» Smack Talk 101 – Hoops

The CrossOver

skoob1911 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:34:56 +0000

And the winner of the first Ball St. Journal Handles Tournament…Allen Iverson. Iverson won by a much slimmer margin than Jason Williams’ victory over Crossover King, Tim Hardaway. Iverson was the favorite going into the draft, in my opinion, but I thought he was all but gauranteed to face Tim Hardaway in the Finals. The Answer has been embarassing players throughout his career with his scoring ability, standing at a generous 6 feet. However, it was his ridiculous handle that was A.I.’s claim to fame. Iverson played the game with no fear, and still does. It was that fearlessness that Iverson was able to welcome the challenge of the games greatest player, Michael Jordan. Iverson made Jordan fan for the ball like he was trying to catch a fly with his bare hands. But, the key to a truly embarassing crossover, hitting the shot AFTER the mix-up, which A.I. did. That play alone cemented Iverson’s legacy, as the man who mixed up, Michael Jordan.

This was totally up to the fan vote, from the participants, to the winners. It’s still difficult to imagine Jason Williams beating both Skip To My Lou, and Tim Hardaway. Don’t get me wrong, Williams was a beast in his day, but to say he had a better handle than Rafer Alston, I dont think so at all. But the argument that was brought up the most, how Williams brought the street to the NBA, while Skip didn’t really show the flashes behind his nickname. Kenny Anderson was a toss-up, because a lot of people werent familiar with him, but at the same time, Steve Francis was a tough match-up for him. But, had it been me choosing, Hardaway would have taken on Allen Iverson in the Finals. Who would have won…no idea, both players will go down as Crossover Legends, if not more.

Who should have been in the Final Four? Who should have won? Who wasn’t in the competition that should have been?

A couple players that are pretty nasty in their own rights, but didn’t make the cut…Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Dwayne Wade, & Kobe Bryant.

The CrossOver

skoob1911 — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 06:02:40 +0000

Ok I have to admit now…When I first started this tournament, it was strictly through the vote of the fan. From the players that were placed into the tournament, to the outcome of the battles. I never thought I’d be saying this, but Jason Williams has done it again, knocking off the God Father of the Crossover, Tim Hardaway. But not only did Williams upset Hardaway, but it wasn’t even close! Williams won by more than 20+ votes. Williams got the most votes out of any player thus far in the tournament. However, Williams has moved into the Finals to take on, none other than, “The Answer,” Allen Iverson. At this point, I can’t put anything past Williams, but to defeat Allen Iverson, to become the Ball St. Journal’s First Ever, Cross-Over King! Let the Championship, Begin!

Tale Of The Tape

Allen Iverson "The Answer" 6 Ft. 180lbs Hampton, VA Georgetown University 13 Year NBA Vet Claim To Fame : Putting Michael Jordan On Skates As A Rookie

Jason Williams "White Chocolate" 6 ft. 1 inch 190lbs Belle, West Virginia University of Florida 10 Year NBA Vet Claim To Fame : Making the Sacremento Kings an entertaining team, and leaving Gary Payton frozen in awe

The CrossOver

skoob1911 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 04:00:08 +0000

And the first half of the Final Four has been completed, with A.I. running away with this one. This now makes back to back match-ups for Iverson, that resulted in an overwhelming victory for him. Now A.I. gets to sit comfortably in the finals and await his fellow challenger. Tim Hardaway will take on the upset man himself, Jason Williams, in the 2nd and final match-up in the Final Four. Both of these players have devastating handles, but two totally different styles. Hardaway was the smooth, and much more controlled style of play, while Williams was the NBA’s version of the And One Mixtape. And speaking of the And One Mixtape, Williams knocked off the King of Streetball, in Skip To My Lou, in a very controversial victory. It’s a wonder as to whether or not Williams has another upset in him, let’s find out…

Tale Of The Tape

Tim Hardaway "The Utep, 2-Step" 6 ft. 175lbs Chicago, IL University of Texas at El-Paso 12 Year NBA Career Claim To Fame : Had one of the first ever "Killer Crossover," moves in the league

