Nuggets with the loss of Melo have become a better offensive team in my opinion. The Nuggets led the league in scoring with 107.5 ppg and have become a team with many more options than a go to guy down the stretch. The Nuggets went from having many isolation sets with Melo to being a team that ran the ball down the court a lot more often. The Nuggets have become a considerably deeper team and can go easily 10 deep in the playoffs. There is no team as deep as the Nuggets, except for maybe the Bulls. The Nuggets have so many solid options its hard to say which player stands out more than the other. For now I would say their go to guy is Nene. Nene has benefited more looks now that Melo has left, and should look to build on this during the playoffs as he matches up against different Thunder big men. Another option that has gotten more looks is Wilson Chandler. Chandler in New York was having a great season averaging 16 ppg and 6 rpg. Chandler provides a good shooter to the Nuggets, and the ability to over match some of his defenders. The biggest key I believe will be the Nuggets depth. They do go 10 deep, and with the Melo trade have become even better than they were before. JR Smith, a great shooter and scorer provides a big spark off the bench and has been the entire year. Raymond Felton who was a starter for the Knicks and was even considered to be a possible All-Star is coming off the bench and will be key in running the offense with starter Ty Lawson. Danilo Gallinari   when he is healthy will provide a great shooter off the bench and will be looked to hit big shots down the stretch in many games.  Chris Andersen provides a big spark off the bench in his energy, defense and rebounding. As for the starters Ty Lawson is becoming a more complete point guard in his 2nd season in the league. Aaron Afflalo who is a bit injured will look to also get shots and be another option for the Nuggets. And Kenyon Martin will look to be the veteran of the team and lead the defensive charge for the Nuggets.

Keys for the Thunder to win the series
The Thunder have benefited from a huge breakout year from Russell Westbrook and along with Kevin Durant will be the main keys for the Thunder. Durant is the leagues scoring champ for the 2nd year in a row. His numbers have slightly been down because of the emergence of Westbrook, but Durant will still be the go to guy for this young Thunder team and will continue to get his shots. Westbrook is a big reason, even bigger than Durant maybe for their improvement this year into one of the top teams in the West. Westbrook has improved in almost any statistical category and is leading the point for this very potent Thunder offense. Westbrook will look to get to the basket and penetrate into the Nuggets defense and will get to the line very often. Both Westbrook and Durant get fouled a lot and get to the free throw line as much as any player in the NBA. Both Westbrook and Durant will capitalize on these opportunities as both shoot 84 and 88% from the Free throw line. Other than that the Thunder have benefited from the mid season trade of Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic for Kendrick Perkins. Kristic didn't fit as a member of the Thunder team and Jeff Green wasn't a prototypical 4 that the Thunder needed, especially after the continuing improvement of Serge Ibaka.  With Perkins the Thunder will able to match up well against any team with a big man and Perkins also provides much needed Finals experience to this young Thunder team. Perkins should see looks but hasn't really clicked with the Thunder during the regular season, because of his injuries and foul trouble due to his aggressive play. The Thunder easily have the best big man rotation off the bench and will look to use it many times in the playoffs. With veterans Nick Collison, and Nazr Mohammed the Thunder will able to use different rotations in the playoffs to create matchup problems. The Thunder also have a very capable young point guard in Eric Maynor who will see minutes and has handled the Thunder offense very well. James Harden seems destined to start eventually, and provides the biggest spark and scoring threat off of the Thunder bench. With Thabo Sefolosha, the Thunder have their best defender and will be used against the opposing teams best defender. Thabo will have an increased role in what looks to be a deep playoff run for the Thunder, and should be the pesky defender he is, just like last year against Kobe Bryant.

Both of these teams are young and are very capable of putting up points in a hurry on the scoreboard. The Thunder is a little more experienced then the Nuggets are and will look to build on last years post season into one of the top teams in the West.

