Six NBA Thoughts: Were getting close to Opening Day on Christmas. Cant wait to chat about basketball ON the court rather than all the nonsense OFF the court. Here are a few brief thoughts: 1. ANTHONY PARKER (Cavaliers): I opened the newspaper this morning (Yes, I read the paper, Im old school) and smiled when I read that AP was re-signed by the Cavs. A true professional and a class act. The NBA and pro sports in general need more guys like him on teams. Gives you everything hes got, team guy all the way, good mentor and example and understands and accepts his role. At the end of his career but someone who gets it and guys like this are able to hang on a bit longer because they understand how fortunate they are to be part of a team, make nice money and enjoy a good lifestyle. With the new CBA and GMs looking for guys on short-term deals they want low-maintenance guys who add to the culture instead of drag it down. AP is a perfect example of this. 2. MARC GASOL (Grizzlies): Memphis decides to ante up and keep Gasol from bolting. Smart move - very good young player who keeps improving. An excellent winning piece to an upgraded situation for GM Chris Wallace. My question is though, can a market this size handle the contracts of Gasol, Zach Randolph, Rudy Gay and Mike Conley Jr. among others and make a serious run in the West over the next few years? With the dynamics of the conference changing, the window will be smaller for this team to have winning seasons and go deep into the playoffs. Expectations will be ramped up - To whom much is given, much is expected. If the dollar return isnt relatively quick (two seasons), I can see them trying to move one of their significant pieces. Does this group have another gear to get to with Rudy Gay healthy or were they better off with him injured at the end of last season? The pressure will be on. Small margin of error in a market this size. 3. NBA: Lots of chatter about the League offices involvement as the owners of the New Orleans Hornets and their involvement in the Chris Paul trade discussions - what drama! Ill say this though - as we come out of the lockout, public opinion of Commissioner David Stern has gone against him and more folks than ever are calling for his resignation. He looks tired and worn down by the past few months. Has he lost his fastball? Can he get it back? Is it time to retire? Fascinating questions for sure. At some point Stern will retire at a Date/Year of his choosing and the bigger question is, who takes over? Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver is a well thought of guy and Im sure he will be the leading candidate. When that time comes though the NBA had better look long and hard into the mirror and realize that its become way too much about The Business of Basketball rather than the Basketball Business. The bean counters, lawyers, agents, TV/entertainment executives and marketing geniuses have become way too big a factor in the game and the some players have gotten delusional about how they fit as brands. Last time I checked, were playing a TEAM sport, not an individual one. If Silver succeeds Stern down the road or whomever is chosen, I strongly recommend that the top two deputies that the commissioner has are basketball men who can help the league get some sanity back in the sport (NO - not business - the sport!) and help position the game of basketball to where it should be - thats the reason we all love it. Honestly, Im sick to my stomach about some of the things Ive seen and heard in the past few years involving the game we love. Time for some leadership and get it back to its core a whole lot more. 4. JOSE BAREA (Timberwolves): Ive talked and written about this guy a whole lot over the past few years. Im a big fan of his. Gotta say though that Im surprised that he went to the T-Wolves. Ricky Rubio, Luke Ridnour and a cast of other perimeter players. Not sure how its going to all work here for Rick Adelman. Ill say this, GM David Kahn has his detractors (there are many) but he doesnt seem to care about public opinion and follows his gut. Only time will tell if hes right. Barea makes any team better - Im just curious what the plan is with this team. Should be fun to watch it unfold. 5. CHAUNCEY BILLUPS (Clippers): Got claimed off of waivers by the Clips with the Chris Paul trade falling apart. The comments by Billups and his agent, Andy Miller, were downright disgraceful about trying to dictate where he went. I wholeheartedly support the league for how they handled it in their response to it. Ive always respected Billups game and think he can definitely help a team but I was so disappointed that he would lower himself to the level he did with his and his agents comments and attempts to bully teams. What a mess! 6. CHRIS PAUL TO LA CLIPPERS: Risky move by Clips to give up both Eric Gordon and Minnesotas unprotected #1 pick to get deal done with Hornets. Paul + Blake Griffin - Wow! Some fun stuff coming. Still a bit skeptical about Pauls durability long-term. Risk vs reward deal here. Wonder what Kobe thinks. To be a fly on the wall... Im tired - can we get to the games already? Buy Adidas Superstar Shoes. UCLA is giving him that opportunity in the hopes this polished pro coach can revitalize a beleaguered college program. Mora agreed to a five-year, US$12 million contract with UCLA on Saturday, replacing Rick Neuheisel as the Bruins first football coach in more than 