The CrossOver

skoob1911 — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:58:08 +0000

The Final Four is now in place, after Stevie Franchise was able to knock off the underrated vet Kenny Anderson. The prize for the Franchise, The Answer, Allen Iverson. Two of the most dynamic combo guards the NBA has ever seen, one of course saw his talent vanish like a cheap David Blaine trick, and the other hadn’t seen a dip in skill, until Detroit put him in an unfamiliar situation. Regardless of their career paths, the fact remains, neither of these two players could be guarded one-on-one in their primes. Francis was the more explosive finisher, while A.I. could light you up from anywhere on the court, both, embarassing their opponents throughout the game. The first of 2 Final Four matchups, A.I. vs. Francis…

Tale Of The Tape

Allen Iverson "The Answer" 6 Ft. 180lbs Hampton, VA Georgetown University 13 Year NBA Vet Claim To Fame : Putting Michael Jordan On Skates As A Rookie

Steve Francis "The Franchise" 6 ft. 3 inches 210lbs Takoma Park, MD University of Maryland 9 Year NBA Vet Claim To Fame : The owner of an explosive first step, and an equally explosive finisher at the rim

The CrossOver

skoob1911 — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:21:39 +0000

In a hard fought battle, Tim Hardaway gets the victory over Baron Davis. This was a battle that went back and forth all day, with both lead changes, and ties. Hardaway is considered one of the founding fathers of the, Crossover move, so it was almost inevitable that he’d get the W. But, Baron was a much greater foe than some had anticipated. Up next to close out the first round, we have Steve Francis, “The Franchise,” taking on Kenny Anderson, “Lethal Weapon.” Anderson was always one of the league’s most underrated players, while Francis has always been found in your local top plays countdown. Either way, both PG’s were excellent floor generals, but only one can move on…

Tale Of The Tape

Kenny Anderson "The Lethal Weapon" 6 ft. 1 inch 168lbs Queens, NY Georgia Tech University 14 Year NBA Career Claim To Fame : One of New York City's Finest PG's, and also a decendent of the Playground

The CrossOver

skoob1911 — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:11:33 +0000

The second matchup in the 2009 Ball St. Journal Handlez Tournament provides the first upset, with #7 Seed Jason Williams knocking off Rucker Parks Finest, Rafer Alston. J-Will was definately not afraid to let the playground come to the league, while a few people felt Skip didn’t really attempt to let his natural abilities take over. The third matchup in the first round is should be a nice battle. Tim Hardaway aka “The Utep Two-Step,” versus Baron Davis aka “B-Diddy.” The unique thing about Baron Davis is that, even though he’s on this crossover list, along with Steve Francis, they could find themselves in the Dunk Tournament as well. Both have crazy handles, and are both former Golden State Warriors, so let’s get it…

Tale Of The Tape

Tim Hardaway "The Utep, 2-Step" 6 ft. 175lbs Chicago, IL University of Texas at El-Paso 12 Year NBA Career Claim To Fame : Had one of the first ever "Killer Crossover," moves in the league

Baron Davis "B-Diddy" 6 ft. 3 inches 225lbs Los Angeles, CA University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) 10 Year NBA Vet Claim To Fame : One of the few PG's with the ability to make multiple posters out of you, within the same move

The CrossOver

skoob1911 — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:16:42 +0000

The first matchup of the Ball St. Journal’s Handlez Tournament goes to Allen Iverson, defeating God Shammgod by a significant margain. Shammgod, a NY legend, was fighting an uphill battle, taking on possibly the games best crossover dribbler in history. In the 2nd matchup of round one, we see Rafer Alston, aka “Skip To My Lou,” taking on, “White Chocolate,” Jason Williams. Williams came out of virtually nowhere, and took the league by storm with his playground abilities. But, the playground can’t be mentioned, without directly following up, with a mention of Skip To My Lou. This should be a good battle…let’s go!

