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Which team's got the arena with the most hostile environment?

Kobe a no-show to All-Star media availability: Source

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f321/sha44/GUESS_THA_SCORE.png "Guess The Score" What would be the final score of the next Clippers' game? OFFICIAL RULES: Exact Final Score: 10 Pts Exact Number of Clippers Pt Total: 5 Pts Within one point (of the Clippers' final point total): 3 Pts Within two points (of the Clippers' final point total): 2 Pts Within three points (of the Clippers' final point total): 1 Pt ALL SCORES MUST BE POSTED BEFORE TIP-OFF IN ORDER TO BE VALID! Next Game: MIN @ LAC Tuesday, February 28th (7:30 PM Western Time)

SHQ @ CHK 133-146 http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/.element/img/2.0/sect/gameinfo/teamlogos/2012/SHQ.gif @ http://i.cdn.turner.com/nba/nba/.element/img/2.0/sect/gameinfo/teamlogos/2012/CHK.gif BLAKE GRIFFIN MAKES THE MOST OF 10 MINUTES http://www.nba.com/clippers/photos/griffin-670-120224.jpg Blake Griffin posted 10 points in 10 minutes during Friday's BBVA Rising Stars Challenge as Griffin and Team Shaq lost 146-133 to Team Chuck. Griffin will start in Sunday night's All-Star Game. Full Recap

