Da Boss DJ Jo Corleone's Posts - CoreDJRadio2024-03-28T08:52:57ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleonehttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1960276562?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://coredjradio.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=3uzvax8m8zvv3&xn_auth=noTwo Sides to the Michael Vick Cointag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-07-28:2501448:BlogPost:3504592009-07-28T16:53:49.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sm8rFVTiUjI/AAAAAAAAAKU/MBq4jAiJdq8/s1600-h/michael+vick+2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363553051839975986" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363553051839975986" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sm8rFVTiUjI/AAAAAAAAAKU/MBq4jAiJdq8/s320/michael+vick+2.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 300px;"></img></a><br />
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The Commissioner’s latest ruling on Michael Vick honestly has me torn. On one hand I feel like the man has served his punishment. I mean 2 years in prison and two full seasons missed is a major punishment. On the other hand anytime a player commits an off the field crime that results in that player going to jail, they’ve always had to serve a NFL suspension after their…
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sm8rFVTiUjI/AAAAAAAAAKU/MBq4jAiJdq8/s1600-h/michael+vick+2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sm8rFVTiUjI/AAAAAAAAAKU/MBq4jAiJdq8/s320/michael+vick+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363553051839975986" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363553051839975986"/></a><br />
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The Commissioner’s latest ruling on Michael Vick honestly has me torn. On one hand I feel like the man has served his punishment. I mean 2 years in prison and two full seasons missed is a major punishment. On the other hand anytime a player commits an off the field crime that results in that player going to jail, they’ve always had to serve a NFL suspension after their jail time, in which case Vick is no exception.<br />
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To Read the Full Story Go To http://jossportsbar.blogspot.com/Who Made The Biggest Improvement L.A. or Boston?tag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-07-15:2501448:BlogPost:3385122009-07-15T18:01:41.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sl4XQ5ZgpWI/AAAAAAAAAKM/xTxIGjpJcs0/s1600-h/KG+vs+Pau.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358746185670632802" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358746185670632802" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sl4XQ5ZgpWI/AAAAAAAAAKM/xTxIGjpJcs0/s320/KG+vs+Pau.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 145px; height: 165px;"></img></a><br />
Per request from my man Lonnie Colon from my facebook family, I have to review the latest moves made by the Celtics and the Lakers. The Lakers feel like they’ve put themselves in a good position to defend their title by adding Ron Artest despite losing Trevor Ariza. The Celtics feel like they’re the team in the best position to win the title by inserting Rasheed Wallace into…
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sl4XQ5ZgpWI/AAAAAAAAAKM/xTxIGjpJcs0/s1600-h/KG+vs+Pau.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 145px; height: 165px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sl4XQ5ZgpWI/AAAAAAAAAKM/xTxIGjpJcs0/s320/KG+vs+Pau.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358746185670632802" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358746185670632802"/></a><br />
Per request from my man Lonnie Colon from my facebook family, I have to review the latest moves made by the Celtics and the Lakers. The Lakers feel like they’ve put themselves in a good position to defend their title by adding Ron Artest despite losing Trevor Ariza. The Celtics feel like they’re the team in the best position to win the title by inserting Rasheed Wallace into their roster. Both teams made good moves, but like the highlander series use to say, “There can only be one”.<br />
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To Read The Rest of This Story Go To http://jossportsbar.blogspot.com/Iverson Still A Hot Commoditytag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-07-14:2501448:BlogPost:3378912009-07-14T16:59:25.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sly1WCPDzCI/AAAAAAAAAKE/Yib69qrKvqw/s1600-h/AI.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358357046825831458" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358357046825831458" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sly1WCPDzCI/AAAAAAAAAKE/Yib69qrKvqw/s320/AI.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 240px;"></img></a><br />
We’re getting closer and closer to finally knowing where Allen Iverson will land. In the beginning everyone figured he wouldn’t be moved until after the season started, but now it looks as if things could be sorted out before the tip off of the upcoming season. The four suitors are the Memphis Grizzlies, the Charlotte Bobcats, the Miami Heat, and now the Los Angeles Clippers.<br />
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As A…
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sly1WCPDzCI/AAAAAAAAAKE/Yib69qrKvqw/s1600-h/AI.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sly1WCPDzCI/AAAAAAAAAKE/Yib69qrKvqw/s320/AI.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358357046825831458" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358357046825831458"/></a><br />
We’re getting closer and closer to finally knowing where Allen Iverson will land. In the beginning everyone figured he wouldn’t be moved until after the season started, but now it looks as if things could be sorted out before the tip off of the upcoming season. The four suitors are the Memphis Grizzlies, the Charlotte Bobcats, the Miami Heat, and now the Los Angeles Clippers.<br />
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As A Tribe Called Quest once said let’s check out the scenario, well at least a few of them starting with the Grizzlies. Memphis already has Mike Conley Jr. and OJ Mayo rotating the point guard position. When Mayo’s not running the point he’s at the shooting guard position, meaning there’s really no place in the starting lineup for Iverson unless the Grizzlies want to take a step back by placing Conley on the bench.<br />
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To Read The Rest of This Story Go To http://jossportsbar.blogspot.com/Has LeBron Gone Pre-Madonna??tag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-07-13:2501448:BlogPost:3373772009-07-13T16:00:00.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sltd8XHCTrI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/7m8DEVyn1tM/s1600-h/bron+2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357979473264398002" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357979473264398002" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sltd8XHCTrI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/7m8DEVyn1tM/s320/bron+2.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 253px; height: 320px;"></img></a><br />
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So sad so sad, I know I’m a week late talking about this, but I still have to give you my two cents on LeBron James. Last week reports surfaced that during his basketball camp, which was hosted by Nike, King James was the victim of poster-i-zation. Apparently James was dunked on by Jordan Crawford, and soon after the incident took place Nike confiscated all videotapes that may…
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sltd8XHCTrI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/7m8DEVyn1tM/s1600-h/bron+2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 253px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sltd8XHCTrI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/7m8DEVyn1tM/s320/bron+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357979473264398002" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5357979473264398002"/></a><br />
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So sad so sad, I know I’m a week late talking about this, but I still have to give you my two cents on LeBron James. Last week reports surfaced that during his basketball camp, which was hosted by Nike, King James was the victim of poster-i-zation. Apparently James was dunked on by Jordan Crawford, and soon after the incident took place Nike confiscated all videotapes that may have recorded the footage. Reports were even saying that James was seen talking to the Nike reps right after the incident, which many have speculated as the time when James told Nike to confiscate the tapes.<br />
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First off rather it was James’s decision or not this is an example of how Hollywood the world of entertainment really is. It’s always been known that whoever has the dollar dollar bill ya’ll, rules. This seems like an incident that would only take place in a movie or on a television show. The story could have been regular guy dunks on NBA superstar, but the superstar disposes of the proof so no one ever really knows.<br />
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To Read The Rest of This Story Go To http://jossportsbar.blogspot.com/THe NFL Loses A True Warriortag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-07-06:2501448:BlogPost:3343922009-07-06T20:37:18.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="478" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1800246715?profile=original" width="450"></img></p>
The last four days have been news packed for the world of sports. We witnessed the Williams sisters continue their dominance in the tennis world, we also witnessed Roger<br />
Federer achieve what was once considered to be the unthinkable, and that’s winning his 15th Grand Slam title. Thursday we heard the news of Ron Artest joining the Lakers, Jason Kidd staying in Dallas, and Rasheeed Wallace possibly joining the Celtics. But no news was bigger or more…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1800246715?profile=original" alt="" width="450" height="478"/></p>
The last four days have been news packed for the world of sports. We witnessed the Williams sisters continue their dominance in the tennis world, we also witnessed Roger<br />
Federer achieve what was once considered to be the unthinkable, and that’s winning his 15th Grand Slam title. Thursday we heard the news of Ron Artest joining the Lakers, Jason Kidd staying in Dallas, and Rasheeed Wallace possibly joining the Celtics. But no news was bigger or more shocking than that of the death of Steve McNair.<br />
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To Read more On This Story Go To http://jossportsbar.blogspot.com/A Busy Summer in the NBA Continuestag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-07-02:2501448:BlogPost:3330792009-07-02T15:40:06.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkzSyofdy8I/AAAAAAAAAJc/09Gq8FTKolk/s1600-h/Kobe+elbow.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353885824341363650" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353885824341363650" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkzSyofdy8I/AAAAAAAAAJc/09Gq8FTKolk/s320/Kobe+elbow.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;"></img></a><br />
Moves continue to be made in the NBA this off-season with the latest news coming out of Detroit. Yesterday the Pistons signed Ben Gordon to a 5-year deal reported to be between 55 and 60 million dollars, and Charlie Villanueva a 5-year deal worth 40 million dollars. This move gives the pistons more offense, but they still have some big decisions to make.<br />
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The other big…
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkzSyofdy8I/AAAAAAAAAJc/09Gq8FTKolk/s1600-h/Kobe+elbow.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkzSyofdy8I/AAAAAAAAAJc/09Gq8FTKolk/s320/Kobe+elbow.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353885824341363650" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353885824341363650"/></a><br />
Moves continue to be made in the NBA this off-season with the latest news coming out of Detroit. Yesterday the Pistons signed Ben Gordon to a 5-year deal reported to be between 55 and 60 million dollars, and Charlie Villanueva a 5-year deal worth 40 million dollars. This move gives the pistons more offense, but they still have some big decisions to make.<br />
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The other big off-season news comes from Cleveland again, as the Cavs are working frantically to prove they are serious about trying to win a title. Reports say the Cavs are now interested in Ron Artest and met with him in southern California, along with LeBron James who was already in town for various other events. The Cavs feel that Artest defensively could play on the perimeter or in the paint, and offensively can spread the floor when those double teams are covering James.<br />
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To Read more of this story log on to <a href="http://jossportsbar.blogspot.com/">http://jossportsbar.blogspot.com/</a>Motor City Madnesstag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-07-01:2501448:BlogPost:3319992009-07-01T17:28:35.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkuZl7urY2I/AAAAAAAAAJU/3EJ9S26j1Xk/s1600-h/Curry+and+rip.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353541459027649378" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353541459027649378" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkuZl7urY2I/AAAAAAAAAJU/3EJ9S26j1Xk/s320/Curry+and+rip.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 300px;"></img></a> Allen Einstein/Getty Images<br />
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For the last 6 years Detroit Basketball has been one of the most successful franchises in all of sports. They went to the finals 2 years in a row, and to the conference finals 6 years in a row. They dominated the eastern conference during the stretch and were with out a doubt the team to beat in the east. They were the team that other…
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkuZl7urY2I/AAAAAAAAAJU/3EJ9S26j1Xk/s1600-h/Curry+and+rip.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkuZl7urY2I/AAAAAAAAAJU/3EJ9S26j1Xk/s320/Curry+and+rip.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353541459027649378" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353541459027649378"/></a> Allen Einstein/Getty Images<br />
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For the last 6 years Detroit Basketball has been one of the most successful franchises in all of sports. They went to the finals 2 years in a row, and to the conference finals 6 years in a row. They dominated the eastern conference during the stretch and were with out a doubt the team to beat in the east. They were the team that other franchises in the eastern conference built their teams to beat.<br />