Prediction: Thunder in 6 games
Rating: 4.5/5 (This in my opinion is the most exciting series with both fan bases being very loud, it should be very entertaining. All the games should be competitive and very high scoring)

Game 1:  Sunday April 17, Denver @ Oklahoma City 9:30 PM EST ESPN

Seize the day people.

Playoff Preview Western Conference #2 Los Angeles vs #7 New Orleans

By: Naman "Tiny" Buch

Everyone says that Los Angeles is going to get upset. They said that Memphis shouldn't have given up at the end and could have stole the #7 seed and was going to upset the Lakers. They said the Lakers aren't clicking and should change the rotation and Phil Jackson doesn't know what he's doing and is losing is coaching touch. Last year when the Lakers came into the playoffs losing their last 7 out of 10 games they responded by winning the title. The same thing occurred this year when the Lakers lost 5 out of their last 8 games. This however, isn't true whatsoever. The Lakers can turn it on and off and I believe should have no problem once again having a deep playoff run. The Hornets on the other side are struggling without David West, who tore his ACL and will be out for the playoff run.  This team seems destined to start rebuilding with the NBA's support and I believe Chris Paul and David West should and will leave after the season ends.

Keys for the Hornets to win the series
The Hornets obviously need CP3 to give a crap for one last time as a Hornet and attempt to give them an opportunity to steal a couple of games. CP3 is their #1 option and will look to burn by Derrick Fisher and look to get to the free throw line. The mid-season trade of Marcus Thornton for Carl Landry seemed to be a bit lopsided. I thought that Marco Belinelli was a lot worse than Thornton and of course Thornton proved that he can play by putting up big numbers for Sacramento. However, after the West injury, Carl Landry is capable to handle the post down low but obviously no West, but should look to get looks in the post. The Hornets defense will have to be on point in order to stop the Lakers offense. Trevor Ariza, will look to lock down former teammate Kobe Bryant, and of course Chris Paul will look to get his steals in the playoffs as well. Emeka Okafor should be in the post as well looking for his shots especially to test Andrew Bynum's injury and try to take advantage if he isn't 100%.

Keys for the Lakers to win the series
The Lakers have been the champions for the past 2 years and have the same team and coach that has made everything so successful for them. Phil Jackson will lead the Lakers again and look to win his 12th championship. Of course he is a big reason why the Lakers are the Lakers. Kobe Bryant. There isn't much to say about the Lakers leader. He should have no problem getting his shots and the ball will be in his hands during the big moments of any game during the playoffs. What I want to see is Andrew Bynum get his shots and if he is healthy and contributing then the Lakers are the most dangerous team in the playoffs. Bynum obviously didn't need to get many looks as last year he only averaged around 8 ppg and 8 rpg. A big component of the Lakers is the man who never seems to get any credit. Everyone talks about Pau being Kobe's #2 and providing big shots down the stretch, but I'm talking about this year's 6th man of the year (in my opinion) Lamar Odom. Odom has provided a big spark off the Lakers bench these past 3 years and will do the same again this year. Odom is 6'10 and handles the rock like a point guard. He is a nightmare matchup for any team and especially for the Hornets with their limited size. The bench has improved over the last year with the Lakers adding defensive stud Matt Barnes, and a breakout year for Shannon Brown who has improved his shot a lot and still provides the Lakers highlight reel dunks.

The Lakers should have no problem with the Hornets and will silence the critics once again for saying they had a bad final stretch heading into the playoffs. I expect this series to be CP3's last series as a Hornet. After this series I believe he will look to join a powerhouse to form another dominate duo/trio. The Hornets should be able to grab a game just because of Paul's abilities but nothing more.

Prediction: Lakers in 5 games
Rating: 1.5/5 (This seems like the most boring 1st round series, and looks to be a halfcourt struggle if neither team can get out and run)

Game 1: Sunday April 17 New Orleans @ Los Angeles, 3:30 EST ABC

Seize the day people.