Tale Of The Tape

Rafer Alston "Skip To My Lou" 6 ft. 2 inches 175lbs Queens, NY Fresno State University 10 Year NBA Vet and NYC Playground Legend Claim To Fame : Making the And One Mixtape The Mecca Of Streetball Documentaries

The CrossOver

skoob1911 — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:33:35 +0000

Often when a player is seen as a, “Baller,” it usually could be associated with their shooting ability, above the rim game, and most of all, the ability to handle the basketball. A perfectionist at this, is known as a player with, “Handlez.” There are many players that have both, made it to the NBA, and those that have been street legends. Handlez are often recognized on the street, long before the grand stage can witness a player’s greatness. The Ball St. Journal is going to attempt to put the top 8 in a tournament, to see who exactly, would own the most ankles when all is said and done. It was hard to pick the players to represent in this tournament, but it was selected by you, the readers.

In Round One, we’ll see Allen Iverson, take on the man who’s legend couldn’t be fully realized in the NBA, God Shammgod.

Tale Of The Tape

Allen Iverson "The Answer" 6 Ft. 180lbs Hampton, VA Georgetown University 13 Year NBA Vet Claim To Fame : Putting Michael Jordan On Skates As A Rookie

Shammgod "Shammgod Wells" 6 Ft. 169lbs New York, NY Providence University NYC Streetball Legend Claim To Fame : One of the best to come thru N.Y.C. Playgrounds

How The West, Won!

skoob1911 — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:47:38 +0000

Someone get the monkey off of Kobe’s back…Yes the Lakeshow won the chip, just as I, and many other sports fans predicted. But, did they really win…or was the series GIVEN away by the Magic? I’d call it a bit of both. Let’s be honest here…both Overtime games should have been W’s by Orlando. A Courtney Lee lay-up, Game 2 goes to Orlando. A Game 4 Free Throw…JUST ONE, by Dwight Howard, Game 4 in the books. All of a sudden, Orlando 3, L.A. 1!…Shaking up the Basketball Globe!…And possibly, putting Kobe Bryant ever-so-close to a suicide attempt. Think about it, Kobe taking ANOTHER L, and ANOTHER SEASON, of criticism…EH EH! There’s NO WAY Kobe Bean Bryant, would’ve been able to stomach another offseason like the last. And on top of it, it was against Orlando, who isn’t Boston of last season, but a tough opponent in their own right. But, a 3-1 series in favor of Orlando, was a definite possibility…well, until the Stan Van Gundy effect took place. Besides his AWFUL, ANNOYING HUDDLE VOICE…This guy was a PANIC MACHINE!!! And who called it, none other than The Diesel, The Shaqtus, Shaq-Fu, Kazaam (one of the best movies EVER MADE!) Van Gundy and Shaq went back and forth earlier this season, and Shaq called him out for his Panic Button, which Van Gundy DEFINITELY HIT!!! Think about it, why would u play Jameer Nelson late in Game 2…Yes he was an all-star this year, but Skip has been the man in the playoffs. Cool, play Meer some time in the game, but why so much tick, in such a crucial game? Not putting it all on Meer, but Stan aka Super Mario, what were you thinkin man? If you stick to the game plan and believe in your players, you’da gotten another W big homey! Sheesh! Now, I’ll give credit, that last play to win the game in Game 2 was Genius! Courtney Lee just blew the layup, just like he blew the jumper the play right before it. Not for nothin, Dwight Howard was inconsistent in the series also, and you can’t live by the 3. Why Not, well, because you can die by the three just as E-Z!