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When they had the firm of Wallace and Wallace (Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace) teams went out and tried to get stronger in the frontcourt. Orlando, after being swept in the first round during the 2002-2003 season, eventually part ways with Tracy McGrady and went out and drafted Dwight Howard. Miami went out and made a deal for Shaq, which gave the Heat a title.<br />
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Story Continued at http://jossportsbar.blogspot.com/What Would You Do For Your Team?tag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-30:2501448:BlogPost:3317572009-06-30T17:38:47.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkpI1QPLApI/AAAAAAAAAJM/OhW0I4AlsAI/s1600-h/Kidd.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353171186812125842" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353171186812125842" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkpI1QPLApI/AAAAAAAAAJM/OhW0I4AlsAI/s320/Kidd.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;"></img></a><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkpI1GVRuiI/AAAAAAAAAJE/qoqh5GLS8Wo/s1600-h/Yao.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353171184153377314" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353171184153377314" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkpI1GVRuiI/AAAAAAAAAJE/qoqh5GLS8Wo/s320/Yao.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;"></img></a><br />
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A couple of big names that are hitting the NBA’s free agency market have the entire Association buzzing. The most recent names being discussed are Jason Kidd, and Yao Ming. Yao however isn’t a free agent, but his latest injury could have an affect on how the Rockets…
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkpI1QPLApI/AAAAAAAAAJM/OhW0I4AlsAI/s1600-h/Kidd.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkpI1QPLApI/AAAAAAAAAJM/OhW0I4AlsAI/s320/Kidd.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353171186812125842" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353171186812125842"/></a><br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkpI1GVRuiI/AAAAAAAAAJE/qoqh5GLS8Wo/s1600-h/Yao.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkpI1GVRuiI/AAAAAAAAAJE/qoqh5GLS8Wo/s320/Yao.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353171184153377314" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353171184153377314"/></a><br />
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A couple of big names that are hitting the NBA’s free agency market have the entire Association buzzing. The most recent names being discussed are Jason Kidd, and Yao Ming. Yao however isn’t a free agent, but his latest injury could have an affect on how the Rockets approach the free agency market.<br />
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This latest injury to Yao, a micro fracture to his left foot, will possibly keep him out for the entire season, and doctors are also saying it could affect his career. That’s not to say the injury could end his career, but there are concerns about his foot being a constant ailment for the rest of his career, and there’s concerns about how much longer he can play due to this second foot injury.<br />
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To Read the Rest of THis Story Log On To http://jossportsbar.blogspot.com/It's Official Cleveland Get's Shaqtag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-25:2501448:BlogPost:3298902009-06-25T16:54:21.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkOosYPfjeI/AAAAAAAAAI8/gUSSS0WFb2w/s1600-h/shaquille_oneal.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351306262621425122" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351306262621425122" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkOosYPfjeI/AAAAAAAAAI8/gUSSS0WFb2w/s320/shaquille_oneal.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 240px;"></img></a><br />
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With the draft taking place tonight, NBA teams have been working endless hours to get prepared for it. With all the different trades going on this has been one of the busiest draft weeks in recent years, and in the last two days one of the biggest ever.<br />
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Last nights trade will without a doubt not only be the biggest trade before the draft, but the biggest trade of the…
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkOosYPfjeI/AAAAAAAAAI8/gUSSS0WFb2w/s1600-h/shaquille_oneal.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkOosYPfjeI/AAAAAAAAAI8/gUSSS0WFb2w/s320/shaquille_oneal.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351306262621425122" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351306262621425122"/></a><br />
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With the draft taking place tonight, NBA teams have been working endless hours to get prepared for it. With all the different trades going on this has been one of the busiest draft weeks in recent years, and in the last two days one of the biggest ever.<br />
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Last nights trade will without a doubt not only be the biggest trade before the draft, but the biggest trade of the off-season. It’s official; Shaquille O’Neal is now a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Suns receive Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic in exchange for the “Big Cactus”.<br />
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To Read More of This Story go to http://jossportsbar.blogspot.com/With The Number 3 Overall Pick The Oklahoma City Thunder Select...tag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-24:2501448:BlogPost:3284792009-06-24T16:32:41.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkJOQ9NkjXI/AAAAAAAAAI0/I1I6LVgm6EY/s1600-h/ricky_rubio_1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350925360485928306" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350925360485928306" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkJOQ9NkjXI/AAAAAAAAAI0/I1I6LVgm6EY/s320/ricky_rubio_1.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 242px;"></img></a> Monday during our path to the draft discussion I predicted that the Clippers wouldn’t do anything stupid, and would go ahead with drafting Blake Griffin. Tuesday I predicted the Grizzlies would draft Hasheem Thabeet, in an effort to avoid contract fights with Ricky Rubio. That brings us to the number three pick owned by the Oklahoma City Thunder.<br />
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With their first pick I…
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkJOQ9NkjXI/AAAAAAAAAI0/I1I6LVgm6EY/s1600-h/ricky_rubio_1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkJOQ9NkjXI/AAAAAAAAAI0/I1I6LVgm6EY/s320/ricky_rubio_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350925360485928306" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350925360485928306"/></a>Monday during our path to the draft discussion I predicted that the Clippers wouldn’t do anything stupid, and would go ahead with drafting Blake Griffin. Tuesday I predicted the Grizzlies would draft Hasheem Thabeet, in an effort to avoid contract fights with Ricky Rubio. That brings us to the number three pick owned by the Oklahoma City Thunder.<br />
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With their first pick I expect the Thunder to grab Rubio, despite already having a young solid point guard in Russell Westbrook. Some may say a move like this could shake up the young guard out of UCLA, but it can only help him as a competitor and as a player.<br />
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To continue reading this story go to http://jossportsbar.blogspot.com/With The Number 2 Overall Pick The Memphis Grizzlies Select...tag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-23:2501448:BlogPost:3281842009-06-23T18:01:53.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkEK13Cw-vI/AAAAAAAAAIs/w32Lz8hVsPU/s1600-h/Thabeet.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350569752717753074" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350569752717753074" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkEK13Cw-vI/AAAAAAAAAIs/w32Lz8hVsPU/s320/Thabeet.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 266px;"></img></a><br />
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This year the Memphis Grizzlies will have the number 2 pick in the NBA draft. Last year they inherited OJ Mayo, and Darrell Arthur from the national champion Kansas Jayhawks, as well as Marc Gasol. The year before that, they picked up Mike Conley, before…
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkEK13Cw-vI/AAAAAAAAAIs/w32Lz8hVsPU/s1600-h/Thabeet.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkEK13Cw-vI/AAAAAAAAAIs/w32Lz8hVsPU/s320/Thabeet.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350569752717753074" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350569752717753074"/></a><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkEK1oKTGnI/AAAAAAAAAIk/nxOJdTGiOUc/s1600-h/ricky_rubio_1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SkEK1oKTGnI/AAAAAAAAAIk/nxOJdTGiOUc/s320/ricky_rubio_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350569748722817650" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350569748722817650"/></a><br />
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This year the Memphis Grizzlies will have the number 2 pick in the NBA draft. Last year they inherited OJ Mayo, and Darrell Arthur from the national champion Kansas Jayhawks, as well as Marc Gasol. The year before that, they picked up Mike Conley, before him Rudy Gay, and the year before that Hakim Warrick who had come off winning a national championship himself with Syracuse.<br />
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That’s a nice conglomerate of young talent to build around, and who knows more about building a team than the logo himself Jerry West. On paper when you look at this roster they look like a team on the rise, and they are. They now have a chance to draft what could be the final piece to their starting line up the question is what piece will they go for.<br />
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They have shown great interest in the teenage point guard from Spain, Ricky Rubio, who they believe will be the playmaker they need to set up scoring opportunities for the likes of Mayo and Gay. But they have also shown a commitment to Conley as their starting point guard who many believe is not playing as well as expected. In response to those doubts about his ability he’s only played two seasons after only one year of college. He’s a young player amongst a team of young players. This year we should see more improvement with a much better team than in years past.<br />
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If the Grizzlies do decide to trust Conley as the full time point and move Mayo to the full time shooting guard, then the next order of business would be addressing the frontcourt. This looks like the most likely decision for Memphis, due to the point guard situation and the apparent stand off they may face by drafting Rubio.<br />
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Rubio’s camp has expressed that he does not want to play in Memphis; so drafting him could cause more problems than they want. One of the reasons people say Rubio doesn’t want to play for the Grizzlies is because Memphis doesn’t like to pay players, and Rubio’s camp believes he’s a top dollar player that needs to get paid.<br />
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With that being considered the Grizzlies are strongly considering Hasheem Thabeet the 7-foot-3 center out of Connecticut. Thabeet can bring the Grizzlies the defense that they’re missing in the paint with his shot blocking ability, and some extra rebounds. He only averaged 13.6 points per game, but scoring isn’t want the Grizzlies are in need of from him. With Gasol, Gay, and Mayo scoring isn’t the problem.<br />
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What impressed the Grizzlies about Thabeet are his 10.8 boards and 4.2 blocks per game, but he too may come with baggage. Thabeet cancelled his workout with the Grizzlies on Sunday citing a shoulder injury. Speculation has already started swirling with rumors that he missed the workout, because he doesn’t want to play for Memphis either.<br />
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Rather Memphis goes with Rubio, who’s stock is rising with every workout, or Thabeet they will have an increase in the win column this season. However since my job this week is to give you a solid pick expect Memphis to address their defensive needs and draft Thabeet. Rubio would be just too much stress on the organization and it’s believed that they truly believe in Conley. They need help on defense and Thabeet could be the answer.With The Number 1 Overall Pick The Los Angeles Clippers Select...tag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-22:2501448:BlogPost:3166762009-06-22T18:13:32.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sj_Hf726xzI/AAAAAAAAAIc/djKYphkdl5k/s1600-h/Blake+Griffin.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350214233797347122" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350214233797347122" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sj_Hf726xzI/AAAAAAAAAIc/djKYphkdl5k/s320/Blake+Griffin.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 300px;"></img></a> With the NBA draft taking place three days from now there’s a lot of questions about who’s going to be the number two and number three picks. With out a shadow of a doubt Blake Griffin is the number one guy, but some people believe there’s a chance that the clippers will make a deal that could actually send Griffin elsewhere. That’s all just speculation.<br />
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Over the next few…
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sj_Hf726xzI/AAAAAAAAAIc/djKYphkdl5k/s1600-h/Blake+Griffin.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sj_Hf726xzI/AAAAAAAAAIc/djKYphkdl5k/s320/Blake+Griffin.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350214233797347122" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350214233797347122"/></a>With the NBA draft taking place three days from now there’s a lot of questions about who’s going to be the number two and number three picks. With out a shadow of a doubt Blake Griffin is the number one guy, but some people believe there’s a chance that the clippers will make a deal that could actually send Griffin elsewhere. That’s all just speculation.<br />
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Over the next few days we’ll discuss, by pick, what each of the top four teams will do with there first picks. We’ll start with the Los Angeles Clippers who once again have the top pick. In the past the Clippers have had some great picks the problem is they don’t show any commitment to winning so over time they can never hold on to the players that they draft once those players’ contracts expire.<br />