Playoff Preview Western Conference #1 San Antonio vs #8 Memphis

By: Naman "Tiny" Buch

The Memphis Grizzlies have never had much success in the playoffs. People may have forgotten that they did make the playoffs for 3 straight years from 2003-2005.  But after mediocrity and the trade of Pau Gasol, Memphis seemed destined to  keep on sliding for years, but now have some of the best young talent. Mike Conley, OJ Mayo, Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol make up the starting 5 for this young and talented team. However, after Gay's season ending shoulder injury, the team lost its best offensive option but will attempt to overcome it. On the other side the Spurs have the best record in the West and continue to overcome all the talk that they are too old and past their prime. They have proven that if this is their last run they are going for it and won't let their age slow them down.

Keys for the Grizzlies to win the series 
After losing their #1 option in Rudy Gay, who was having a breakout season, they will go to their #2 option who when he wants to be, unstoppable. Zach Randolph is a walking double double and seems like he is ready to prove himself to the NBA after many stops around the league. Randolph will be a matchup problem for Tim Duncan and will look to make Duncan go into foul trouble. If he does what he's capable of he will help Memphis and be a nightmare for the Spurs. Mike Conley, should look to improve on his season and will facilitate and lead the offense . Conley has improved his passing and his apg has improved this year from 5.3 to 6.5 this year. Marc Gasol should look to go to work in the post with Anthony McDyess guarding him. Gasol should look to help out on the rebounding end and needs to finish in the post. If he gets McDyess into foul trouble expect the Spurs to have an incredibly difficult time handling the Memphis bigs. OJ Mayo needs to actually give a crap like he really hasn't this season. With Gay, gone Mayo needs to step up and hit some big shots and be like the offensive player people expected him to be when he entered the NBA. One of the players who hasn't given a crap this season at all and is expected to be a lock-down defender on Manu is Tony Allen. Even though Allen is "a Celtic who is unfortunately wearing a Grizzlies jersey" doesn't have that mindset anymore with the Grizzlies anymore and should help the Grizzlies defense.

Keys for the Spurs to win the series
The Spurs have 3 veterans who are keys for them and have been for a long time. Tony Parker is still contributing and proving that his divorce earlier in the year had no affect on his game. Parker led the Spurs in scoring with 17.5 ppg and dished out 6.6 apg. Parker I believe will exploit his matchup against young Mike Conley and make him work hard to defend. Even though Manu Ginobili sprained his elbow recently, I don't expect him to be out for long. If anything, I expect Ginobili to be out for Game 1 but should not miss the rest of the series.  Ginobili has hit big shot after big shot and will continue to be in my opinion San Antonio's most dangerous shooter. Of course you can't mention the Spurs without mentioning their go to guy it seems like in all the big situations Tim Duncan. Duncan's stats have been the lowest ever. But it doesn't matter to him as long as they win and it looks like it could be the Spurs season. The Spurs have had a reviving of Richard Jefferson and provide another option if Ginobili isn't healthy. The Spurs have always in my opinion been very good at drafting and picking up steals and once again did it again by signing Gary Neal who was un-drafted! George Hill will look to run the offense when Parker needs rest and along with Neal, is an important part of the Spurs bench. A big part of the Spurs has been 2nd year player DeJuan Blair off the bench who wasn't expected to be much in the NBA but is proving everyone wrong and will be a big spark off the bench when Duncan needs rest and is a rebounding machine with 8 boards off the bench.

The Spurs with a veteran team and a veteran coach should be able to fend off Memphis. However, I believe Memphis will not give up that easy and will finally win a playoff game after being 0-12 in 3 previous series. Memphis will look to use their youth to tire the veteran Spurs team and bring hope and energetic fans to the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

Prediction: Spurs in 6 games
Rating: 3.5/5 (Some games will be more exciting than others, but if the Spurs control the ball, should be a slow half court series)

Game 1:  Sunday April 17 Memphis @ San Antonio 1:00 PM EST TNT

Seize the day people.