Jon Barry said it best, even when the Magic was up…were they REALLY up? He said how he was never confident in them holding a lead, and I fully agree with that. It was almost like the Magic was SCARED of the Lakers. WHY? You have the Defensive Player Of The Year, 3 All-Stars on the team, and one of the most underrated players in the game (Turk). Not to mention, a nice bench/role players (Skip, Lee, Pietrus, Gortat, Reddick). Why be afraid of the Black Mamba and his band of Brothers. Gasol’s giving up an easy 80lbs on Howard, Odom is known to disappear in big games, Fisher’s supposed to be an old man, Bynum’s a 7 Foot Cupcake, and Kobe, well we all know he’s not a team player…Right? Well it’s simple…at times of crucial moments, like the playoffs, the team takes on the personality of it’s leaders. Who would you rather go into battle with, Phil Jackson & Kobe, or Stan Van Gundy & Dwight Howard? It’s a simple choice…who would you fear more in the 4th quarter? A fictional Super-Hero, or a Known Assassin/Predator? Superman vs. The Black Mamba…also, it’s old, and very corny to continue to refer to this GROWN MAN, as Superman. But, Van Gundy lacks a motivated skill-set (if anyone saw the looks of the players in the locker room, u can see what I’m talking about), and Dwight Howard is seen as a big jokester, funny guy, but jokes around a lot. So how do you expect to go from joking around, to a focused playoff mindset. Kobe and Phil strike fear, and speak to the team with conviction and strike fear in them…but in the end, MOTIVATE THEM. If anyone believed that the Lakers were going to lose this series, than your just as foolish to believe that Kazaam was a good movie. There was NO WAY the Lakers were gonna lose that series, regardless if the Magic gave away the game or not. There’s one thing u do when u have your prey cornered, YOU MAKE SURE THEY’RE DEAD! The Magic gave the Lakers life TWICE!!! You can’t do that, a HARD lesson learned by the Magic. If they wanna get back to the chip…the personality of that team needs to be kicked up from Cocker Spaniel to PITBULL…because there’s a few teams, (Cleveland, Boston, Miami (if they get Bosh)), that can ALL fill that spot in the finals, and would almost surely win 2 games!

In The Knick Of Time?

skoob1911 — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 06:11:29 +0000

Ok, living in New York City, you get surrounded by hopeful but loyal, Knick fans. When rumors flew of LeBron becoming a free agent in 2010, along with a few others, The N.Y. Knick LeBron campaign began. The Knicks started cleaning house faster than Geoffrey from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. But, before Knicks fans continue to think Bronny will be a Knick, lets look at what is creating the problem. The Knicks had a roster LOADED with BAD Contracts. Not only were players like Eddy Curry & Jared Jeffries, grossly overpaid (Due a combined 35 mil+ thru 2010-11 season), but they hold all the cards. Both of them are protected in their contracts with Player Options, which you can almost BET your life, they’ll exercise. The hold up isn’t just that, Q-Rich and Al Harrington both total over 20 mil. for next year. Add that together with Cat Mobley and Larry Hughes’ deals, which total over 22 mil for next year, and you get the mess that is currently the Knicks Roster. That is almost 80 million dollars wrapped up in just 6 players!!! Ok, that doesn’t sound so bad right….well it just got worse, out of all of those players Hughes and Harrington produce consistently for them, with Q-Rich contributing here and there. The others = BUM JUICE! Mobley has a heart condition, and was forced to retire, leaving him on the hook for the Knicks for another season. What makes this situation worse, 2 of the fan favorites, and best players on the team, will most likely play somewhere else next season. David Lee and Nate Robinson are both restricted free agents, and can be signed by other teams. So if either of them decide to sign an offer sheet in excess of what the Knicks can afford, then bye bye goes most of last year’s production.

In a perfect world, all of the players that have options in their deals, would opt out, and would ultimately make the Knicks wallets a lot fatter, and offer much more room to make moves, come 2010. The Knicks used to be a proud franchise that was always good for post season drama, and a definite good game. Since those years have come and gone, bad decisions were put into play. One year wonders, (Jerome James, Jared Jeffries, Eddy Curry, etc…) were given massive contracts, AND, the option of whether or not to continue to play under those contracts. Put yourself in their positions, if you haven’t cracked the starting lineup, played close to what you did the year prior to the big contract, and was given the option to be paid even more, with the contract you have…WOULD YOU OPT OUT???? NO!!! So the Knicks are going to have to find a taker for both Curry, and Jeffries, or hope they can work out buyouts, which would likely be the result if they can’t find anyone to take on these contracts, which would prolong their own progress!

