Nike x minoroots

Wasted my evening playing around on Nike iD. At least I came up with something I like…

Waddayathink?

D-Fish, the prankster

Wait for the few seconds after the interview.

Hahaha. I love D-Fish.

Heat Check

According to Basketbawful,

heat check (heet chek) noun. An occasion on which a basketball player takes a questionable (i.e., bad) shot in order to determine how “hot” he is, usually after hitting several shots in a row.

Usage example: After hitting on his last six shots, Paul Pierce did a heat check by launching an off-balance 25-footer with a defender in his face.

However, the rules of convention, society, and physics do not apply to the beast that is LeBron James.

Check out what he did this past Saturday. The types of shots he was throwing up can only be described as of the heat-check variety–yes, his shot selections were definitely “questionable” at best, consisting of long jumpers early in the shot clock, heavily contested 3-point shots, and outright ridiculous 35-footers in transition.

But the results were ASTOUNDING.

Aside from his two missed free-throws (the second of which led to an offensive rebound and an eventual 3-pointer for himself), he hit 6 of 6 from the field, 4 of 4 from beyond the arc, totaling 16 points within 2 minutes to turn a 6-point deficit into an 8-point lead to open the 3rd quarter. Cleveland would win the game, 111-103, and LeBron finished with a stat line of 55 points, 9 assists, and 5 rebounds. He hit 8 threes.

You really have to see this to believe it:

Effing crazy.

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Hooped at Wooden yesterday. Adam Sandler’s been at the gym for the past 2-3 weeks. I guess he’s on break in between movies. Question: why does he always wear sweat pants? Seems it would be so hot to run around in those…

“TEAM BLUE & Kai” (Seximura, Caps, Muraders, Kai, me) tore it up… lost our first game but we ran off 6-straight wins after that. 7 straight games of basketball is NOT good for your body, especially if you’re working more (i.e. sitting on your butt, staring at computer screens) and playing basketball less (actually, not at all) during the week. I shall spend my next 2 days recovering…

Can’t say I didn’t have fun though. I admit, playing well as a team + playing well individually + winning > pain + regret. Great work, team blue + Kai.

NBA Trades

Tyson Chandler was traded from the New Orleans Hornets to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Or so we thought.

Tyson failed his physical and the trade was rescinded, causing an awkward situation for all parties involved (Chandler, Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith, management for both teams trying to explain, “Well we actually really didn’t want to trade you away…”).

UPDATE: OKC is quick to act, as they’ve already re-traded Wilcox to the Knicks for Malik Rose. Wow, that was fast. I guess they didn’t want to make that explanation to him…

Then I found out that Tyson Chandler is on twitter, and he had this to say yesterday morning (before the trade cancellation):

“I want 2 thank All my fans in the N.O… We had a great run I love & will miss you all!!!”

“Okc….I’m back!!!! I’m looking foward 2 helping get this franchise back were we belong !!! See you at the top!!

I wonder what his next post is going to say…

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Side note on the Lakers: Chris Mihm traded sent off to Memphis for a “very conditional” second-round pick in 2013. So long, 7-foot Jack Sheppard.

UCLA

Bruins blew out both USC and Notre Dame last week. My boy Alfred Aboya was named Pac-10 Player of the Week. Bruins are starting to live up to some of their lofty pre-season expectations.

Adam Morrison of Gonzaga fame was recently traded to the Lakers. That reminded me of the epic UCLA-Gonzaga Sweet 16 match up in 2006. Then that got me thinking… it’s been a really great ride for UCLA basketball in the past few years, and I’m so glad to have been a part of it as a student.

Looking back, here are some of my favorite games/plays/moments of Bruins basketball during my time at UCLA:

Quick Update

A somewhat-promotion at work is making me busier. Less blogging nowdays.

Anyway, a few thoughts on recent events and such:

• Bynum Injury – Oh boy, not again. I mean, how much more coincidental can this thing get? Similarities to last year: knee injury (right knee this time), somewhat teammate induced (Kobe tumbled under Drew to cause the injury; last year, Drew landed on Lamar’s foot), same building (game @ Memphis), and in both years, just prior to the injuries, he was playing the best ball of the season. The guy was a monster averaging 26ppg, 14rbg, and 3bpg in the 5 games prior to the injury…  I won’t say that it’s a curse, but the similarities are very eerie. Thankfully, the diagnosis calls for no surgery at this time and hopefully he’s really back this year after 8-12 weeks, unlike when last year, with the same recovery timeframe, the rehab didn’t go so well and he had an additional surgery to take him out of the rest of the season + post-season. Crossing my fingers, knocking on wood.
• I need to do Taxes. My first 1040 that doesn’t end with an EZ. Do I start an IRA so I can make tax-deductible contributions to lower my tax bracket? How about that mysterious medical contribution CD? There seems to be a lot to think about, and I’m not sure I’m going to be very good with this adult responsibility thing. I will try, though.
• UCLA whooped on USC the other day–and the final score definitely wasn’t indicative of how much of a blowout the game actually was. Absolute domination feels great. I guess this is how ‘SC football fans have felt for the past decade.
• New kicks for hoops, 25% off via live cashback at Eastbay.
• More new kicks, via Zach who found it, remembered that I asked about it (like a year ago), messaged me, bought it, and picked it up for me at RifLA. Good lookin’ out, Zach! You’re awesome.
• Went glow-in-the-dark mini golfing for the first time, came away with 2 hole-in-ones. Yessss. We actually kept score, and I came out -1. I suspect no one ever finishes under par at mini-golf. Yessss.
• I’m supposed to go real golfing tomorrow, but it’ll probably not happen because of this rain. It would’ve been my 4th time on a real course. My verdict on golf so far: it’s pretty fun (especially if you get to drive the carts), but I’d rather stick to the basketball courts.
• Superbowl @ Randy/Robbie’s new place was fun. I liked the apartment! Turned out to be a great game, and the commercials were good as usual.
• Lakers 110, Celtics 109. YESSSSSS. And this was funny–Lamar with a nice little smack on the ass to a confused & annoyed KG, who had just picked up an offensive foul. It’s about time someone gave some business for KG to deal with. Next up–LeBron & Co. on Sunday, @ Cleveland where the Cavs are still undefeated this season at 23-0. Would love to see that record drop to 23-1 to complete a perfect 6-0 road trip for the Lakers.
• Wimp.com is great.

There was a major car accident in front of my apartment last night!!

The cars parked outside were hit by a drunk driver, causing a domino effect. one of the people watching said the police pulled out an open bottle of alcohol from the driver’s car. I took a picture from the 3rd floor with my phone (low quality, so it may be hard to see):

Look closely--that's a mangled truck in the middle.

So that’s a police car to the left, a truck in the circle (it’s REALLY messed up), and you can see an SUV to the far right. there was another car in front of the SUV that also got damage. the drunk driver’s car went far into the middle of the street (not pictured). the ambulance and police were there… it was crazy!

Everyone please be careful of drunk drivers, and needless to say, DON’T DRINK & DRIVE!!

Until next time…