Playoff Preview Western Conference #3 Dallas vs #6 Portland

By: Naman "Tiny" Buch

It seems Mark Cuban, owner of the Mavericks will do anything to make his team better and making trades to have the team do well in the playoffs.  With recent trades of Jason Kidd, and Caron Butler both helping out the team considerably. But this year it didn't seem like the big trade was there. However, they did pick up solid pieces in veteran and shooter Peja Stojokovic and much needed youth and solid defending in Corey Brewer. Portland on the other hand never seem likes they make the big move until this year in my opinion when they received the biggest steal of the season in Gerald Wallace, for what didn't seem like much. Portland vs Dallas is a series that provides much intrigue in two teams going in different directions, one in Dallas on the decline and one in Portland with tremendous upside and on the way up.

Keys for the Mavericks to win the series
The Mavericks are on the decline, and despite the best efforts of Cuban, aren't getting younger and he seems to be acquiring pieces that are a little old, with the exceptions to Caron Butler and Corey Brewer.  But with Butler having a season ending injury, unlikely to return for this series it's a big blow for the Mavs to do well. I believe one of the biggest keys for the Mavs is young guard Roddy Beaubois. Roddy last year didn't seem to get any minutes in last year's first round series vs San Antonio and probably should have and could have helped the Mavs out more. Rick Carlisle, I believe is very conservative with his young players with especially Roddy and even Corey Brewer. After Roddy returned from his foot injury I could understand why he limited him, but at one point when he had returned for a while Roddy played less minutes than Jason Terry, Brendan Haywood, Peja, and Brian Cardinal. Roddy's explosiveness, speed and defense will be utilized and should be utilized after some rest and should be 100% after the foot injury. Of course the big key is Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavs go as Dirk goes. Dirk has been easily one of the top NBA players that nobody talks about, and always has his shot going it seems. But with the versatility of the Portland defense Dirk will see athletic and pesky defenders against him in Nicolas Batum  and Gerald Wallace. Dallas will need to exploit the size difference on the front line and need to have Tyson Chandler lead the defense and get touches and finish at the offensive end as well. Chandler vs Aldridge is the only slight mismatch for the Mavs and they need to exploit the small front line for the Trail Blazers.

Keys for the Trail Blazers to win the series 
I believe the Trail Blazers is the only team with a 6 seed or lower in the NBA that can make some real noise in the playoffs. The Blazers have so many options but it starts with LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge is averaging 21.8 ppg a big improvement from last year, and could be this years Most Improved Player. Aldridge even though plays center will look to overcome the size difference against the Mavs like he has against every other team, for the entire season.  Though, the Portland front-line is a little small they are extremely athletic and have matchup problems for the Mavs throughout their lineup. Gerald Wallace should be able to build on last years playoff success and will be an important 2nd option for the Blazers. The Blazers also have a signing that in the off-season helped them a lot in Wes Matthews. Matthews was another steal that the Blazers had in the off season that proved to be a  great move. Matthews is a great 3 point shooter and will look to be a 3rd option behind Aldridge and Wallace. Batum is the least talked about Blazer but is a very young 22 year old player who has shown his potential this year with his defense and length as well as his shot selection. With this team so deep once go to guy Brandon Roy is their 6th man and if healthy could make the Blazers even scarier. With Rudy Fernandez and also Patty Mills off the bench the Blazers will look to use their rotation and athleticism to hinder the old veteran Mavs.

George Karl said that he would rather face the Mavs than any team in the West. And the Mavs have been called "soft and too old" by many. The Mavs will look to overcome this but I believe they need big series from  Dirk, Roddy and Tyson Chandler and it doesn't seem like it's going to happen especially if Roddy becomes inefficient Carlisle won't likely play him. Carlisle should use his youth against this athletic team but I don't think it will happen often.  The Trail Blazers should exploit many of the matchups and hold on to win the series.