Lets say things work out for the Knicks, and they’re able to move both Curry and Jeffries, and totally unload all these big contracts by the summer of 2010. I can almost bet anything that LeBron James WON’T be a Knick. There’s not much of a reason for him to come here. Yes it’s a bigger market, yes he’ll increase a lot of revenue for the team, and of course the league. But, just like Jordan, and other greats, they love to play at the Garden…not FOR the Garden. LeBron is building and empire in Cleveland, and it will get rid of the big contracts that they’re dealing with, by that summer as well, and LeBron will ALWAYS be a draw for other players, so you can bank on that 66 win team being better. The Knicks would have to hope that the front office of the Cavs sign the wrong players, and halts the Cavs’ progress, which would force Bronny to make a decision. Most likely, the Cavs will land Rasheed Wallace, Charlie Villanueva, or Shawn Marion this coming off-season, which will definitely make the Cavs a title contender again next year, and give LeBron that extra help he still needs. The Knicks are also notorious for NOT helping themselves in the draft either! Frederick Weis should ring a bell, and most likely set off a fire alarm in the land of Orange and Blue. WHY DRAFT HIM ANYWAY??? This new kid, Danillo, dunno about him either. He’s a shooter, who they think can be the next Dirk…ok question, if you DO intend to sign LeBron…did you ever think that they play the same position, or factor in if the kid might actually be good? Then What? That’s the poor planning I’m talking about! He’s already proved to be cupcake in the toughness department, with all the injuries he dealt with this year. Then the Knicks are eyeing Stephen Curry in the draft, a Scorer, who they’re looking to play the Point. Hmm…not taking anything away from Curry, but the last time the Knicks had a scorer at PG, (Marbury, Crawford, and even Francis), none of them worked out. Francis fell off faster than Ja Rule and the rest of the Murder Inc. The Knicks need a PG, that can score, but doesn’t HAVE to…especially in D’Antoni’s style of play.

What are keys to re-building the Knicks. Do all they can to move Curry and Jeffries is priority 1B. 1A, orchestrate some sort of deal that would allow them to move up in the draft that could involve moving Q-Rich, and the #8 pick to Sacramento, who’s in the 4 spot. At that position, the Knicks could draft Ricky Rubio, or Johnny Flynn, who’d both fit D’Antoni’s system, and be the PG that could lead the Knicks back to the playoffs.

It would also free up a lot more money this year, saving 9+ mil. by moving Q-Rich. The Knicks also need a true Center, which is a thin position in this year’s draft, and unless they want to be forced to play Curry next yr. they’ll need to orchestrate a sign-and-trade for Lee or Nate Robinson. Nate is a fan favorite along with Lee, but fans have to take the lesser of two evils, hate the franchise for dealing one of them now, or be happy when they bring in a marquee player(s) in 2010. LeBron is more of a fantasy, than it is reality, but the Knicks likely lineup could be.

PG – Johnny Flynn

SG – Rudy Gay

SF – Wilson Chandler or Danillo Gallinari

PF – Amar’e Stoudemire

C – Marcus Camby

I have a feeling Chandler will be dealt at some point or another, and Camby will should come at a relatively cheap price at that point in his career. Rudy Gay is a candidate to be dealt, as the team moves to build around O.J. Mayo. But, him hitting the open market in 2010, he’ll definitely seek a big market, as will Joe Johnson, who may look to play with LeBron in Cleveland. But that projected lineup gives the Knicks a powerful lineup, with both scorers (Stoudemire, Gay), and defenders (Camby, Chandler), and a PG that embodies the Knick PG mentality (Flynn). But lets see what happens, I mean this is the Knicks we’re talking about…