News From Around The World: August 29

08/30/12

Written by: DHawes22

August 29

Trail Blazers TV: Health of Wesley Matthews and Elliot Wiliams

Trail Blazers TV: Fan Chat with Brian Wheeler and Bobby Medina

Trail Blazers TV: Meet BlazerDancer Nina

NBA: Portland rejoices as former voice of Blazers goes into the Hall
"It means a great deal to this state," he said. "It means a great deal for me to know the people out and about probably feel as elated as I do. If that makes sense. It's awfully hard to describe it."

Trail Blazers: Head Coach Terry Stotts Adds Dale Osbourne To Coaching Staff
“I'm very excited about Dale joining our staff,” said Stotts. “His diverse coaching background and experience at the college and D-League level will be very valuable in the development of our younger players both on the court and off.”

Blazersedge via Trail Blazers TV Medina: Wesley Matthews & Elliot Williams Now "100 Percent" Healthy
"I think he's one of the most athletic guys I've seen. I've been around Shawn Kemp in his prime in Seattle, Travis Outlaw was a pretty athletic guy. I look at Elliot and he has a lot of the same athleticism as those guys."

Trail Blazers: Meet BlazerDancer Nina
“I lived out of the country for two years. I lived in Qatar and with their religion and their whole view on women you’re not allowed to dance in studios and they don’t have that sort of thing there,” Nina said. “When I came back I was able to do all of that and I think just being able to made me want to do it more. I know there is a whole other world of girls out there who aren’t able to dance and express themselves.”

Oregon Live: Dale Osbourne joins Trail Blazers as assistant coach
"Osbourne joins the Trail Blazers from the Tulsa 66ers, where he served as head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder's NBA Development League affiliate. USA Basketball selected him as an assistant coach for the 2011 Pan American Games, where the team medaled for the first time since 1999."

Blazersedge: Blazers Add Dale Osbourne To Terry Stotts' Coaching Staff
"Osbourne spent parts of three seasons as an assistant in Tulsa before being promoted to head coach in December 2011. He has also been an assistant with the D-League's Utah Flash and Austin Toros, in addition to coaching tenures in the WNBA, CBA and USBL."

Ball Don't Lie: Dwight Howard plays Pop-a-Shot in China, resorts to cheating like evil villain we know him to be (VIDEO)
"You know what? I'm not even mad; I'm just disappointed that it's so clear that you haven't worked on your Pop-a-Shot game at all since you were on "Fallon" three years ago. I mean, at least have the self-respect to hone your craft, man. At this point, it wouldn't take the perfect Pop-a-Shot game or even a decent Ricardo Reyes one to beat you. People basically just have to not do this and they're basically assured a win. It's like Calogero's dad says in "A Bronx Tale," Dwight: The saddest thing in life is wasted Pop-a-Shot talent."

Ball Don't Lie via BasketSession: Mario Chalmers thinks he is in the ‘front end’ of the top 10 point guards in the NBA
"He's not the best, but he's in the top five. There are a lot of great point guards in the league, Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Steve Nash. There are a lot of great guards in the NBA so for him to say he's the best is a pretty bold statement. I'd say that I [Mario Chalmers] am in the front end of the top 10."

Ball Don't Lie: Michael Jordan will present Nike’s Phil Knight at the Basketball Hall of Fame
"With Jordan present, Knight's contributions to basketball — which truly are considerable, if not altogether positive — will be given the proper context. Knight surely could not have made the Hall of Fame without Jordan's help. And, even if Jordan is primarily there to confer legitimacy on Knight, we'll have to remember that MJ's aura is not entirely a product of his incandescent basketball brilliance. As Knight and Jordan stand together, we'll also be forced to remember the ways in which basketball and commerce are now inextricably tied to each other. If the Hall of Fame is first and foremost a museum, then I can't think of a simpler way to communicate the ways that Phil Knight changed basketball forever, for better and worse."

Ball Don't Lie: The Indiana Pacers beat the offseason blahs by gathering in Los Angeles for workouts
"Based on Roy Hibbert's commitments with his appearances on NBC's 'Parks and Recreation' (and his creepy-van photo skills on Twitter), we know that Roy was both in the area and probably the reason Wells wrote "about eight players," because Hibbert may have only had time to work out a little and decline the scrimmage. Paul George obviously had other commitments that we applaud to no end, because they resulted in a dunk for the ages and a potentially life-altering trip to Shanghai that (if his Twitter feed is any indication) won him over. After scrounging around various other Twitter accounts, it's hard to tell who else was part of the run at this point."

The Basketball Jones: Jalen Rose played Master P’s dead brother in a 1998 video
"Did you realize that Jalen Rose has been in nine different rap videos? Probably not. Why would you? You’re not some sort of amateur Jalen Rose historian, so it’s understandable. But just so you know, he has indeed been in nine rap videos, which seems like a pretty solid amount for one of the Fab Five. He’s at least nine times cooler than Larry Hughes, who showed up in a Nelly video once upon a time, so yeah. Makes sense."

The Basketball Jones: Kendall Marshall plays Angry Birds before games
"The Angry Birds thing though, that is funny, especially since Kendall “Two Last Names” Marshall went to the trouble of putting in headphones and keeping things hidden from his college coach, like he was ashamed that he’s playing a silly iPhone game for an hour before hooping. Sure, it’s still Top 25 in the App Store after like a thousand internet years and there are probably a bunch of players Birdsing it in the locker room, but still. This is a grown man dominating a cell phone game for a pretty long time, all the while the sound of squealing pigs rings through his ears. Like Marshall says, everyone has their own way of getting ready for a game, but sneakily tossing various birds at wooden structures is a pretty funny one."

The Basketball Jones: Reggie Miller picked his sister to present him at the Hall of Fame
"Outside of Pat Summitt standing up for Dick Vitale which doesn’t really count because he got inducted mostly for being a college basketball announcer, this might be the only time a woman has presented a man at the Hall of Fame. (It’s very hard to find a full list of presenters, but this seems to be pretty complete.) That in and of itself is awesome, but it’s even cooler that it’s a little brother picking his big sister to be there for the biggest honor of his life. Besides the angled flattop with the lines shaved in, not a lot of what Reggie Miller does is cool, but this definitely is. Here’s hoping Cheryl wears her silkiest patterned shirt, just to make things extra wonderful."

The Basketball Jones: Larry Bird is getting a statue that will definitely be bigger than Magic Johnson’s
"But a fine tribute, I’d say. If Bill Wolfe succeeds in building his 15-foot tall statue (fingies crossed), it’ll easily pass the 12-foot Magic statue at Michigan State. No big deal, I guess, that Magic’s Spartans beat Bird’s Indiana State Sycamores in the national title game, I guess. We’re talking statues now, not something stupid like basketball. So congratulations to Indiana State on that."

The Basketball Jones: Have a look at tiny, pre-unibrow Anthony Davis
"And that is the crazy thing. Just looking at this dorky, skinny dude, it’s feasible that these photos could have been snapped any time from seventh grade to junior year. I mean, Davis’ unibrow hadn’t even grown in yet, so we can’t use it for carbon dating. We basically just have to guess how old he is. 12? 16? Your guess is as good as mine."

DIME: Dime Q&A: Kendall Marshall On Playing In Phoenix And Angry Birds
"You know it was frustrating. I could get three stars on almost every level, but literally for like two months, there were two parts of the game where I couldn’t get three stars, so I really just stopped playing because it was too frustrating."

DIME: Screenshots Unveiled For 6 NBA Legends In NBA 2K13
"With 2K Sports recently releasing a gameplay trailer, a trailer for All-Star Weekend, and a hilarious ad spot with Blake Griffin, you can tell they’re ramping it up to get ready for the stretch run before NBA 2K13 drops on October 2. We’ve heard so much about the Dream Team being in the game, and about all of the legends that’ll be available to use again, so how about we see a few of them? 2K Sports obliged and is showing off six of them today, including Scottie Pippen, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, Shawn Kemp, and the one we’re most excited for – a guy who wasn’t in the game last year as a historic player – Allen Iverson."

SLAM via Duke Chronicle: Mike Krzyzewski Advised Shane Battier To Sign With Miami Heat
“‘Shane is the kind of player who deserves to be a champion,’ said Nick Arison, who was a manager of the Duke basketball team while Battier played at Duke. While Arison sold Miami to Battier in free agency, he was also encouraged to go to South Beach by another Blue Devil. Battier said he received a call of congratulations from Duke basketball head coach Krzyzewski, who has seen just him and Danny Ferry leave Durham to become NBA champions during his tenure. ‘[Krzyzewski] was the one who wanted me to go to Miami more than anyone else,’ Battier said. ‘In the end, like always, he was right.’”

ESPN: Blake Griffin says he's 'ready to go'
"I just needed to get the swelling out of the knee. That was the biggest battle. There's nothing that needs time to repair or heal. It was just reducing the swelling and getting the strength back in my leg and once I got that, I was out on the court every day."

Sports Illustrated: Playing favorites: Heat, Thunder, Lakers stand out from the pack
"Western Conference executive who voted Miami, Los Angeles and Oklahoma City: "LeBron and Dwyane Wade will carry the Heat once again. The Lakers will need to jell and stay healthy, but with their new mix of players they will be tough to beat. I don't see the Thunder getting back to the Finals if the Lakers play to their potential, but the Thunder should be back in the West finals again for another crack at it."

Trail Blazers: Weekend Plan: Specially Designed For Families And The Busy Nine-To-Fiver
"Built for the family-oriented fan with a busy work-week, the 12-game Weekend Pack maximizes the thrill-factor while keeping the competitions to Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A smattering of Western Conference rivals and Eastern Conference visitors during one-offs and key home stands, you can get your hands on this schedule-friendly pack for as low as $11/game and $52/game in the lower bowl."

Trail Blazers: The Rivals Plan: Two LAs, Oklahoma City And The Return Of Roy
"The smallest of the four big ticket plans, the eight game Rivals Pack packs a big punch. You’ll be in the building and eating a corndog while others are wondering how to get their hands on a way to see the return of Brandon Roy and the sure to sell out L.A. Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder."

Trail Blazers: Why The Value Plan Makes 'Cents' For You
"The Value Pack starts at just $5 a game. That’s 12 games for as low as $60! Talk about some serious bang for your buck. But that’s not even the best part about this ticket plan. Four of the 12 games take place in the month of January. And there is absolutely no better place to be during an Oregon winter’s night than inside the raucous Rose Garden. Not to mention this pack gets you into the arena to see some of the league’s biggest names and brightest young stars such as Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Kyrie Irving, John Wall, and Rudy Gay."

Trail Blazers: Big Games Plan: 12 Of The Biggest Games
"This game has it all. Season opener, at home, against the loathe-inducing Lakers, in Steve Nash's first game in purple and gold and it's on Halloween night! Any game against the Lakers at the Rose Garden is going to be a lively one, but the confluence of circumstances in this particular game sets the stage for one of the all-time season openers in Trail Blazers history."