Prediction: Blazers in 6 games
Rating: 4/5 stars (Exciting series, and the games should be close)

Game 1:  Saturday April 16 Portland @ Dallas 9:30 PM EST ESPN

Seize the day people.

Playoff Preview Eastern Conference #2 Miami vs #7 Philadelphia

By: Naman "Tiny" Buch 

The BIG 3 of the Miami Heat are in the playoffs for the first time as a collective group, and are looking to prove that their comments in the beginning of the year of winning multiple championships are true. While on the other side the Philadelphia 76ers, Doug Collins a Coach of the Year candidate helped a 27 win team last year improve to a 41 win team, with solid young talent.

Keys to the Heat winning the series 

To put it simply the BIG 3 is the key. The trio of Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade has had its ups and downs this season but has the potential to really control its own destiny with good performances. The Big 3 averages together 70.1 ppg, close to 70% of the teams total points. Lebron James, even after all of the hype of the Decision, has been the Heat's most consistent option and though he gets a little overshadowed by his team due to their talent, I believe should receive more MVP attention. One member who took considerably less money to join the Heat, was expected to be a big member of the team, but had injuries, needs a big series to jump start the rest of the playoffs is Mike Miller. Miller only played in 41 games but should be a valuable member of the team and will be left open in many situations when Lebron, Wade and Bosh get the ball. However, Miller only shot around 30% considerably less than his career average in the final months of the season when he was healthy. It is important for the Heat to give Miller looks and for Miller to contribute and take advantage of the opportunities.  Other than these 4, the Heat don't really look like they have much but do have solid contributers off the bench. James Jones, and Eddie House provides a 3 point assassins off the bench, as well as Mario Chalmers who can start as well over Mike Bibby and who has been hot heading into the playoffs. The Heat offense should take care of things but the defense is very underrated. When the Heat want to try to play defense, Dwayne Wade and Lebron are two lock down defenders who in my opinion don't get the credit they deserve. The defense is the 6th in the NBA allowing 94.6 ppg to the opposition and shouldn't have any trouble with match up problems on defense except maybe in the post with Bosh against Elton Brand. The Heat is a little old on the bench but shouldn't have any problems for right now  and should do well against the young Philadelphia team. 

Keys to the 76ers winning the series

The 76ers this season have played well and turned it around big time since last season due to the help of new Coach Doug Collins, and as well big contributions from Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand, and the emergence of young point guard Jrue Holiday. Iguodala has to have a big series but will have a tough time with Dwayne Wade and occasionally Lebron guarding him. Iguodala has been Philly's best defender and Collins has helped instill that mindset into Iggy. Brand I believe, should be Philly's go to guy and should be able to handle Bosh down low and put up big numbers in the series. Jrue Holiday had the biggest improvement on the team and put up bigger numbers in ppg, rpg, assists, 3PT% and FT% just to name a few. Holiday will look to use his speed to blow by Mike Bibby/Mario Chalmers both not great defenders and look to facilitate and control the offense. I expect Brand and Holiday to have big series and lead the team to have a chance against the Heat.  The Philly defense has improved significantly and is the 12th best defense in the league allowing 97.5 ppg to the opposition.   I believe the defense could have been even better if the 76ers had just kept Samuel Dalembert, who's a solid defender and I believe would have provided the team with not only a better defender and a better offensive option than Spencer Hawes.  

The Sixers I believe will be able to take a couple of games against the Heat because of their youth and coaching of Doug Collins, but ultimately I believe Lebron and Wade provide two options that won't be stopped often by the Sixers defenders often. The Heat need to go to their 3 options and not get lazy on defense and offense and take any quarters or halves off. It's the playoffs now and the Heat can't cruise now, and I believe will become the unstoppable force of a team that they can become. 

Prediction: Heat in 6 games

Rating:: 4/5 stars (Will be entertaining with Sixer's youth and of course the BIG 3)

Game 1:  Saturday April 16 Philadelphia @ Miami 3:30 EST ABC 

Seize the day people