Offseason moves shift regular-season expectations for many

The Nets have assembled an all-star cast (Mary Altaffer / Associated Press)

Ten franchises whose expectations of success have dramatically shifted over the course of this offseason. Whether due to free agency, trade or injury, these clubs are facing a different kind of regular season in 2013-14.

CHAMPIONSHIP WORTHY

Brooklyn Nets

Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has shown he isn’t afraid of the luxury tax; as things stand Brooklyn’s payroll alone stands at $101.3 million – due in part to the offseason acquisitions of Garnett, Pierce & Terry.

The Nets can now legitimately put five All-Stars on the court  – Williams, Johnson, Pierce, Garnett & Lopez – while having the likes of Terry & AK47 in reserve on the bench, creating matchup problems galore for the opposition.

Nursing their ageing cast into the Playoffs in prime health will be their regular-season goal.

In pursuing a 'win now' approach Prokhorov has dealt away the Nets’ 2014, 2016 & 2018 draft picks. What’s more, the championship window in Brooklyn isn’t going to be long, given the age of its core, further inflating expectations of immediate success.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets pulled off the biggest move this offseason, securing the services of arguably the best big man in the league, Dwight Howard. The D12-Harden pairing is projected to be one of the most dynamic duos in the league.

Houston are stacked with exciting young players, capable of running the floor and finishing at the rim and from behind the three-point line in transition. If McHale can get Omar Asik on board and on the court next to Dwight, the Rockets should be a force in the West.

Jeremy Lin will be under pressure from day one and once again under the scrutiny of the world’s media.

Indiana Pacers

The post-season emergence of both Paul George and Roy Hibbert as legitimate championship-calibre players led many to believe that with more depth the Pacers could have upset the Heat in the Conference Finals this year.

Now add Granger, Stevenson, Scola, Copeland and CJ Watson off the bench. They are serious contenders.

Los Angeles Clippers

In Chris Paul and Doc Rivers, the Clippers have secured the services of arguably the best point guard and best head coach in the league.

LAC have spent the offseason stockpiling quality perimeter players – Redick, Dudley and Bullock – perhaps as a mask for their questionable frontcourt depth.

In many ways the success of the Clippers remains stacked on the shoulders of friends and frontcourt companions Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Ultimately, the two must be capable of playing extended minutes, working deep in the post efficiently and hitting free throws.

PLAYOFF BERTH

Washington Wizards

John Wall was in beast mode towards the end of last year; he showed that when healthy he can perform like a max-contract guy. The Wizards finished the regular season playing an extended stretch of .500 basketball. 

Washington have a strong core - Wall, Beal, Porter, Nene and Okafor - as far as lower playoff-seeded teams in the Eastern Conference are concerned. On paper, they have enough to land the 7th or 8th seed.

However, behind the starting unit await few playoff-calibre players. The Wizards are seriously lacking in depth. An injury to any of Washington's key performers and their dreams of a playoff berth are in serious jeopardy.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Cavaliers GM Chris Grant is known for his high-risk high-reward approach to team development – see his 2011 (4^th), 2012 (4^th) & 2013 (1^st) draft selections. This offseason has been no different, signing Andrew Bynum to a two-year deal and drafting Anthony Bennett with the first pick in the draft.

In addition, Cleveland drafted Russian stud Sergy Karasev and second-round pick Carrick Felix, while bolstering their roster with the signings of free agents Jarrett Jack & Earl Clarke.

The Cavaliers now have legitimate depth. If Kyrie Irving, Andrew  Bynum and Anderson Varejao can remain on the court for the majority of the year, Wine & Gold fans will be expecting a first playoff berth since the King walked out.

Detroit Pistons

The Pistons invested heavily in Josh Smith this offseason, signing the forward to a four-year $54 million contract.

Detroit now have one of the biggest, most athletic backcourts in the league. Adding Smith addresses the Pistons' need for improved defence and allows them to experiment with various rotation combinations: Smith-Monroe-Drummond/Smith-Drummond/Smith-Monroe.

Ultimately, Detroit will only go as far as their frontcourt takes them. Questions still remain about the viability of a Knight-KCP combo.

LOTTERY-BOUND

Los Angeles Lakers

It’s already been a year of firsts for the Lakers: the most damning being Dwight Howard’s decision to leave the ball club, in the prime of his career.

With an ageing roster and Kobe’s health a real concern, the Lakers are set for a rough year. Fans have already begun to set their sights on the 2014 draft and the prospect of luring LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony to Los Angeles in next year’s free agency.

Boston Celtics

The Celtics lost three cornerstones of their franchise this offseason - Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce & Kevin Garnett – with only a rookie coach and an ageing Gerald Wallace, still owed $30.3 million over three years, to show for it. The rebuild is well and truly on.

All-Star Rajon Rondo, although recovering from a torn ACL, still holds real value, along with the likes of Jeff Green & Avery Bradley, both in terms of on-the-court effectiveness and value in future trades.

It’s going to be a tough year in Boston.

Dallas Mavericks

Yes, it’s true, Dallas found themselves in the lottery this year, but that was all part of the plan. Twelve months ago the Mavericks struck out in their pursuit of a franchise-changing free agent, instead opting to sign a host of one-year rentals – allowing them to maintain their cap flexibility heading into this year’s free-agent class. Unfortunately, Dallas once again failed to hit the jackpot in the Dwight Howard sweepstakes.

Dallas’ new frontcourt of Jose Calderon and Monta Ellis, a duo on the books for at least three years and $53 million, isn't likely to be enough to help propel the Mavericks back into playoff contention. Defence is a word you won’t be mentioning much when analysing Dallas next year, unless it’s predicated by ‘distinct lack of’.

It’s set to be another year of frustration for superstar Dirk Nowitzki.

Which team's transition are YOU most looking forward to seeing? Let me know in the comments section below.

News and Notes: Saturday Edition

Above, A Date in Cornell Basketball History, a game program from January 10, 1925 between Cornell and the University of Rochester.  Below, news and notes for Saturday...

• Get the details on the new digital Ivy League package that will allow you to watch Ivy League Men's Basketball online all season!

• Eitan Chemerinski (Cornell '13)  scored 15 points on Wednesday as his Team USA finished 4-1 in group round robin play in Israel's Maccabi Games with a dominant 141-66 victory over Ginea-Bissau.  The Americans now will move on to the semifinals/medal round.  USA as the #1 seed in Group A will face on Sunday the #2 seed of Group B, Israel.  In the other semifinal, it is Argentina (Group A, #2 seed) against France (Group B, #1 seed).  Chemerinski previously scored 3 points in the team's tournament opener on Friday, an 86-83 overtime defeat to Argentina.  But the Americans bounced back in their second game on Sunday with an 89-55 win over Germany.  Then on Monday Chemerinski notched 13 points in a USA 111-57 win over Australia followed by 10 point performance on Tuesday in an 84-31 win over Russia.   Group B consisted of Canada, Kazakhstan, France, Greece and host Israel. 

• Here is an older blog post from the Ft. Wayne Journal & Courier on Errick Peck after he committed to attend grad school at Purdue.

• Wisconsin is marketing its season ticket package with a highlight dunk against Cornell last season.

• ESPN writes about Harvard's potential and notes, "The Ivy League still doesn't have a conference tournament. The conference as a whole is just 3-14 in the NCAA tournament since 2000, and prior to Cornell's run to the 2010 Sweet 16, the Ivies were laboring under a 12-season tournament-win drought."

• NBC Sports catches up with some Ivy League coaches.

• College Sports Madness is counting down the top 144 teams in the country.

TUB 5: Huddersfield Heat

In this edition of the TUB 5 I talk to Huddersfield Heat Head Coach & CEO Eduardo Perez y Medina. We discuss grassroots hoops, the role of the EBL, offseason preparation and maintaining on-the-court success.

How much of an interest is there in basketball at grassroots level around Huddersfield and how do the Heat get involved in community hoops?

There is substantial grassroots interest in the area, and there is some good activity going on as we speak. We are looking to roll out a new community programme shortly, and one of its key aims is to engage local schools to start building a pathway for all basketball players to follow.

You’ve had many successful Heat alumni in the past, players like Chris Bigley who’ve gone on to play in the BBL. How do you view the role of EBL teams and is it difficult to have your most talent players poached by clubs in higher divisions?
I guess it depends on what your ambition is for your organisation. Some clubs, in particular in EBL 3 and 4, are quite happy to compete year in, year out and will never look to progress further than that. We want to be the best club possible, and we have objectives and ambitions to reflect that. With regard to the players: look, it happens, talented players if given further opportunities will look to progress in the same way we would as a club. As for the EBL, the UK needs a solid, well-defined structure, and each level should support the next, with the pinnacle being access to the top tier. I think we are probably some way away from that yet in this country.

Following on from that, how do the Heat go about scouting and recruiting players? If there’s a young baller out there wanting to showcase their skills in the EBL, what’s the best route for them to take?

We are establishing quite a wide scouting and recruitment network, in particular in Spain, so I would say our hard work results in us finding the very best players each year for our resources. In terms of a young player, well I would say it depends on the club in the first instance. Some, such as Bristol or Manchester, have very good junior development programmes and those are great pathways for young players to join. Other clubs will host trials, or even give individual trial periods to players who contact the club directly, so it really does vary. In our case, although we recruit, we will always get back to anyone who contacts us about potentially playing.

You had a brilliant season last year, finishing with a record of 19-3 in Group North of the EBL Div 3. How can you maintain that level of play heading into the 2013-14 season? How has the club spent the offseason?

The club has been working hard on and off the court over the summer, to further our plans. We have a major project in the pipeline which will go fully public around September, hopefully, which will be big news for basketball in the UK; a lot of hard work is going into that at the moment. We've also been putting the finishing touches to the new roster for the next season and, based on the quality and level of players we have been able to sign up, if we work as hard as we did last year, and show the same attitude, we will be fine this coming season.

You’re set to face the reigning BBL champions Leicester Riders in a pre-season friendly. Aside from a great game of basketball for the fans, what are you hoping to gain from the experience?

I think it sets a marker for our progress. We want to be the best we can be, and what better test than to play what is in my opinion the top club in the UK at this moment. We're going to be up against great players and a great coach, but we welcome that kind of challenge. All my guys are really looking forward to this, and it's really got them excited about the coming season now.

The Matrix Reloaded Bluray 720P (2003)

Sobat Zero's Berhubung saya admin baru di blog ini, post pertama yaitu salah satu film kesukaan saya loh :D
Nah Daripada penasaran mending langsung aja ke TKP

Synopsis  :

"6 bulan setelah peristiwa yang digambarkan dalam The Matrix, Neo telah terbukti menjadi pertanda baik bagi manusia bebas, karena semakin banyak manusia yang dibebaskan dari matriks dan dibawa ke Sion, kubu satu-satunya Perlawanan. Neo sendiri telah menemukan negara adidaya itu termasuk kecepatan super, kemampuan untuk melihat kode dari hal-hal di dalam matriks dan tingkat tertentu pra-kognisi. Tapi sepotong jahat berita hits perlawanan manusia: 250.000 penjaga Mesin menggali ke Sion dan akan mencapai mereka dalam 72 jam. Sebagai Sion mempersiapkan untuk perang akhir, Neo, Morpheus dan Trinity disarankan oleh Oracle untuk menemukan Keymaker yang akan membantu mereka mencapai Sumber. Sementara itu mimpi berulang Neo menggambarkan kematian Trinity ini telah mendapat dia khawatir dan seolah-olah itu tidak cukup, Agen Smith telah entah bagaimana lolos penghapusan, telah menjadi lebih kuat dari sebelumnya dan tetap memiliki Neo sebagai target berikutnya."

Nama           : Matrix Reloaded
Release Date : 15 may 2003
Genre           : Action , Sci-Fi
Rating IMDB  : 7.1/10 IMDB
Source         : Google Drive
Quality          : Bluray 720P 
Size              : 899MB

Link Download Via Google Drive

Single Link : Download Here

Would You Watch 90 Minutes of This?

Below, an extended music video for Biting Elbows' "Bad Motherfucker." The premise: "What if a 'Transporter' sequel was 4 1/2 minutes long and seen entirely from first-person perspective?" Okay, fun enough - really hate 0:25, but that's a taste thing.

In any case, this is "news" because the video's director has been hired to turn the concept into a full feature, with Sharlto Copley apparently set to star. I can't help get the sense that this is the sort of idea that sounds good until you actually see it, but what do I know?

Here's Another Awful-Looking Thing We Can Blame Kevin Smith For...

Hey! Have you by chance been in one of those hypersleep pods from "Prometheus" since around 1998 or so and thus might still find jokes about dweeby White kids with a charmingly-naive fixation on Black culture really funny? Well, then "American Milkshake" - an indie pickup from the new Kevin Smith Movie Club imprint - is the movie for YOU!

PED scandal reportedly linked to several unidentified NBA players

Ryan Braun was recently suspended for PED use by the MBL

The performance-enhancing drug (PED) scandal linked to the Florida Biogenesis clinic, which has already tainted the MBL and led to the suspension of Ryan Braun and possible suspension of Alex Rodriguez and others, is now being linked to several yet to be identified NBA players.

ESPN’s ‘Outside the Lines’ reported the allegations after speaking to former Biogenesis Clinic employee turned whistle-blower, Porter Fischer.

“Fischer said he and associates have identified athletes from the NBA, NCAA, professional boxing, tennis and MMA, in addition to other professional baseball players who have not yet been identified. As far as he knows, Fischer said, Bosch had no clients from the NFL or NHL.”

As noted in Dime Magazine, “the NBA tests for PEDs, but they don’t yet have a blood test in place for Human Growth Hormones (HGH), and David Stern said that negotiations with the NBPA to implement HGH testing have been put on hold until the Player’s Union gets a new executive director.”

Back in March, TUB raised the question of basketball and PEDs.

There have been plenty of other examples of minor drug use in basketball, from leagues spanning the length and breadth of the globe, but as yet there has been no high-profile scapegoat in the NBA. Odd, if you stop and think about the sheer volume of players that have graced an NBA court. Could there really be a league-wide cover up? Maybe, I don't know. What I do understand is that a sport, particularly its legacy, thrives on a clean and wholesome reputation. Once that's gone, it's hard to claw back. 

The real question is: why don't we hear more dialogue when it comes to hoops, its players and anti-doping?