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This year may be a little different. Their roster consists of two dynamic point guards in Baron Davis, an up and coming talent in Eric Gordon. Al Thornton who led the team in scoring and rebounding as a rookie. They also have a few notable veterans in Marcus Camby, Cuttino Mobley, and Chris Kaman. All of these guys averaged double figures in points last season.<br />
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However only one of those guys averaged double figures in rebounding and that was Camby. Add Griffin to that roster and instantly the city of L.A. becomes a city divided. Griffin averaged 22.7 points and 14.4 rebounds per game, now add those numbers, his size and his ability to run the floor, and shot blocking ability and you have something special in the Clippers organization.<br />
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Even if the Clippers can’t hold on to the veterans that they currently have, they still have a nice young nucleus to build on. Gordon and Thornton are each coming off impressive rookie seasons very much like Oklahoma City who is building it’s team around young players such as Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, and Russell Westbrook.<br />
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If the Clippers do go along with the obvious pick they will be a team to reckon with for years to come, and at the end of the day let’s not forget they’re based in L.A. Most players are intrigued to play for teams based in big markets and L.A. definitely falls into that category, and with a player like Griffin, playing for the Clippers may look even more attractive to future free agents.Pro Athletes No longer Receiving Passes for Their Actionstag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-17:2501448:BlogPost:3100562009-06-17T05:30:00.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sjh_6hZjINI/AAAAAAAAAIU/ZI7jJmi3TbE/s1600-h/stallwortht+after+court.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348165200877134034" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348165200877134034" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sjh_6hZjINI/AAAAAAAAAIU/ZI7jJmi3TbE/s320/stallwortht+after+court.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;"></img></a> AP Photo/Alan Diaz<br />
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It’s nice to know that more teams are starting to care about their player’s character on and off the field, or court. Maybe it’s just the opinion of this blogger but I see things getting a lot better. It wasn’t long ago when athletes were getting in trouble on the regular and only getting a slap on the wrist, now they’re like children learning…
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sjh_6hZjINI/AAAAAAAAAIU/ZI7jJmi3TbE/s1600-h/stallwortht+after+court.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sjh_6hZjINI/AAAAAAAAAIU/ZI7jJmi3TbE/s320/stallwortht+after+court.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348165200877134034" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348165200877134034"/></a>AP Photo/Alan Diaz<br />
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It’s nice to know that more teams are starting to care about their player’s character on and off the field, or court. Maybe it’s just the opinion of this blogger but I see things getting a lot better. It wasn’t long ago when athletes were getting in trouble on the regular and only getting a slap on the wrist, now they’re like children learning that there are consequences to their actions.<br />
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The Portland Trailblazers cleaned up their team’s image by basically getting rid of the entire team. Their owners decided that their players were not above being punished or cut for their actions. From their star player Rasheed Wallace to their youngest star Sebastian Telfair.<br />
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In Minnesota the Vikings cut or traded everyone away for the alleged “Viking Ship” incident that involved alleged strippers and call girls. The organization knew that by getting rid of the players involved, that their team would struggle in the following seasons to come. They decided that some things were more important than winning football games.<br />
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The Cincinnati Bengals did the same thing after experiencing years and years of their players getting in trouble off the field. They decided enough was enough and started shipping out the trouble makers all the while knowing that their win percentage would take a dip.<br />
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It had to be difficult for that organization considering they had been one of the worst football teams for many back-to-back seasons. The year that they finally made it back to the playoffs, many people figured they would be a team to reckon with for many years to come. Like the two previous teams mentioned, they too decided that some things were more important than winning records.<br />
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This offseason we’ve seen four players cut from their teams due to off the field issues. Plaxico Burress of the New York Giants, for his gun charges stemming from a nightclub incident in 2008. Michael Vick was released by the Falcons this week due to his dog fighting charges, and Donte’ Stallworth was released by the Browns for his DUI manslaughter charge. Oh, and let’s not forget Pacman Jones was released by the Cowboys, but according to their office it was because of his underachieving performance.<br />
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There was a time when the only thing that mattered to teams was winning, it’s nice to know that some teams are taking the stance of “If you screw up you can be replaced by someone who won’t”. Personally I don’t think players who continue to get in trouble should continue to be rewarded.<br />
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Playing sports professionally is a job, and part of that job description is to be a model citizen. When other people fail miserably at fulfilling their job descriptions they have to suffer the consequences, and now so do professional athletes thanks to the responsible team owners who won’t tolerate their “I’m above the law” attitudes.The NBA's Offseason Is Officially Underwaytag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-16:2501448:BlogPost:3095442009-06-16T05:26:01.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SjcpmFOB9UI/AAAAAAAAAIE/YWWQNSJR-4U/s1600-h/shaquille_oneal.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347788816738547010" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347788816738547010" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SjcpmFOB9UI/AAAAAAAAAIE/YWWQNSJR-4U/s320/shaquille_oneal.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 240px;"></img></a><br />
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The NBA season hasn’t even been finished a full week, the Lakers haven’t even had their parade, yet the free agency and trade talks have already begun. The top two names making headlines are Hedo Turkoglu and Shaquille O’Neal. Also making noise…
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SjcpmOSG50I/AAAAAAAAAH8/ko1HWafZMCg/s1600-h/Ariza+odom+turk.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 288px; height: 162px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SjcpmOSG50I/AAAAAAAAAH8/ko1HWafZMCg/s320/Ariza+odom+turk.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347788819171567426" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347788819171567426"/></a><br />
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The NBA season hasn’t even been finished a full week, the Lakers haven’t even had their parade, yet the free agency and trade talks have already begun. The top two names making headlines are Hedo Turkoglu and Shaquille O’Neal. Also making noise two members of the 2009 world champion Los Angeles Lakers Trevor Ariza, and Lamar Odom.<br />
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Turkoglu has already decided to opt out of his contract, which is in the last year of its 36 million 6-year deal. He was set to make 7.3 million dollars this year, but will test the free agency market, where I’m sure plenty of suitors will be waiting.<br />
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“The Big Cactus” was the subject of many conversations Monday with rumors circulating that he could end up next to Lebron James in Cleveland. This same conversation was had prior to the 2009 trade deadline, but was put to bed because of certain obstacles that no longer exist today. If Cleveland were to trade Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic they would be able to match the money that O’Neal is costing the Suns.<br />
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However the Suns claim they’re not interested in releasing O’Neal just to save money. They would need the Cavs to sweeten the deal in order to give up Shaq, considering Wallace is contemplating retirement and Pavlovic didn’t exactly shine like the sun this season. Now if Cleveland were to offer up Delonte West, then the talks could become serious.<br />
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Cleveland hasn’t been the only team getting involved in the Shaq sweepstakes. The Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Hornets, Portland Trailblazers, and New York Knicks have also shown interest. But besides needing the talent to fill the void that would be left by their best player last season, they also want cash. And the Wu Tang Clan said it best it’s all about the dollar bill ya'll. With the Cash Rules Everything Around Me mindset expect a move to be made this offseason.<br />
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The Lakers in the meantime have to decide on what pieces they’re going to keep together, in order to try and defend their title next season. Who will be their top priority in the offseason, the versatile Odom, or the young gun Ariza? Truth be told, they wouldn’t have won the title without either one of these guys.<br />
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It’s two days after the final game of the season and things are already heating up for the NBA’s offseason, stay tuned because this is only the beginning.The Lakers Are The 2009 World Champstag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-15:2501448:BlogPost:3089532009-06-15T04:22:43.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SjXJxS_UaUI/AAAAAAAAAH0/CvVtx-K5JOg/s1600-h/Lakers+win.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347401981320522050" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347401981320522050" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SjXJxS_UaUI/AAAAAAAAAH0/CvVtx-K5JOg/s320/Lakers+win.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;"></img></a> AP Photo/John Raoux<br />
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Game 5 picked up where game 4 left off, with Kobe on fire and Orlando spreading the ball around. In the first half you could sense another heavy weight battle between these two teams. Orlando came out and one the first period with points coming from 6 different players in the first half of the quarter. But with all the assists, and made shots from Orlando…
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SjXJxS_UaUI/AAAAAAAAAH0/CvVtx-K5JOg/s1600-h/Lakers+win.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SjXJxS_UaUI/AAAAAAAAAH0/CvVtx-K5JOg/s320/Lakers+win.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347401981320522050" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5347401981320522050"/></a>AP Photo/John Raoux<br />
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Game 5 picked up where game 4 left off, with Kobe on fire and Orlando spreading the ball around. In the first half you could sense another heavy weight battle between these two teams. Orlando came out and one the first period with points coming from 6 different players in the first half of the quarter. But with all the assists, and made shots from Orlando they only led by 2 at the end of the period thanks to Kobe Bryant’s 11 points.<br />
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During the second quarter the Lakers dug deep down within themselves and began to impose their will on the Magic. Lamar Odom came in hitting reverse layups and a big three pointer had 8 points in the half. Trevor Ariza had two three pointers to put the Lakers ahead and finished the half with 12 points. Mr. Bryant in the mean time put the icing on the cake with 4 more points a block and 4 assists. Down the stretch of the first half L.A. hit 8 straight shots, which aided in them turning a 9-point deficit into a 12-point lead.<br />
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The problem was the Magic team that we’ve seen hit three after three went cold during this series and things were no different in the first half for them only hitting 1 for 9 in the first half. Plus the turnovers from game 4 followed them into game 5 to the tune of 8, which also helped the Lakers in the scoring department.<br />
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In the second half L.A. did what real championship teams do, they had their foot on the throats of the Magic and never took it off. They kept the pressure on never taking any possessions off on defense or offense, never allowing Orlando back into the game. They knew Orlando would make a push at some point in time and they were right, because at one point Orlando closed the gap to within 5. That’s when Los Angeles commenced to really apply the heat, winning the title in game 5, 99-86.<br />
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Their defense was remarkable and their offense spoke for itself. Kobe finished with 30 points on his way to being named the finals MVP. Derek Fisher who came to the Lakers in 96 as a rookie along with Bryant had 13 points, Ariza finished with 15, and “The Candyman” Lamar Odom had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Pau Gasol who was a nightmare in the paint all series long finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds.<br />
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This Lakers team grew up after the loss to Boston last year and proved that they are and will be a force to be reckoned with for the next few years. If, and I’m sure they will, they can hold on to Odom and Ariza the west will be owned by L.A. no matter what off season moves are made by other teams. If anyone is to dethrone the Lakers it will have to be a team from the east congrats to the Lakers and all their loyal fans.The Lakers Move 1 Step Closertag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-12:2501448:BlogPost:3078442009-06-12T06:42:59.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SjH2oaDv08I/AAAAAAAAAHs/Fq8hja16mAk/s1600-h/Kobe+pumping+fist.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346325406715728834" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346325406715728834" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SjH2oaDv08I/AAAAAAAAAHs/Fq8hja16mAk/s320/Kobe+pumping+fist.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 246px; height: 320px;"></img></a> AP Photo/John Raoux<br />