60 years with no ties to the school. Adidas Zx 750 Trainers Mens. Lexie Lou earned a commanding 4 1/2-length win Sunday in the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks. http://www.adisuperstaruk.biz/adidas-superstar-casual-shoes/adidas-superstar-blue.html. Bailey pitched six scoreless innings in a friendly ballpark for his first win of the season and Jay Bruce homered and doubled as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 8-2 on Sunday. Adidas Neo Trainers Brown. Did the same to Duke, too. The Seminoles were a trendy Final Four pick entering the NCAA tournament, and they were nearly sent home by little St. Adidas Neo Trainers Purple. The Habs open up the 2013-2014 NHL season at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 1 and even though camp doesnt start until September 11, all players were on hand with the exception of Tomas Plekanec and Davis Drewiske.NEW ORLEANS -- Tony Parker was causing the Pelicans so much trouble with his dazzling dribble drives that New Orleans best defender, agile big man Anthony Davis, stepped out to challenge the shifty San Antonio point guard on the perimeter during the critical final five minutes. With a shoulder fake to his right and a cross-over dribble to the left, Parker wrong-footed Davis and exploded down an open lane for yet another easy layup. Parker scored 21 of his 32 points in the second half and also doled out nine assists, and the Spurs overcame a 14-point deficit en route to a 102-95 victory over the Pelicans on Monday night. "Tony pretty much carved them up," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, referring to Parker as "a monster" down the stretch. Tim Duncan scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half, and Marco Belinelli added 13 against his former club. Davis had 17 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks, Anthony Morrow added 20 points and Eric Gordon scored 19 for the Pelicans, who appeared in line for their fifth win in six games when they led by 14 near the end of the third quarter. The Spurs had other plans, outscoring New Orleans 38-19 in the final period. "Finally, in the fourth quarter, we were more physical and played better defence," Parker said. "And we just know how to win. ... In the fourth quarter, when its tight, we know how to execute and we know what we want to do on offence." Duncan had a difficult first half, hitting only two of his first eight shots and even missing a dunk, but looked like his usual self when it mattered. He opened the third quarter by making 5 of 7 shots. Parker added 10 points in the quarter, and his scoop shot had San Antonio as close as 65-62 with 3:13 left in the period. But New Orleans regained its rhythm once more while the Spurs briefly came unhinged. Shortly after Morrows 3 made it 70-62, Parker and Duncan were called for technical fouls on the same offensive possession. Morrow made both free throws, then got fouled and made two more free throws, and New Orleans went back up by 14 on Greg Stiemsmas tip-in. San Antonio simply wouldnt go away, suffocating New Orleans shooters and forcing four turnovers in the first six minutes of the final quarter.dddddddddddd "We had some costly turnovers," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. "A number of our guys, you look at our numbers, we just did not shoot the ball well across the board, in the fourth quarter for sure." The Pelicans has 16 turnovers in all, leading to 18 San Antonio points, and New Orleans made only 8 of 21 shots (38 per cent) in the final period. That, combined with Parkers clutch play, was too much to overcome. "Tony Parker got it going and we didnt corral him enough when he got in the paint," Morrow said. "He just made more plays down the stretch." The Spurs, meanwhile, took over the game with a 12-0 run that began when Patty Mills hit a 19-foot jumper and followed that with a 3. Then Danny Green, back from a broken left hand to play for the first time in 10 games, made his first shot -- a 3-pointer -- on his seventh attempt with 7:24 to go to pull the Spurs to 82-78. Parker completed the comeback a few plays later with his driving floater that tied it at 82 with 5:48 to go. "We played badly for 24-plus minutes -- made a lot of mistakes and finally put a stretch together," Duncan said. "We finally made some shots, honestly. We made, I think, two 3s in a row during the run that were big for us. We just needed something. We needed some kind of spark, some kind of stop-and-score. ... We had a crew in there that did it well." The Pelicans shot nearly 57 per cent in the first half (21 of 37) and led for most of it. Morrow made five of his first six shots and Gordon had 12 early points, including a 3 that put the Pelicans up 54-42 at halftime. NOTES: Green finished with 7 points in 30 minutes in what was his first action since Jan. 12. ... Pelicans G Tyreke Evans played only five minutes, leaving the game for good shortly after hurting his right ribs in a collision with Matt Bonner. ... The halftime performer, tight-rope artist Fletcher Runyan, drew empathetic groans from the crowd when he fell and straddled the rope. After sitting on the rope with a pained expression on his face for several seconds, he gingerly got back up, landed a successful backflip, then smiled and waved as he walked off the court to applause. China Jerseys? Cheap Jerseys?Cheap Jerseys?Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '