Slamdunk

On Wednesday, the NBA announced Scott Brooks as the NBA coach of the year. Brooks was responsible for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s turnaround this year, guiding the team to its first playoff berth since 2004-05.

When this season started it was unimaginable that Oklahoma City would be in the playoffs; the Thunder were not only coming off of a horrific season with a record of 3-29, they also had a rough start at the beginning of the year. No one thought that with their roster – the same as last year’s – they would be able to turn things around and end as the eighth seed of the Western Conference, giving them a spot on the playoffs.

For this transformation, Brooks received 71 of 123 first-place votes and 480 points, finishing ahead of Milwaukee’s Coach Scott Skiles’ 26 first-place votes, 313 points, and Portland coach Nate McMillan’s 9 and 107. The selection was determined by 118 broadcasters from both the US and Canada.

Oklahoma City General Manager Sam Presti stated that he felt very proud and happy for Brooks. He also described Brooks as a very consistent person, hardly affected by adversity; on the contrary, Presti asserted, Brooks fights back until he gets what he is looking for.

Even though Brooks received the award and is very excited with it, he knows that he has to focus now on the playoffs, for which he is looking for another turnaround as the Thunder are losing the series against the Los Angeles Lakers 0-2. He is also very aware that they are playing against the best team in the country, and the Lakers are determined to defend their title as champions of the NBA.  Read more...

Over the past few years, there have been some big scandals in the NBA over referees gambling. This has been a huge controversy because if it would have been detected earlier it easily could have meant that different teams would have made it to the finals and won a championship. Knowing that referees were gambling on games means that they were throwing them one way or another. Any die-hard sports fan cringes at the thought of certain games or series going a different way had the referees not cheated.

The biggest scandal to happen in recent years is that of Tim Donaghy. He was caught a couple years ago, but his gambling began much earlier, around 2003. He began placing general bets around this time but by December of 2006 he was releasing sensitive information to gamblers. He and his buddy Jimmy Battista began a gambling strategy that included Donaghy getting $2000 – $5000 for every bet he guaranteed with his calls. He would tip off high-stakes gamblers with some inside info and careful recommendations on what teams to gamble on. If he was right he was paid around five thousand dollars a pop. Once he was convicted, he was released on a $250,000 bond and faced up to 25 years in prison if the maximum charges were prosecuted. His sentence was not nearly that long but it was nice to know the government was taking it seriously. Along with that, he was responsible for paying a $500,000 fine to the NBA as well as $30,000 to the government. This event rocked the entire league, and many questioned the integrity of the sport as a whole.  Read more...

After injuring his right thumb in a game against Boston last Thursday, Cleveland Cavaliers center Shaquille O’Neal looks to be out of the game for the rest of the regular season. The player was submitted to surgery on Monday for what has been described as a severe sprain.

The moment of injury is unclear, but it seems to have occurred when Glen Davis blocked a shot with just seven minutes left in the first half. The Cavaliers asked for a time out shortly after the incident to take O’Neal out of the game. The sprain left the player on the bench for the rest of the night.

Shaq then missed a game on Friday due to continued pain and underwent an MRI on Saturday. An examination on Sunday by Dr. Thomas Graham at the National Hand Center in Baltimore determined that Shaq would need surgery to repair the damage in his thumb. Dr. Graham was to perform the surgery as well.

The typical recovery time for this type of injury requires 6 to 8 weeks: first 2 weeks in a cast then another 4 to 6 rehabilitating. With 7 weeks and 22 games left in the regular season, the Cavs look like they will be missing their new center.

The team is hoping Shaq will recover in time for the playoffs.

Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry has been supportive of O’Neal and his injury; he stated that the team could wait for a proper recovery for the postseason.  Read more...

A fundamental element in the world of sports is power. Especially true in the world of basketball, coaches and athletes are always looking for a way to improve this. Their main goal is to be able to get their players to be able to jump higher. Like most everything else in this world, there is some controversy as to what the most effective way to do this is. There are two groups of thought on this issue. There are the ones that believe that any kind of weight training is the best way to go.

Then you have the other group who believe that practicing the sport is the best option and not wasting time copying these movements in a weight room. There are a few ways you can help improve your overall power, thus helping your jump. By increasing your force and distance, decreasing time, and conditioning your excess body fat you are well on your way to being able to improve the height of your jump.

Because strength and force are related, increasing the force applied to any given sport is a great way to improve on your jumping technique. In order to master this idea, you must improve your current strength level. Strength is defined as the ability of skeletal muscle to produce force. This means that if you increase your strength you increase your ability to produce force. An increase in force directly results in athletic power. Practice does indeed make perfect when applying the principle here. High Intensity Training is recommended, but you do have people out there against it.  Read more...

Just think, if you increase your jumping ability, you could be the envy of your opponents. When you can jump higher, you could literally dunk over anyone, block their shots and get every rebound.

Here are 3 tips to increase your jumping ability and have you soaring to new heights in no time flat (WARNING – these tips should be used with caution as they have helped many people increase their vertical jump to 44 inches in less than 3 weeks):

1. Jump some rope – how in the world will jumping rope help you increase your jumping ability? A couple things – by consistently jumping rope you are not only building up your endurance, but you are also building your leg muscles. Jumping rope will help build your glutes, hamstrings, quads and calves. All of these muscles are essential to getting air.

2. Stretch – appropriately stretching does 2 things. First it lengthens your muscle bellies so that you are more limber. Second, it allows more blood to flow to the muscles. The combination of these 2 things will help you not only be more agile, but they will also help prevent injury. Be sure to stretch appropriately before and after any practice or game for the best effect.