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Game 4 was highlighted by the dominance of Dwight Howard, who didn’t even hit his first field goal until late in the second period. His play in the first quarter alone showed why he was named the NBA’s defensive player of the year. He was able to get 3 blocks and 11 rebounds to start the game while only scoring 1 point.<br />
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By the end of the first…
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SjH2oaDv08I/AAAAAAAAAHs/Fq8hja16mAk/s1600-h/Kobe+pumping+fist.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 246px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SjH2oaDv08I/AAAAAAAAAHs/Fq8hja16mAk/s320/Kobe+pumping+fist.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346325406715728834" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5346325406715728834"/></a>AP Photo/John Raoux<br />
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Game 4 was highlighted by the dominance of Dwight Howard, who didn’t even hit his first field goal until late in the second period. His play in the first quarter alone showed why he was named the NBA’s defensive player of the year. He was able to get 3 blocks and 11 rebounds to start the game while only scoring 1 point.<br />
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By the end of the first half he had 14 rebounds, 5 blocks and 6 points. Howard alone tied the Lakers entire team in rebounding. He finished the night with 16 points, a playoff record 9 blocks, as well as a playoff record in rebounding with 21.<br />
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Despite all the turnovers the Magic went in at half time with a 12-point lead. Offensively Orlando got it done thanks to Hedo Turkoglu, Rafer Alston, and the Lakers being in foul trouble. Turkoglu, standing at 6’10, handled the rock as if he were a guard. When he was passing up on three’s, he was driving to the basket for a lay ups and ended the first half with 15 points. When Turkoglu wasn’t driving to the basket Alston was playing the role of the aggressor knocking down buckets, and driving to the basket for a few layups of his own.<br />
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Then came the third quarter; where Orlando just couldn’t find any offensive rhythm. But the Lakers sure did beginning with Trevor Ariza who finished with 16 points. The Lakers took their first lead of the game, thanks to an 18-5 run. The Lakers played excellent defense, capitalized on Orlando’s continuous turnovers, and stayed out of foul trouble. At the end of the quarter it was the Lakers leading 67-64.<br />
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The fourth quarter was a classic, heavy weight knock down, drag out fight. Both teams started off slow, but once Jameer Nelson got in rhythm he put the Magic on his back and lead his team by making all the right passes. He found Howard for a big dunk to spark the offense, then after an Orlando stop following the Howard dunk he goes down court and finds an open Lewis who missed the shot. Though he missed it was a chance for Nelson to spread the floor and give the Magic a 5-point lead.<br />
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In the closing minutes Orlando continued to miss free throws, which allowed the Lakers to come back from the 5-point deficit with less than a minute left, thanks to a 3 pointer from the veteran Derek Fisher with 10 seconds on the clock. Orlando was unable to score in the final 4 seconds sending the game into overtime.<br />
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Rashard Lewis opened the quarter up with a 3 pointer, which was followed by a jumper from Bryant, who finished with 32 points, to bring L.A. back within one. After another Magic turnover Bryant hit another shot to give the Lakers the lead. From there it was failed attempts from both teams to close out the other.<br />
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That was until Howard had an opportunity to close out the game from the free throw line, unfortunately overtime played out the same way the rest of the night did for Orlando, with missed free throw attempts. Howard’s miss later led to another big three pointer by Fisher giving L.A. a three point lead, which was followed by a bad shot from the Magic that was rebounded by Pau Gasol who ran down court for an easy dunk, giving the Lakers a 5 point lead.<br />
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After another failed attempt from the Magic, the Lakers won the game 99-91. Missed free throws, and turnovers ultimately cost Orlando the game but in the end failing to foul Fisher at the end of the fourth quarter killed them. The Magic led by three, but allowed Fisher to shoot the three ball, rather than fouling him and forcing him to only shoot two.<br />
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The Two questions are, was that the coaches call, or just a bad play from the players? The second question is, does Orlando still fill like they can win this series? The answer to the second question will have to wait till Sunday when the two teams meet up for game 4.Magic Get First Finals Wintag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-10:2501448:BlogPost:3066782009-06-10T15:01:07.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Si_HDM1I2rI/AAAAAAAAAHk/04xHqUdlVbU/s1600-h/courtney+lee+dunk.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345710140509706930" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345710140509706930" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Si_HDM1I2rI/AAAAAAAAAHk/04xHqUdlVbU/s320/courtney+lee+dunk.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 224px; height: 320px;"></img></a> AP Photo/David J. Phillip<br />
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Orlando did what everyone expected them to do, and that was winning their first game at home. The question is can they make it a series and win the second game, and then make it real interesting by winning their third home game as well? If I know Stan Van Gundy he has his team taking it one game at a time, and that means they’re only…
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Si_HDM1I2rI/AAAAAAAAAHk/04xHqUdlVbU/s1600-h/courtney+lee+dunk.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 224px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Si_HDM1I2rI/AAAAAAAAAHk/04xHqUdlVbU/s320/courtney+lee+dunk.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345710140509706930" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345710140509706930"/></a>AP Photo/David J. Phillip<br />
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Orlando did what everyone expected them to do, and that was winning their first game at home. The question is can they make it a series and win the second game, and then make it real interesting by winning their third home game as well? If I know Stan Van Gundy he has his team taking it one game at a time, and that means they’re only concerned with Thursday night’s game.<br />
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Last night the Magic displayed a record setting 75 percent shooting performance in the first half on their way to a 108-105 win over the Lakers. They finished the game shooting nearly 63 percent from the field, lead by a break out performance from Dwight Howard who finished the game with 21 points and 14 rebounds.<br />
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When a team shoots at a percentage that high though, you know it had to be more than one guy shooting well, and it was. Rashard Lewis who has been Mr. Consistent throughout the playoffs went 8-14 from the field hitting 3 out 6 three pointers on his way to a 21 point night.<br />
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Hedo Turkoglu turned into that guy that cause Boston and Cleveland so much heart ache by hitting 7-12 and 1 major three pointer finishing with 18 points. And coach Van Gundy finally decided to stick with what got his team to the finals and that’s consistent minutes for Rafer Alston. Alston finished with the team’s third highest point total with 20, setting the tone for the Magic.<br />
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For Orlando their x factor finally showed up, and we’re talking about the 18 points put up by Mickael Pietrus. He didn’t hit any three’s but still managed to hit 7 out of 11 including what many called the play of the night during the last couple of minutes in the fourth quarter.<br />
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While Kobe Bryant guarded Pietrus on the left corner Turkoglu decided to drive to the basket, which caused Kobe to go help on the double team. Turkoglu missed the pull up jumper, but Pietrus swooped in catching the ball off the rim and dunked it back in.<br />
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That wasn’t the only big play that involved Kobe who finished with 31 points, specifically his drive to the basket where he ran into the NBA’s defensive player of the year Dwight Howard. While Bryant drove to the right side of the basket in hopes of a layup Howard had a standing two-hand block, which was called a foul in the last minute of the game.<br />
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Bryant ended up missing one of his free throws, which Orlando capitalized on. On Orlando’s next possession they missed a shot but got back on defense where Howard and Pietrus forced Bryant to lose the ball while trying to drive from the top of the key. Pietrus fouled by Bryant went down to hit his free throws and pretty much sealed the game.<br />
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It’s believed that in this particular game Bryant tried to do too much not trusting his teammates. It looked to me like he was just doing what he did in game 1, and that’s set the tone. In the first half he was like the video game version of Kobe Bryant hitting everything from everywhere, and was the only reason L.A. was even in the game.<br />
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In the second half he only had 10 points and missed some very important free throws. The experts say he should have passed more, but honestly if he had stayed hot in the second half no one would have complained. In game 1 he did the same thing.<br />
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He was trying to send a message saying “I’m putting my team on my back and taking this game away from the Magic.” Unfortunately he just didn’t hit every shot like he did in game 1. And as far as looking for his teammates he once again had 8 assists.<br />
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The biggest reason for the loss last night was the Lakers defense and the unbelievable shooting from the magic. Game 4 promises to be another scorcher where we’ll see what kind of adjustments Coach Phil Jackson makes for the Lakers.Jones Uninterested In Another Game of Pacmantag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-09:2501448:BlogPost:3057912009-06-09T16:36:17.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Si339cHcGsI/AAAAAAAAAHc/l_KM1ROC4lg/s1600-h/pacmanjones.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345200967650122434" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345200967650122434" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Si339cHcGsI/AAAAAAAAAHc/l_KM1ROC4lg/s320/pacmanjones.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 249px; height: 320px;"></img></a> AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File<br />
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For once I’m going to actually side with Jerry Jones. Rumors were circulating that Jones was considering leaving the door open for a possible return for Adam “Pacman” Jones, but yesterday he put those rumors to bed.<br />
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The Cowboys owner claims that he’s not worried about Pacman getting into trouble off the field, and even says that he actually…
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Si339cHcGsI/AAAAAAAAAHc/l_KM1ROC4lg/s1600-h/pacmanjones.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 249px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Si339cHcGsI/AAAAAAAAAHc/l_KM1ROC4lg/s320/pacmanjones.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345200967650122434" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345200967650122434"/></a>AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File<br />
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For once I’m going to actually side with Jerry Jones. Rumors were circulating that Jones was considering leaving the door open for a possible return for Adam “Pacman” Jones, but yesterday he put those rumors to bed.<br />
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The Cowboys owner claims that he’s not worried about Pacman getting into trouble off the field, and even says that he actually blames the bodyguard for the fight that lead to Pacman’s 6 game suspension last season. He also went on to say that Pacman graded out as the Cowboys best corner.<br />
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I find both of these statements to be really interesting. If he graded out as your teams best cornerback, and you’re not worried about him getting in trouble then why not bring him back. Is it because he didn’t live up to the defensive spark the coaches and suits thought he would be? No, that couldn’t be it because he’s still better than the other corners on your tam according to old Jerry.<br />
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I think I know why, because he’s fronting for the press. You know good and well he doesn’t feel like stressing over any more players. Let’s just do a quick review, six arrests while he was with the Titans, then he misses an entire year due to a suspension, then he goes to Dallas and gets suspended again.<br />
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This could probably all be overlooked had Pacman put it down last year, but 31 tackles and zero interceptions just wasn’t what the Cowboys were looking for. Not from a player of Pacman’s caliber, or at least the caliber player he once was.<br />
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Going into last season the Cowboys knew Pacman wouldn’t be back to his old form after being out of football for a year, so they decided to let him ease back into the game by way of special teams, unfortunately he only averaged 4.5 yards per return during his punt return duties. So with that being said off the field issues, and a lack of production on the field, he’s not worth the heartache.<br />
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I wouldn’t want that stress in my life either. There are hundreds of players out there with talent, and for a bonus they know how to act. I wish more owners of professional teams would cut off players who can’t stay out of trouble. I appreciate the owners that give players second chances, because a lot of those players actually take advantage of the opportunity.<br />
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However when a player has screwed up to the tune of 12 incidents that police have had to intervene in, enough is enough. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone deserves a second chance, but at the same time when you have an opportunity to live the type of life that most people dream about you should cherish that opportunity.<br />
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Many players take their blessing for granted and basically throw it all away. To those players that continue to act out, I have no compassion for, especially when there are so many good people out there who work hard and perform off the field or court just as hard as they do when their on the field or court.Lakers Persevere To Hold On and Win Game 2tag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-08:2501448:BlogPost:3049292009-06-08T14:24:40.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Si0d7p_Sa7I/AAAAAAAAAHU/RbYQMPn0Mbo/s1600-h/Kobe+and+Fish.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344961243479436210" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344961243479436210" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Si0d7p_Sa7I/AAAAAAAAAHU/RbYQMPn0Mbo/s320/Kobe+and+Fish.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 302px; height: 320px;"></img></a> AP Photo/Chris Carlson<br />
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Game 2 went exactly the way I figured game 1 would go. A close game, that went down to the wire with great shooting from the Magic, and a great performance by Kobe Bryant. Once again the only surprise was the way the Lakers contained Dwight Howard.<br />
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Howard did score 17 points, but he had to work for every single basket. They doubled teamed him every…
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Si0d7p_Sa7I/AAAAAAAAAHU/RbYQMPn0Mbo/s1600-h/Kobe+and+Fish.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 302px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Si0d7p_Sa7I/AAAAAAAAAHU/RbYQMPn0Mbo/s320/Kobe+and+Fish.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344961243479436210" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344961243479436210"/></a>AP Photo/Chris Carlson<br />
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Game 2 went exactly the way I figured game 1 would go. A close game, that went down to the wire with great shooting from the Magic, and a great performance by Kobe Bryant. Once again the only surprise was the way the Lakers contained Dwight Howard.<br />
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Howard did score 17 points, but he had to work for every single basket. They doubled teamed him every time he started to back down his defender, but unlike Cleveland they were still able to maintain the whereabouts of Orlando’s sharp shooters. Well all except for Rashard Lewis.<br />
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Lewis went 6 for 12 from the 3-point line scoring 34 points in the Magic’s 101-96 loss. He was the only member of the Magic to really get it going in the first half scoring 18 of Orlando’s 20-second quarter points.<br />
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Hedo Turkoglu got it going in the second half hitting a few big shots to help bring send Orlando back in the fourth quarter. Turkoglu shot 3-6 from the 3-point line scoring a total of 22 points. He along with Lewis, and J.J. Redick hit major baskets that helped the Magic avoid losing in regulation.<br />
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Unfortunately they just didn’t have enough in regulation to steal home court from the Lakers as Courtney Lee missed two potential game winning layups. Those misses turned into opportunities for the Lakers who survived long enough to force the game into overtime where they eventually wrapped things up.<br />
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Bryant had 29 points and another 8 assists night, while Pau Gasol turned in 24 points and 10 rebounds of his own. Derek Fisher played his role and managed to hit shots in moments where Orlando thought they could pull away.<br />
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He finished the night with 12 points shooting 2 for 3 from the 3-point line. His shots all came at the worse times for the Magic though. Every time they either got ahead, or were about to even the score when they were trailing, Fish would cause a turnover or hit a big shot, or layup.<br />
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But the x factor once again for L.A. was Lamar Odom. Odom came in blocking shots to the tune of 3 total, and snatching down rebounds. Oh and I forgot to mention it he also scored 19 points coming off the bench which is two more than Orlando’s total bench.<br />
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The missing factor for the second straight game for Orlando was Mickael Pietrus. He fouled out of game 2 with only 2 points. He only took 3 shots all night, while trying to defend Bryant.<br />
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All in all it was a much better outing for the Magic, but you have to believe they’re heading back to Orlando feeling like they let this game get away from them. Their performance showed me that they’re as good as we expected them to be, and that at home they will be a problem. Let’s not forget the Lakers are at home and realistically they’re suppose to win those first two games, but now Orlando has to defend their house.<br />
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The bad news is Phil Jackson and the Lakers know how good they are too and will make the necessary adjustments to try and steal one or two games from the Magic in Orlando. Orlando has three straight home games, and it’s a must that they win at least 2 out of 3 otherwise they risk watching the Lakers being crowned NBA champions on their floor.Kobe and the Lakers Try For A 1st Round Knockouttag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-05:2501448:BlogPost:3036682009-06-05T06:46:28.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sii8vo3I9VI/AAAAAAAAAHM/aaqLcxbBryA/s1600-h/lakers+win+finals+gm+1+.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343728484483659090" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343728484483659090" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sii8vo3I9VI/AAAAAAAAAHM/aaqLcxbBryA/s320/lakers+win+finals+gm+1+.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 246px;"></img></a> AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill<br />
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Everything went exactly as this blogger figured it would. In yesterday’s blog I said Orlando would struggle trying to guard L.A. in the post and they did. I also said L.A. needed more than Kobe Bryant to play well against this team, and they did. I also said L.A. would have problems guarding the perimeter against Orlando, and they did.…
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sii8vo3I9VI/AAAAAAAAAHM/aaqLcxbBryA/s1600-h/lakers+win+finals+gm+1+.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 246px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sii8vo3I9VI/AAAAAAAAAHM/aaqLcxbBryA/s320/lakers+win+finals+gm+1+.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343728484483659090" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343728484483659090"/></a>AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill<br />
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Everything went exactly as this blogger figured it would. In yesterday’s blog I said Orlando would struggle trying to guard L.A. in the post and they did. I also said L.A. needed more than Kobe Bryant to play well against this team, and they did. I also said L.A. would have problems guarding the perimeter against Orlando, and they did. What I didn’t figure in was while on the perimeter Orlando may actually miss and miss a lot, which they did.<br />
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I even predicted that Dwight Howard would have Andrew Bynum in foul trouble, but I didn’t think that the Lakers would still be able to contain Dwight Howard for 4 whole quarters, especially with Bynum in foul trouble. Howard is use to going up against one big man at a time per game, but last night he was doubled by two big men at a time, and it worked.<br />
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Howard only scored 12 points off of 1 field goal. Translation he only scored 1 basket the rest of his points came from the free throw line. But Howard wasn’t the only one contained, as the entire Magic team only had one player hit more than 3 field goals and that was Mickael Pietrus who hit 5 field goals scoring 14 points.<br />
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Orlando was able to get to the basket, and to get open shots they just couldn’t get the shots to fall. Part of it was the Lakers defense and part of it was Orlando missing shots. It’s like I’ve been saying through out Orlando’s run if you live by the three you die by the three and last night they died a long slow death.<br />
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The only bright spot for the Magic was the return of their all-star point guard Jameer Nelson who had 6 points and 4 assist. His numbers weren’t huge but his pay was mighty impressive for a guy that hasn’t played in 4 months.<br />
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Props definitely go out to the Lakers for the way they performed too. Kobe released the “Black Mamba” scoring 40 points and just coming up 2 rebounds and 2 assists short of a triple double. Pau Gasol had 16 points accompanied by 8 redounds. But the x factor for the Lakers was once again Lamar Odom who had 11 points and 14 rebounds.<br />
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The Lakers won game 1 convincingly to the tune of 100-75, but remember it was just game 1. Expect better coaching from Stan Van Gundy, and better shooting from the Magic. I can’t guarantee he’ll figure out how to get Howard the ball in places that he can score from, or that he’ll devise a way to slow down Kobe, but he will have Orlando back to form.<br />
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Phil Jackson showed why he’s a hall of fame coach, by forcing Van Gundy to change his whole game plan. He was calling timeouts left and right testing different lineups and ultimately it cost him game 1, expect him to stick to what got him and the Magic to the finals for the rest of the series. Round 1 is done, strap on your seat belts because the rest of this series is going to be one wild roller coaster ride.Let's Get Ready To RumbleLet's Get Ready To Rumbletag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-04:2501448:BlogPost:3033402009-06-04T17:38:48.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SigFBDHbtAI/AAAAAAAAAHE/fbZg9v_yKHM/s1600-h/dwight+vs+bynum.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343526473449583618" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343526473449583618" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SigFBDHbtAI/AAAAAAAAAHE/fbZg9v_yKHM/s320/dwight+vs+bynum.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 284px; height: 320px;"></img></a> Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images<br />
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The wait is finally over, after what seems like a 2-week period. Realistically it’s only been four days since the last basketball game was played. We have the defending western conference champions back in the finals to face the newly crowned eastern conference champions the Orlando Magic.<br />
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No doubt about it this has been one of the…
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SigFBDHbtAI/AAAAAAAAAHE/fbZg9v_yKHM/s1600-h/dwight+vs+bynum.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 284px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SigFBDHbtAI/AAAAAAAAAHE/fbZg9v_yKHM/s320/dwight+vs+bynum.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343526473449583618" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343526473449583618"/></a>Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images<br />
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The wait is finally over, after what seems like a 2-week period. Realistically it’s only been four days since the last basketball game was played. We have the defending western conference champions back in the finals to face the newly crowned eastern conference champions the Orlando Magic.<br />
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No doubt about it this has been one of the best playoffs, round for round in a long time, and the finals will be no different. The Lakers come into tonight’s game with he second best record in the NBA’s regular season just behind the Cavaliers, who fell to the Magic. The Magic come in with the 3rd best record in the east, defeating the number 2 team in the east and number 1 team over all on their way to the finals.<br />
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Both teams have been tested and pushed to their limits in order to reach the finals through out these playoffs. L.A. gained some toughness, which they lacked in last year’s series against the Celtics. They went to war with the gritty Houston Rockets winning in game 7, and defeated a newly born defensively minded Denver Nuggets team in 6 games.<br />
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These were the type of games that Kobe Bryant said the Lakers needed in order to prepare themselves for the finals. He knew that in order to be the best, they needed to face some adversity and they faced it head on. So for the Lakers there is a sense of calmness because this isn’t there first trip to the dance.<br />
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With that being said the Magic should be the team that’s nervous. However the Magic are riding an emotional high like no other right now. Because of their youth they’ll be coming into this game like children, just happy to be playing on the big stage. That equals such a calm and relaxing vibe for them that could play in their favor.<br />
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The old saying goes, “ignorance is bliss”. For players like Anthony Johnson, and Hedo Turkoglu ignorance can’t be used as a plea. Both of these guys have been in the league for a while 10 years for Johnson and 8 years for Turkoglu. These two guys know how eluding an NBA title and will be the ones to keep the young guns focused.<br />