Why Griffin Didn’t Defend His Slam Dunk Title: NBA @ 2

Chris Paul and Derrick Rose are undoubtedly the game's top two point guards. Their styles are a study in contrast. Each player uses a different set of finely honed skills to overwhelm and bewilder opponents. Their matchups are among the most intriguing individual faceoffs in the league, and on Sunday they'll start opposite each other in the All-Star Game. But before they do that, we'll break down these talented lead guards, one category at a time, to determine which one is the better player. Ballhandling Paul is simply as flawless a ballhandler as the league has seen. He has stripped flash from his game and uses only the dribble to gain an advantage. He can stop on a dime with a pull-back crossover on the elbow or freeze a big man with an in-and-out dribble with either hand. But one of Paul's best weapons is his half dribble -- faking a spin move -- which defenders are forced to play honest. Many point guards consider it one of the trickiest moves to defend. "It's so tough because he does it so fast," Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson says. "You have to assume he's going to spin." In traffic Paul keeps the ball low and close to his body, which makes it very hard to strip, as evident in a career-low 2.2 turnovers per game. Rose's handle doesn't quite have the fluidity of Paul's but is nonetheless airtight. It's tough to find a quicker crossover than Rose's, which he can snap left-to-right and back in a flash, making it extremely difficult to recover. It's this ability to cover ground laterally that's become a crucial weapon in creating shots for himself and others. Rose can slalom to the rim quicker than most guys can get there in a straight line, zipping through collapsing holes in the nick of time. He's also got a terrific step-back move in which he keeps his dribble then rockets toward the rim after the defender commits his momentum forward. Scores (out of 10): Paul 10, Rose 10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Passing Thanks to his keen understanding of when and where to give teammates the ball, Paul is at his best when setting the table for others. He's one of the best at throwing the lob in transition, but really shines when tossing it out of a pick-and-roll from the elbow. Like any high-IQ point guard, Paul understands the ball can be advanced much more quickly with the pass than the dribble. In transition he looks for teammates running their lanes as soon as he grabs a defensive rebound and keeps one-handed passes, which can't be as easily controlled, to a minimum. "Fundamentally, his passes are perfect," Los Angeles Clippers assistant Robert Pack says. "Making the right pass leads to great execution." Case-in-point: A split second before Blake Griffin's monstrous dunk over Kendrick Perkins on Jan. 30, Paul delivered a perfect 8-foot, two-handed bounce pass as Griffin rolled to the rim. "If it's off even a little, that dunk doesn't happen," Pack says. While Rose is far from a pure point, he creates passing opportunities by drawing defenses to him in the lane and then dropping the ball off to a big man or cutter. Thanks to his long arms and deft body control, he's become quite adept at getting Chicago's big men easy buckets with his wraparound passes. Scores: Paul 10, Rose 9.5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leaping ability Among the point guard set, only the Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook has better springs than Rose. The former No. 1 overall pick uses two legs to burst off the floor with super-quick blasts, which makes successful help defense a risky proposition. What's more, his body control and strength in the air allow him to release and make off-balance shots despite incoming body shots. Paul is a solid athlete, but he's at his most effective when he stays on the ground. His hops aren't bad but he rarely gains an advantage using his leaping ability. "Chris is definitely a below-the-rim athlete, but he can still be effective," Pack says. Scores: Paul 7, Rose 10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finishing Here we'll look at Rose and Paul's effectiveness in the paint. While Paul's penetration is a task to contain -- he's got a keen ability to anticipate where holes will open up -- it pales in comparison to his Windy City counterpart. Rose simply beats you with his fighter-jet speed and all out aggression. "He gets this look in his eyes and you know he's out for blood," Lawson says. On his right-hand drives down the lane, he cuffs the ball in his arm like a running back, which helps him accelerate after picking up his dribble and prevents the ball from being slapped away. Another one of his pet moves at the rim is an up-and-under reverse he uses to finish on either side that forces defenders to foul. While Paul doesn't go all the way to the basket often, he makes up for it with a high-arching teardrop runner that he puts out of reach of even the longest big men. Both points are highly effective in the paint, but Rose gets the nod here because of his ability at point-blank range. "Rose is definitely harder to guard," Heat guard Mario Chalmers says. "It's not just one thing, but a combination of things. His speed, power and size together make him a huge challenge. Everything about his game is just so tough to deal with." Scores: Paul 9, Rose 10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Speed and quickness Rose is the NBA's speediest guard in both the open court and in small spaces. In the half court, from the 3-point line to the basket, he can change direction several times without sacrificing speed. "There's no staying in front of him," LeBron James says. "You know once he's headed toward the rim you'll need help." One of the scariest sights to a backpedaling defender is Rose barreling down on him at full speed in transition. Defenders are forced to turn and run with Rose to keep up, which puts them in poor defensive position. "We are very good when he's attacking like that," Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau says. Due to knee issues, Paul has lost some of his floor speed. He more often prefers to walk the ball up and point people in the right direction as opposed to pushing the tempo. But in half-court sets he can still accelerate with the best of them, particularly after a hesitation dribble from the top of the key when his man is on an island. Paul's unusually low center of gravity makes his quickness even more formidable against taller defenders. Scores: Paul 8.5, Rose 10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shooting Good shooting starts with quality shot selection, and Paul has no equal in that category. The seven-year vet is ultra-selective when shooting from behind the arc -- just three attempts per game -- and scarcely takes a bad shot from deep. As a result, he's shooting a career-best 44 percent from 3-point territory. Simply put, he's arguably the best shooting point in the league. Perhaps no point guard can create his own pull-up opportunities from 10-15 feet as effectively as Derrick Rose, but it's not a shot Rose is comfortable with. He still has a tendency to unnecessarily fade or lean in after he elevates. Rose struggles with a somewhat flat 3-point release (32 percent from deep), yet still shoots it from behind the line an excessive 4.3 times per game. It's very likely that Rose's great athleticism is hindering his shot development, as he simply has a more effective method to score the ball. His saving grace is his unorthodox runner. "I feel like I can make that shot just about every time," Rose says. Scores: Paul 10, Rose 7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Defense It's commonly thought that Paul, a three-time NBA All-Defense Team member, is much more complete defensively than the young MVP. However, Rose is a very good one-on-one defender and is more effective guarding the ball-handler in the pick-and-roll. Still, Paul is clearly the more knowledgeable defender. He's got an overstuffed bag of tricks, like crowding his man before he can get into his initial move and using his upper-body strength to deftly body the ball-handler -- without fouling -- to knock him off balance when he penetrates. He is great at anticipating which direction players will drive and what they will do with the ball, and he makes a living swiping at the ball and knocking it loose in traffic (2.28 steals per game). Rose has made significant defensive improvements in the past couple of seasons by cutting down on his gambling, improving his decision-making and fighting through picks more effectively. He's also developing a rep for LeBron-like come-from-behind blocks and is blocking shots at the same pace as he did last season, when he became just the second point guard in league history to block 50 shots while handing out 500 assists. Score: Paul. 9.5, Rose 9 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The winner: Derrick Rose Final score: Rose 65.5, Paul 64 You could hardly go wrong with either point guard in your backcourt. Both exhibit the type of leadership, unselfishness and intelligence you can build a championship dynasty around. Kobe Bryant recently praised both Paul and Rose as the only other players he felt could match his competitive drive. But thanks to his supreme athleticism, game-breaking scoring ability and laser focus, Rose is the better player. Rose's combination of skills makes him a matchup problem for everyone he faces, and he has the smarts and temperament to run any system. There are those who prefer Paul's pure brand of pass-first basketball, and he's in the midst of putting together one of the best careers by a 6-foot lead guard. Paul's intelligence in running the pick-and-roll and his ability to consistently get and knock down clean looks will make him a force in this league for a long time. But right now, Rose has no equal. " By Chris Palmer, a frequent contributor to ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com's NBA coverage since 1999.

Chris Paul confirms he will stay with the Clippers next season: http://nbcprobasketballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/610x-27.jpg?w=320 Full Story

Reggie Miller, Don Nelson, and Bernard King among 2012 Hall of Fame candidates: http://nbcprobasketballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/bhof_logo.jpg?w=272 Source Related story: Fan voting will weigh into Hall of Fame selections beginning in 2013

Other West All-Stars talk about playing with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Scott Brooks said he won't play CP3/Blake because we beat them: http://www.nba.com/clippers/video/2012/02/24/WestAllStars-2014731

An interview with Scott Howard-Cooper about the Clippers' recent success and the LA rivalry: http://i40.tinypic.com/2vmddso.pngNBA.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2012/02/24/20120224_beat_dblock.nba/

Nocerino with the sick shot to put AC Milan ahead of Juventus.