3. Lose some weight – If you are serious about increasing your jumping ability, drop a few pounds. You will be amazed at how much higher you can jump with even a few pounds gone. Additionally, the lower weight will lighten the stress on your knees and hips and help to make you more explosive.  Read more...

Some people dream of becoming a doctor, a pilot, or a teacher while others dream of becoming a professional basketball player. If you are entertaining high hopes for yourself or your son in entering a professional league, you need to start practicing as early as possible and all the important basketball training in this world always start at the backyard.

There are two ways for you to build your own basketball court: you can do it from scratch or simply purchase a DIY basketball court kit.

Starting from Scratch
Skills – You need to have intermediate carpentry skills to successfully build your own basketball court from scratch. Firstly, you have to make sure that the ground you’ll be building your basketball court on has a smooth even surface to prevent accidents and decrease the risk of injury. Secondly, you’ll need to build your own basketball ring. Thirdly, you’ll need to paint your own court lines.

Costs – It’s possible that you’ll enjoy lower costs when it comes to building your own basketball court from scratch. Most DIY basketball court kits include flooring, which would just be an unnecessary expense if you already have an appropriate floor surface for your basketball court. You can also choose your own materials for your basketball stand and ring and even painting materials and ensure that you’ll pay less for them.  Read more...

What do Pete “the Pistol” Maravich and Magic Johnson have in common? If you answered that they were both great play makers and masters at passing the basketball, then you would be correct. If you would like to become an elite basketball player, it is essential that you master the fundamentals of passing a basketball. Why? It is very difficult for any basketball player to compete and succeed at the highest level–especially if he would like to win championships–if he does not learn how to pass a basketball effectively to his teammates.

Basketball is a team sport. Unfortunately, a lot of basketball players, make the mistake of thinking that they can win games and championships by solely outscoring their opponent(s). Not a single basketball player, since the invention of basketball by James Naismith in 1891, has ever won a championship without involving his teammates–that is over 100 years and counting!

Even Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, did not win his first NBA championship ring until after he learned how to “share” the basketball with his teammates by creating scoring opportunities not only for himself but also for his teammates–in essence, he improved his basketball passing skills. In a nutshell, great basketball players know how to pass the ball.  Read more...

Basketball does not just have to be strictly rule regulated play on an indoor wooden court. There are actually many different variations on the game that bring basketball to a whole new level.

Variety is one of the things that makes basketball such a popular sport. With all the ways to play the game it is no wonder that people all over the world are playing the game. That’s true no matter who they are, how old they are or what limitations they may physically have.

Game Variation 1: Wheelchair Basketball

Wheelchair basketball, as the name suggests, is played in wheelchairs. The chairs are specially designed so they move quickly and easily down the court. They also are made so players can be agile, much like players in traditional basketball.

Wheelchair basketball is a serious sport that is regulated by the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF).

Game Variation 2: Water Basketball

Water basketball, again as the name suggests, is played in water. It can be recreational or as a team regulated sport. In water basketball the rules are a little different. The rules for water basketball combine rules for traditional court basketball and water polo. There is, obviously, no dribbling involved in water basketball.

Game Variation 3: Beach Basketball

Beach basketball is played on the beach and is quite different than other types of basketball. It is not as strict and much more of a physical game than basketball.  Read more...

Basketball uniforms provide a sense of identity for the team players. After all, this is the real essence of uniforms, right? For the audience, it will be easy for them to pinpoint which team is which because of the uniforms. Yet there is more to it. Basketball uniforms undoubtedly inspire some sense of team spirit and unity in every player. It takes some pride for one to wear his basketball uniform.

The Standards of the Basketball Uniform

The common basketball uniforms are made up of a tank-top shirt which is mostly called the jersey, the shorts, the socks, and the sneakers. These days for practicality’s sake, the modern types of basketball uniforms are comprised of the moisture-wicking and lightweight materials. These qualities particularly aid in the control of the temperature and body moisture accumulation. Just imagine what a hassle it would become for the players to be wearing relatively thick basketball uniforms.

All of the popular basketball teams own their own basketball uniforms with distinctive designs. Each of the players has his respective number and surname on their uniforms so they can easily be identified. It also follows that alternative basketball uniforms are ready for everyones use. It has been likewise a common practice that basketball uniforms are changed per season. More so, for basketball varsities, color coding has become an obsession. It typically goes that the home team wears a light colored basketball uniform whereas the visitors wear the dark colored one.  Read more...

They usually say that basketball wins are owed to the proper playing of the defenses. Honestly, when the best defense is projected at every single level of the basketball game, everything will turn out well for the team.

The best coaches know for a fact that basketball defense should be made the topmost priority. After all, basketball defense determines the after-effect of the players’ efforts on the courts. But are you sure that your team knows how to play basketball defense the right way? Will their knowledge on basketball defense satiate the requirements for bringing home the bacon?

Being cultured with the proper basketball defensive knowledge is hard to deal with especially with the lack of effort and time spent both by the player and the coach. Getting into the core of basketball defense is all about desiring to improve the rest of the fields of the game. Basketball isn’t only about passing, dribbling, or shooting. Furthermore, it is all about learning basketball defenses so these aspects will be perfected. Most dedicated coaches can attest to how vital basketball defense is especially when a team’s heart is into winning.

Here are the valuable tips that need to be kept in mind as one learns the ropes of basketball defense:

You’ve got to quicken your hands and feet.

Know how to repeatedly and swiftly jump.  Read more...