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Along with Coach Stan Van Gundy’s championship experience with the 2004 Miami Heat team the young boys will have an understanding of the opportunity in front of them. Now it’s up to him to put these players in position to pull off another upset.<br />
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Offensively the Magic poses the same threat against the Lakers that they have against everyone else. Dwight Howard in the middle and two big shooters in the corner. The difference is the Lakers have big guys too, but only one of them is athletic enough to play defense on the perimeter and that’s Lamar Odom.<br />
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Odom can defend Rashard Lewis or Turkoglu, but after that there’s a problem. Pau Gasol can play in the post but he can’t defend on the perimeter. Andrew Bynum will obviously be in the paint hoping not to foul out while trying to defend Howard, so the only person left is Trevor Ariza who’s athletic enough but still gives up a few inches being listed at 6’8.<br />
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The Lakers don’t seem disciplined enough to stick to their assignments and cover the perimeter once Howard gets going, which will leave the Magic shooters open for the three point shot. Plus Turkoglu and Lewis aren’t the only ones that can shoot.<br />
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Kobe will have to abandon his usual drifting defense and stick to his man, which will probably be Courtney Lee because he can knock them down too. Rafer Alston more than proved he could kill a team from the outside so expect Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic to see a lot of minutes, because Derek Fisher isn’t as young as he used to be, and he can’t run around chasing Alston all night.<br />
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The Lakers other issue will be their bench. They have a bench that is still built to give Kobe Bryant the ball, but what happens when Bryant sits down. Their only true offensive threat coming off the bench will be either Odom or Ariza after that there’s nothing but role players.<br />
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Orlando’s bench is a little bit more dangerous with Mickael Pietrus showing he’s an assassin and can put up points quickly. Anthony Johnson is solid off the bench, and Marcin Gortat proved he too can contribute off the bench.<br />
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For the Lakers their advantage will be in the paint. They’ll put Bynum and Gasol in the paint, which poses a problem because neither Lewis nor Turkoglu defend that well in the post. Plus they still have Mr. 4th quarter the best closer in the league Kobe Bryant.<br />
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If the other Lakers can’t contribute the Lakers will lose this series, because Orlando has already shown that one man can’t beat them. And if they don’t figure out what they want to do defensively as far as defending Howard or defending the perimeter then the frustration will set in and the Magic will be crowned the NBA champs and the Lakers will be known as the Buffalo Bills of the NBA.Leon Hall's Charge Reducedtag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-02:2501448:BlogPost:3019312009-06-02T19:25:59.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SiV59SXlM-I/AAAAAAAAAGs/AojUYy93shc/s1600-h/leon+Hall.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342810626754687970" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342810626754687970" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SiV59SXlM-I/AAAAAAAAAGs/AojUYy93shc/s320/leon+Hall.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 180px;"></img></a><br />
Man it must be nice being rich. I mean nice clothes, nice cars, nice homes, and sometimes you even get passes for breaking the law. It just depends on what law you’re breaking.<br />
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Recently Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Leon Hall was arrested for what is now being called reckless operation of a vehicle. It was a drunken driving case, but the charges were reduced. The NFL still…
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SiV59SXlM-I/AAAAAAAAAGs/AojUYy93shc/s1600-h/leon+Hall.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 180px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SiV59SXlM-I/AAAAAAAAAGs/AojUYy93shc/s320/leon+Hall.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342810626754687970" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342810626754687970"/></a><br />
Man it must be nice being rich. I mean nice clothes, nice cars, nice homes, and sometimes you even get passes for breaking the law. It just depends on what law you’re breaking.<br />
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Recently Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Leon Hall was arrested for what is now being called reckless operation of a vehicle. It was a drunken driving case, but the charges were reduced. The NFL still may punish him though.<br />
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Back in April, Cleveland Brown’s wide receiver Dante Stallworth bonded out of jail on charges of DUI manslaughter. A charge, which could carry a sentence of 4-15 years, in prison.<br />
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Later it was discovered that Florida’s DUI manslaughter laws have a slight loophole. They have what is called a “causation” of an accident. This means if the other party some how contributed to the accident then the drunk driver can’t take the blame.<br />
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In this particular case the victim was Jay Walking when he was hit & killed by Stallworth. The law was based on the idea that if a drunk driver stops at an intersection and is hit from behind by another driver and that driver dies, the drunk driver can’t be held responsible. Because of this law Stallworth’s sentence may be reduced to a few months.<br />
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I hate to see good people go to jail for bad decisions, but in this case these are two grown men who know better. These aren’t young college boys who are learning life, as they go along these are two professional adults.<br />
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Luckily no one was hurt in Hall’s case, but for Stallworth that was not the case. A man died because he was jay walking, while the drunk driver that hit him just gets a few months in jail.<br />
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I guarantee if I hit someone while driving under the influence I’d be sentenced to a few decades. It has nothing to do with race, now a days it’s about money. If your in a higher tax bracket you can afford to defend yourself with the best lawyers money can buy, but if your not then it’s no that simple.<br />
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So in closing I say this, we’re out here doing the best we can to stay out of trouble. One reason because we can’t afford to find ourselves in certain situations. I just wish our athletes and celebrities would learn from Michael Vick’s case. Eventually your social status means nothing, and if you a repeatedly get in trouble you could end up like Pac Man Jones. <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SiV59pHuTDI/AAAAAAAAAG0/mSq22NvuLgI/s1600-h/stallworth.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SiV59pHuTDI/AAAAAAAAAG0/mSq22NvuLgI/s320/stallworth.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342810632862190642" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342810632862190642"/></a>The Contestants For The Finals Are Decidedtag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-06-01:2501448:BlogPost:3015622009-06-01T18:05:43.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SiQUeJFOKnI/AAAAAAAAAGk/fG_2294NbTg/s1600-h/Orland+ecc.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342417566034700914" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342417566034700914" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SiQUeJFOKnI/AAAAAAAAAGk/fG_2294NbTg/s320/Orland+ecc.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 228px; height: 320px;"></img></a> AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack<br />
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The Finals table has been set with the expected favorite out of the western conference the Los Angeles Lakers taking on the surprise Orlando Magic. I say favorite because most experts picked the Lakers to win the west, but very few expected the Magic to come out the west.<br />
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Friday night the Denver Nuggets played as if it were the first game of the…
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SiQUeJFOKnI/AAAAAAAAAGk/fG_2294NbTg/s1600-h/Orland+ecc.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 228px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/SiQUeJFOKnI/AAAAAAAAAGk/fG_2294NbTg/s320/Orland+ecc.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342417566034700914" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342417566034700914"/></a>AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack<br />
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The Finals table has been set with the expected favorite out of the western conference the Los Angeles Lakers taking on the surprise Orlando Magic. I say favorite because most experts picked the Lakers to win the west, but very few expected the Magic to come out the west.<br />
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Friday night the Denver Nuggets played as if it were the first game of the season. There was no crispness to their offense; their defense seemed to had lost its normal physicality that they worked all season to develop. The Nuggets basically looked like a team that froze on the big stage.<br />
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That’s the wrong way to step into an elimination game against the Los Angeles Lakers, especially when Kobe Bryant is playing like the assassin known as the Black Mamba. Bryant had 35 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds in the game 6 win over Denver.<br />
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Lamar Odom’s play from game 5 carried over into game 6. This time the kid from Jamaica Queens had 20 points and 8 rebounds off the bench. Pau Gasol had 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 assists. Luke Walton had 10 points and Trevor Ariza had 17 points. With those kinds of numbers it was no surprise the L.A. won 119-92.<br />
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On the east coast it was the same story it had been all series for Cleveland and Orlando. Coach Mike Brown continued to prove that he was a fluke as coach of the year with his bad defensive schemes that had not worked in the first 5 games.<br />
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Once again each time Orlando had the ball there was always a man open in the corners. Rashard Lewis & Hedo Turkoglu of all people were the guys that kept finding themselves open. After 5 games you would think that those would be the last two guys left open, but Coach Brown didn’t quite figure that out.<br />
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Mickael Pietrus came off the bench to score 14 points, while hitting 4-7 from the 3-point line. Lewis had 18 points, shooting 3-7 from beyond the arch. Rafer Alston had 13 while shooting 3-7 from the 3-point line, and Turkoglu had 10 points, but only hit twice from beyond the arch.<br />
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Not only did Cleveland allow the Magic to go crazy from the outside again, but also they couldn’t stop Dwight Howard from putting up some playoff historic numbers to the tune of 40 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 assist.<br />
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LeBron James got help on offense this time with Delonte West scoring 22 points; Delonte West had 17, and Anderson Varejao scoring 14. The problem offensively for the Cavs was zero help from the bench.<br />
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The Cleveland bench was outscored by Pietrus 14-10 in the Magic’s 103 -90 win on Saturday night. This was much like game 3 when he outscored Cleveland’s bench 17-14.<br />
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The crazy thing was that aside from Orlando upsetting the Cavs, was how upset LeBron was following the loss as he left the court without shaking hands, and without talking to the media. Some say bad sportsmanship, James disagrees. In an open media Q&A in Cleveland James said “Somebody beat up you not going to congratulate them for beating you up.”<br />
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My response is tell that to Mike Tyson, who was cheated by the refs, when he lost to Buster Douglas and to Muhammad Ali who lost to his rival Joe Frasier. They both met their opponents in the center of the ring and shook hands after they lost.<br />
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I understand losing is frustrating, especially when you’re picked to be the champions, but it just shows good sportsmanship. As adults when we see kids act like that we, we preach to them about being good winners and good losers, the rules shouldn’t change when kids grow into adults.The Cavs Live To Fight Another Day Thanks to King James's Triple Doubletag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-05-29:2501448:BlogPost:2998962009-05-29T06:53:09.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sh-EjdzlPWI/AAAAAAAAAGc/csCZ3oFWSyU/s1600-h/Bron+goes+at+howard+gm+5.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341133427915963746" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341133427915963746" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sh-EjdzlPWI/AAAAAAAAAGc/csCZ3oFWSyU/s320/Bron+goes+at+howard+gm+5.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 209px; height: 320px;"></img></a> AP Photo/Amy Sancetta<br />
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Lebron James took a page out of the book of Kobe and made his team mates get involved in the Cavs’ 112-102 win over the Magic in game 5 of the eastern conference finals.<br />
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The Cavs got out to an early 22 point lead in the first quarter lead b Mo Williams, who was on point like a javelin hitting three 3’s in the first quarter. He went on to…
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sh-EjdzlPWI/AAAAAAAAAGc/csCZ3oFWSyU/s1600-h/Bron+goes+at+howard+gm+5.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 209px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sh-EjdzlPWI/AAAAAAAAAGc/csCZ3oFWSyU/s320/Bron+goes+at+howard+gm+5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341133427915963746" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341133427915963746"/></a>AP Photo/Amy Sancetta<br />
<br />