I guess this could serve as our All-Star Weekend Media thread as well. I'll tip it off with a CP3 interview from yesterday: NBA.com/vid/channels/ASG/12/02/24/20120224_Paul_intw.nba

The Liverpool - Everton game was postponed. Chelsea 3 - 0 Bolton W. Newcastle Utd. 2 - 2 Wolverhampton W. Queens Park Rangers 0 - 1 Fulham West Bromwich Albion 3 - 0 Sunderland Wigan Athletic 0 - 0 Aston Villa Manchester City take on the Blackburn Rovers later today.

Yeah, Paul George's play sure deserved a replay. Beats me why they never showed that from various angles...

12k.

13 years?! :o Dayummm....

Yeah, nowadays it should be 1-2 maybe 3 hours max. BUT I'm pretty sure they got some old 80's rule that says they should keep "Breaking News" under the ticker for like 4-5 hours. <_< That rule needs to be updated.

Yeah, dude was ON FIYaH!!

Yugo can keep posting pictures of bears all year long. It won't stop the inevitable from happening: ^ What he said.

What's running through my mind when I posted it? http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2010/5/16/129185029597086165.jpg

USA To Face Argentina, Brazil, Dom. Republic, Great Britain And Spain In Challenging Exhibition Schedule http://www.nba.com/wizards/photos/thumbnail_usab-top-story_132.jpg COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Feb. 24, 2012) - Exhibition games versus Argentina, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Great Britain and Spain, and training camps in four cities highlight the 2012 USA Basketball Men's National Team tour that was announced today. USA Basketball also announced that the USA Women's National Team will join the USA Men's National Team for an exhibition doubleheader in Washington, D.C. versus Brazil on July 16 (5:30 p.m. local time), and will play an exhibition against Great Britain in Manchester, England, on July 18 (7:30 p.m. local time), one day prior to the men's contest against Great Britain. (..) The USA will continue its preparations July 17-18 in Manchester and on July 19 (7:30 PM local time) will play Great Britain at the Manchester Arena. Twenty years after the USA Dream Team made its debut in Barcelona, Spain, the U.S. returns and will conclude its tour with a pair of exhibition games against FIBA's No. 2 and No.3 ranked world powers. Facing No. 3 ranked Argentina on July 22 (9:30 PM local time) at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, the USA will close out its exhibition tour against FIBA's No. 2 ranked power Spain on July 24 (9:30 p.m. local time) at the Palau Sant Jordi. Full Story Named a finalist for the 2012 USA National Team were: GUARDS: Chauncey Billups (Los Angeles Clippers); Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers); Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat); Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder); and Deron Williams (New Jersey Nets); Eric Gordon (New Orleans Hornets). FORWARDS: LeBron James (Miami Heat); Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Lamar Odom (Dallas Mavericks);Chris Bosh (Miami Heat); Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers); LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves). CENTERS: Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic); Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks). The USA Basketball Men's National Team Program in 2010-12 is again headed by Colangelo, who has served as managing director of the USA Men's National Team since 2005. Featuring a coaching staff headed by Hall of Fame mentor Krzyzewski, serving as USA assistant coaches are Syracuse University and Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim, New York Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni, and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan. 2012 USA Basketball Men's National Team Schedule: July 5-12 Las Vegas Training / Exhibition - Las Vegas, Nevada July 6-11 (12-3 p.m.) USA Team Training University of Nevada-Las Vegas July 12 (6 p.m.) USA vs. Dominican Republic Thomas & Mack Center, UNLV, Exhibition Game Las Vegas, Nevada July 13-16 USA Training / Exhibition - Washington, D.C. July 13-15 USA Team Training Washington, D.C. July 16 (8 p.m.) USA vs. Brazil Exhibition Game Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. July 17-19 USA Training / Exhibition Games - Manchester, England July 17-18 USA Team Training Manchester, England July 19 (7:30 p.m.) USA vs. Great Britain Exhibition Game Manchester Arena, Manchester, England July 20-25 USA Training / Exhibition Games - Barcelona, Spain July 20-21 USA Team Training Barcelona, Spain July 22 (9:30 p.m.) USA vs. Argentina Exhibition Game Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain July 23 USA Team Training Barcelona, Spain July 24 (9:30 p.m.) USA vs. Spain Exhibition Game Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain July 25 USA Team Training Barcelona, Spain

Is JaVale the one making the inbound pass? Looks more like he's the open player that doesn't get the pass.

This whole 'Sheed story reminds me of when the Lakers signed Rodman in the last lockout-shortened season (1998- '99).