Lebron James took a page out of the book of Kobe and made his team mates get involved in the Cavs’ 112-102 win over the Magic in game 5 of the eastern conference finals.<br />
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The Cavs got out to an early 22 point lead in the first quarter lead b Mo Williams, who was on point like a javelin hitting three 3’s in the first quarter. He went on to score 24 points while hitting three more 3’s for the night.<br />
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Williams wasn’t the only supporting cast member to step up last night as Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 16 points and Delonte West put up 13 points of his own.<br />
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Despite the early lead the fans at Quicken Loans arena held their breath knowing how easily Orlando has climbed back into games during this series, and last night was no exception as the Magic went on a 45-24 run to end the first half.<br />
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From there it was a dogfight till the end. Then in the 4th quarter we witnessed the same Lebron James that took Detroit down in game 5 a couple of years ago. King James took over scoring 24 points in the second half and 17 in the fourth quarter.<br />
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When he wasn’t scoring he was facilitating; dishing passes to wide open teammates Williams and Gibson who each knocked down 3’s, and then he pretended to drive to the basket just to stop and dish the ball off to a cutting Anderson Varejao who hit a reverse layup.<br />
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By night’s end King James messed around and got a triple double to the tune of 37 points 14 boards and 12 assist. It was a masterful performance as Lebron took the ball at the top of the key on every possession and forced Orlando to focus on him defensively.<br />
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He first backed Rafer Alston down just to hit a turn around jumper on him. Then he backed Mikael Pietrus down just in time to spin off him and go right at Dwight Howard for a hard layup, not shying away from the contact from the bigger Howard at all.<br />
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He later forced Pietrus to play off of him just enough for him to launch a deep 2 point jumper. By the time he showed Orlando all the different ways he could score the Magic decided to play him tighter. That’s when he was able to once again dish the ball off to his teammates, who were able to hit shots and help get the Cavaliers win a live to fight another day card.<br />
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Game 6 takes place Saturday night in Orlando, where Cleveland will try to push for a game 7 and then try to become only the 9th team to ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in a best of 7 series.The Lakers Go Up 3-2 In Conference Finalstag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-05-28:2501448:BlogPost:2990312009-05-28T15:32:05.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sh6qJtHO0QI/AAAAAAAAAGU/hlEambn8o1I/s1600-h/odom+gets+crunk+in+gm+5.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340893291813458178" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340893291813458178" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sh6qJtHO0QI/AAAAAAAAAGU/hlEambn8o1I/s320/odom+gets+crunk+in+gm+5.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 282px; height: 320px;"></img></a> AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill<br />
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It wasn’t easy but in the end the Lakers won Game 5, and took a 3-2 lead over the Denver Nuggets, led by Kobe Bryant of course. But it wasn’t just his scoring that made the difference.<br />
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Kobe only took 13 shots in the game, and spent the 4th quarter dishing the ball to his open teammates leading the team in assist, with 8. Most of those…
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sh6qJtHO0QI/AAAAAAAAAGU/hlEambn8o1I/s1600-h/odom+gets+crunk+in+gm+5.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 282px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_GofaiyC-Idw/Sh6qJtHO0QI/AAAAAAAAAGU/hlEambn8o1I/s320/odom+gets+crunk+in+gm+5.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340893291813458178" name="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340893291813458178"/></a>AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill<br />
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It wasn’t easy but in the end the Lakers won Game 5, and took a 3-2 lead over the Denver Nuggets, led by Kobe Bryant of course. But it wasn’t just his scoring that made the difference.<br />
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Kobe only took 13 shots in the game, and spent the 4th quarter dishing the ball to his open teammates leading the team in assist, with 8. Most of those assist went to Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol.<br />
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Kobe said after the game that he took a gamble making himself the decoy in order to draw double teams so that he could get his team mates involved, which worked out with several of his assist coming from double teams. The Lakers got off to an 11-0 run, which gave them their first lead of the second half.<br />
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Combined the three scored all but 7 of the Lakers 4th quarter points. Odom took advantage of the opportunity scoring 19 points while grabbing 14 rebounds, and Pau Gasol had 14 points and 10 rebounds.<br />
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Shannon Brown hit a 22 footer with the shot clock expiring, which injected even more energy to the Staples Center, which was capped off by 2 free throws made by Derek Fisher.<br />
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Plus the Lakers made some defensive adjustments that helped them grab the victory, and the major one was double-teaming Chauncey Billups, something they haven’t done through this entire series. The Lakers also had four big blocks down the stretch to energize their defense and take them over the top.<br />
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Despite Carmelo Anthony going for 31 points, the Nuggets only scored 5 points in the first 7 minutes of the 4th quarter, versus the Lakers’ 13 points. JR Smith was 1-10 from the 3-point line, 3-13 over all. Kenyon Martin and Billups only scored 12 points a piece, as the Nuggets just didn’t have enough in them to finish the game.<br />
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The final score Los Angeles 103 Denver 94. Game 6 takes place Friday from the Pepsi Center in Denver where the nuggets have only lost once in the post season, unfortunately it was to the Lakers.Cleveland Falls Short Once Again; Mike Tyson Family Suffers A Big Loss; Tom Brady Prepares For New Seasontag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-05-27:2501448:BlogPost:2979522009-05-27T13:04:34.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="466" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1800247375?profile=original" width="512"></img></p>
AP Photo/Phelan Ebenhack<br />
<b>Last nigh</b>t the supporting cast showed help to help Lebron James on offense, but Coach Mike Brown neglected to set them up properly on defense. The Magic found themselves open for three pointers again and again knocking down almost 45 percent of their 3-point attempts; on their way to a 116-114 overtime win against the Cavs.<br />
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The 3-point onslaught was led by Rafer Alston, who came out firing hitting 2 3 pointers in the…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1800247375?profile=original" alt="" width="512" height="466"/></p>
AP Photo/Phelan Ebenhack<br />
<b>Last nigh</b>t the supporting cast showed help to help Lebron James on offense, but Coach Mike Brown neglected to set them up properly on defense. The Magic found themselves open for three pointers again and again knocking down almost 45 percent of their 3-point attempts; on their way to a 116-114 overtime win against the Cavs.<br />
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The 3-point onslaught was led by Rafer Alston, who came out firing hitting 2 3 pointers in the first quarter. He finished with 26 points, the second highest for the Magic, while going 6 for 12 from the 3 point line.<br />
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The team’s top scorer of course was Dwight Howard who finished with 27 points including 3 dunks in overtime. Howard is already nearly impossible to stop once in the paint, but now he’s also becoming a reliable free throw shooter going 7-9 in last night’s game.<br />
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This also proved to be a problem for Cleveland as they tried to send him to the foul line rather than allow him to get an easy dunk; unfortunately Howard was money from the line.<br />
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For the Cavs, Lebron got his normal 40 points, put a few late quarter jumpers may have cost his team. Without a doubt Lebron is arguably the best player in the league, but he’s not the best shooter. After Lebron hits one jumper he tends to fall in love with his jump shot, rather it’s still hitting or not.<br />
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Late in the game King James should be driving to the basket and getting to the foul line which he did later on in the 4th quarter to help send his team into overtime. James only hit 5-16 shots went shooting from outside the paint, and in the 4th quarter each of those misses became points for Orlando.<br />
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Luckily for the Cavs Mo Williams showed up, even though he disappeared in the clutch going for 18 points. Delonte West also added 17 points to the cause, along with Zydrunas Ilgauskas who had 12.<br />
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Game 5 heads back to Cleveland Thursday night with the Cavs facing elimination being down 3-1.<br />
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<b>In other news</b>, sad reports from Phoenix, Arizona that Mike Tyson’s 4-year-old daughter passed away yesterday afternoon after being on life support most of the morning. The AP reports that 4-year-old Exodus Tyson became tangled up around her neck, by a cord hanging from a treadmill.<br />
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Apparently the child was playing around the treadmill, before her 7-year-old brother found her, and told their mother who tried to revive the child prior to the paramedics arriving. She was rushed to the hospital where Mike Tyson met the family, after getting off a plane from Las Vegas.<br />
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<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1800247533?profile=original" alt="" width="315" height="275"/></p>
Photo by Herald staff<br />
<b>Lastly Tom Brady</b> participated in OTA’s yesterday, and has the entire Patriots team feeling like they even better than they were the year they lost to the New York giants in the Superbowl.<br />
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Randy Moss and Wes Welker both feel that after two years in the Patriots system that they’re far more advanced than they were the year they were setting records left and right during the 2007-2008 season.<br />
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Team officials say that Brady’s recovery is right on track and he’ll be ready to go at the start of the season. Brady says he is "as confident as anyone could be that I'll be ready to play, back to playing normally, when the season starts. I've done everything I could to push myself, sometimes too hard. Right now, I'm doing everything. Literally everything. There's nothing I can't do."Smith Sparks Denver to a Game 4 Victorytag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-05-26:2501448:BlogPost:2972672009-05-26T13:08:16.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="382" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1976100589?profile=original" width="512"></img></p>
AP Photo/Jack Dempsey<br />
A stomach virus and a poor shooting performance from Carmelo Anthony should have been enough to give the Lakers a winning advantage. Add in a bad ankle on Melo and that should equal a Lakers win. Wrong.<br />
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Denver did what it’s done all playoffs, and that’s find another player to step up. Every game in this series the Nuggets have had a different player step up, and the Lakers haven’t.<br />
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In game 1 Carmelo established himself as the…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1976100589?profile=original" alt="" width="512" height="382"/></p>
AP Photo/Jack Dempsey<br />
A stomach virus and a poor shooting performance from Carmelo Anthony should have been enough to give the Lakers a winning advantage. Add in a bad ankle on Melo and that should equal a Lakers win. Wrong.<br />
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Denver did what it’s done all playoffs, and that’s find another player to step up. Every game in this series the Nuggets have had a different player step up, and the Lakers haven’t.<br />
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In game 1 Carmelo established himself as the scorer of the team, while Chauncey Billups continued to be Chauncey Billups. In game 2 Linas Kleiza and Kenyon Martin put the Lakers on notice that they too came to play. In game 3 Chris Anderson and Nene reminded the Lakers of why they’re getting minutes despite the loss. And last night JR Smith put his pain aside and let the Lakers know he was there too.<br />
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Smith had 24 points, 4 assist, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and went 4-9 from the three-point line. The stat that made Smith so dangerous last night was his assists, because normally when Smith has the ball he shoots which the Lakers had to know because the whole world knows that. The whole world was wrong.<br />
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Smith drove to the basket and dished the ball off, catching Laker defenders and fans across the world off guard providing a spark off the bench for the Nuggets during the absence of Anthony who was fighting his illness and hurt ankle.<br />
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Noticing Melo wasn’t 100 percent; Billups put the team on his back and added 24 points to the Nuggets cause. Once again the frontcourt dominated Nene had himself a double double to the tune of 14 points and 13 rebounds, and he added 6 assists to his stats including a sweet hand off to a slashing JR Smith for a thunderous dunk.<br />
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Kenyon Martin had 13 points, 15 boards, and 2 blocks. The Birdman had 14 rebounds and 2 blocks, but the thing that doesn’t show up in the box scores is the defensive effort he Martin and Nene put on display in helping the nuggets win game 4, 120-101.<br />
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The Nuggets as a whole out rebounded the Lakers 58-40 with 20 of those rebounds being offensive, and that equals 20-second chance shots for the Nuggets.<br />
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As usual Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol showed up to play. Kobe had 34 points, 7 assist, and 5 rebounds. Gasol 21 points and 10 boards, but nobody else really did anything. If it hadn’t been for free throws some Lakers players wouldn’t have hit double digits because the supporting cast shot very poorly from the field.<br />
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Los Angeles showed a lack of toughness last night, and didn’t play like they were trying to win a championship. With Anthony less than 100 percent L.A. should have attacked relentlessly with out letting up.<br />
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People say animals are more dangerous when they are wounded, and that’s exactly how the Nuggets responded, like a wounded animal. While the Lakers focused on the poor performance from Melo, the rest of the Nuggets proved to be deadly, and by the time they were able to focus on the other Nuggets Melo found his game.<br />
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He started off 0-10 from the field, but finished with 15 points thanks to a few big rebounds and some free throws down the stretch. Game 5 goes back to Los Angeles on Wednesday night with the series tied at 2 a piece.A Couple of Game 3's Over the Weekendtag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-05-25:2501448:BlogPost:2966482009-05-25T17:35:45.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="512" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1976099962?profile=original" width="316"></img></p>
After watching Mike Brown get out coached in game 1 by Stan Van Gundy, Cleveland fans had to be nervous about the rest of the series. They had good reason to be nervous considering they were up 33-19 and allowed the Magic to come all the way back and win the game by 1 point.<br />
Then came game 2, and once again the Cavs jumped out to an early lead with the score 33-16 at the end of the 1st quarter. And once again Orlando stormed back, except this time…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1976099962?profile=original" alt="" width="316" height="512"/></p>
After watching Mike Brown get out coached in game 1 by Stan Van Gundy, Cleveland fans had to be nervous about the rest of the series. They had good reason to be nervous considering they were up 33-19 and allowed the Magic to come all the way back and win the game by 1 point.<br />
Then came game 2, and once again the Cavs jumped out to an early lead with the score 33-16 at the end of the 1st quarter. And once again Orlando stormed back, except this time Cleveland was the team to hit the game winning shot.<br />
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Hedo Turkoglu dribbled into the paint and hit a jumper with a little over 1 second left in the game. During the final timeout called after Turkoglu’s shot, the entire stadium had been quieted as if the shot had sucked the life out everyone in attendance. Many left thinking “how did the Cavs give up another lead and why are we in this position again”.<br />
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Then instead of Cleveland going down 2-0 in the series Mo Williams hit Lebron James at the top of the 3-point line on an inbound pass. With the clock going down James rose above Turkoglu to hit the game winning three pointer and tied the series up at 1 a piece.<br />
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Last night in game three we had a chance to see Cleveland come back from behind, however they just didn’t get enough help from their supporting cast, again. James had 41 points but the rest of the team only put up 48 points, with 8 of those points coming from the bench.<br />
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Once again the problem besides the lack of offensive help for the Cavs, was there lack of rotation on defense. They played the Magic a little bit better from the three-point line holding them to 35 percent, but still allowed a lot of shots to go uncontested.<br />
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Many experts are saying that Cleveland has no answer for Dwight Howard, but realistically what team does? Coach Van Gundy has taken on the coaching mindset that Lebron is going to get his points we just have to stop everyone else.<br />
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This is the same mindset Coach Brown needs to adopt. Allow Howard to get his and concentrate on everyone else; otherwise Cleveland could find themselves down 3-1 on their way back to Cleveland for game 4.<br />
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Tonight game 4 of the western conference finals takes place, with the Lakers ahead 2-1. Both teams have played well down the stretch, but have lost their individual games based off of poor execution in minor areas.<br />
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For Denver the other night, the missed free throws added up, plus another steal from Trevor Ariza in the last minute of the game. A hot Kobe Bryant who went for 41 was an advantage for the Lakers versus the 21 points by Carmelo Anthony who had just 3 in the second half.<br />
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Melo won’t have another game like he did in game 3, and Denver will make some adjustments to counter the small mistakes they made in game 3. If they continue to get help from the entire team including their bench, where JR Smith started to show a little life scoring 10 points on Saturday night, they’ll be able to continue to compete with the Lakers in game 4 tonight.<br />
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The key for the Lakers will be to not become complacent, and to continue to play the Nuggets hard. Throughout the playoffs they’ve been inconsistent game to game, and the Nuggets are the wrong team to try and turn it off and on against. They will need someone else in addition to Kobe to step up defensively for the Lakers.<br />
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Ariza’s been big his steals, but he and Kobe have really been the only playmakers on defense. Andrew Bynum could be a force, but he keeps finding himself in foul trouble, and Derek Fisher just isn’t as young as he use to be. He can’t run all day like he did early on in his career, and his minutes are limited.<br />
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If they can get some toughness from one more player and maintain their consistent play they’ll make Denver have to work hard to earn a shot at making it to the finals. Game 4 promises to be another wild west shootout.The Heat Is On In L.A.tag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-05-22:2501448:BlogPost:2845852009-05-22T17:49:18.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
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AP Photo/ Mark J. Terrill<br />
Last night the Denver Nuggets showed the world exactly why they were the team that earned the number 2 seed in the playoffs, and why they were the team that advanced to the conference finals. All year long the NBA world knew L.A. was the best team in the west the question was who was number 2.<br />
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In game 1 the Nuggets came out hot, clicking on all cylinders offensively and defensively, last night was the exact opposite. Well,…
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AP Photo/ Mark J. Terrill<br />
Last night the Denver Nuggets showed the world exactly why they were the team that earned the number 2 seed in the playoffs, and why they were the team that advanced to the conference finals. All year long the NBA world knew L.A. was the best team in the west the question was who was number 2.<br />
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In game 1 the Nuggets came out hot, clicking on all cylinders offensively and defensively, last night was the exact opposite. Well, at least the start of the game was different as well as the result, but the game itself was just as exciting.<br />
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At the end of the first quarter in game 1 the Nuggets led 31-23, in game 2 it was the Lakers who had a 31-23 lead at the end of the first quarter. The difference in Denver’s play was their defense, and their poor execution of on offense, and their missed free throws. Plus the lack of defensive rebounds, which gave the Lakers all kinds of second chance points, didn’t help either. The result was a 14-point lead for the Lakers early on in the second quarter.<br />
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Then something happened in the second quarter that few saw coming, and that was the 14-point run by the Nuggets bringing the score to a 51-40 Lakers lead. Then the Nuggets outscored the Lakers 17-7 in the last 5minutes of the half, thanks to a couple of threes by Linas Kleiza and Chauncey Billups. The score at the end of the half was 55-54 the Lakers. This gave Denver all the confidence they needed going into the second half.<br />
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In the 3rd quarter, Denver came out showing a lot toughness and managed to keep the score within 1, but it was Trevor Ariza who kept the Lakers going, scoring 10 of L.A.’s points. Had it not been for Ariza’s performance, Denver may have taken over in the 3rd quarter. Chauncey Billups had 9 and Carmelo Anthony had 6, along with help from the bench in the forms of Kleiza, and Chris Anderson.<br />
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In the 4th quarter it was the shootout that we all expected from the beginning of this series with Kobe taking over the game and finishing with 32 points versus Carmelo’s 34. But when the smoke cleared Denver had taken home court advantage from the Lakers winning 106-103. Billups added 27 points to offset Ariza’s 20 for the Lakers.<br />
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Pau Gasol added 17 points off of 17 rebounds which was offset by Kenyon Martin’s 16 points including the game winning layup with 29 seconds left in the game. After that it became a free throw war in which Billups hit 3 out of 4 to finish off the Lakers.<br />
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Looking back at that game, had it not been for the three point shooting of Kleiza the Lakers may have been able to hold on to home court advantage, but they ignored him leaving him open time and time again allowing him to finish with 16 points of his own. The big question was why didn’t Coach George Karl keep Kleiza in during the 4th quarter over JR Smith whose only basket came in the 1st quarter.<br />
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If nothing else Kleiza would have spread the defense, opening up some easier shots for Denver. Either was you can bet that Coach Karl will implement him more as they take game 3 back to Denver in hopes of taking over home court advantage by defending their floor at the Pepsi Center on Saturday night. Keep in mind L.A. will have there hands full in Denver where the Nuggets have won 16 straight home games.Orlando Stuns Cleveland In Game 1tag:coredjradio.ning.com,2009-05-21:2501448:BlogPost:2830302009-05-21T04:52:51.000ZDa Boss DJ Jo Corleonehttps://coredjradio.ning.com/profile/DaBossDJJoCorleone
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It was all about the supporting cast in game 1 of the eastern conference finals. In years past we’ve all been witnesses to Lebron James willing his team to victory, but against a multitalented Orlando Magic team it was doubtful that James could do it alone, and in game 1 it showed.<br />
The Cavs running on adrenaline got out to a 33-19 lead in the first quarter and managed to sustain their energy through the second quarter, going in at half time with a 15…
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It was all about the supporting cast in game 1 of the eastern conference finals. In years past we’ve all been witnesses to Lebron James willing his team to victory, but against a multitalented Orlando Magic team it was doubtful that James could do it alone, and in game 1 it showed.<br />
The Cavs running on adrenaline got out to a 33-19 lead in the first quarter and managed to sustain their energy through the second quarter, going in at half time with a 15 point lead. The old cliché is, that’s why they play for 48 minutes.<br />
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In the third quarter Orlando came with a relentless attack spreading the Cavalier defense out, opening up three point shot opportunities one after another. The reason this was so affective was all the attention Cleveland had to give to Dwight Howard who scored 30 points and snatched down 13 rebounds.<br />
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Each time the Cavs would leave an extra man in the paint watching for Howard, it would allow Orlando to place an open shooter in the corners to knock down threes or deep twos. The result, Orlando took the lead in the third quarter forcing Cleveland to have to chase them from behind for the rest of the night.<br />
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Normally this is a feat that Cleveland overcomes, except for one small problem; Lebron was forced to almost do it by himself with no production from the bench. In the beginning of most fourth quarters Coach Mike Brown likes to rest James, but with less than two minutes into the fourth quarter he was forced to call a timeout in order to get James back in the game.<br />
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Orlando’s bench outscored Cleveland’s 25-5, and even though James put up 49 points it just wasn’t enough to give the Cavs the game 1 victory. The entire Cavs team outside of Lebron went cold in the 3rd quarter, but managed to warm back up in the 4th quarter. However by then it was too little too late, because the Magic neglected to cool off.<br />
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Each team hit big shot after big shot, but in the end it was a three pointer by Rashard Lewis, who scored 22 on the night, that sealed the deal and gave Orlando the 107-106 victory stealing home court advantage from Cleveland.<br />
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If the Cavs hope to make it to the finals then Lebron’s supporting cast will have to step up and deliver, and Coach Brown will have to come up with a better scheme to defend against Orlando’s three-point attack. Simple mathematics says that 2 is less than 3; so maybe allowing Dwight to get a few dunks isn’t as bad as allowing Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu, who scored 15 points while adding 14 assists, to bomb on them from the three point line all night.