Friday, February 28, 2014

Quick Recap

Hey swishers! I know it has been a while since my last post, I apologize for the delay of posts and the missing posts. I will try to stay more frequent with my posts, it's just with the amount of work and things I have to do including this blog, it makes it hard to keep tabs on all of them. Moving on welcome back to Pro Swish! . I will be quickly talking about the previous All-Star weekend because I know I did not talk about it.
The 2014 All-Star weekend was, in my opinion, awful. There is almost no way to describe it for me. First of all the Shooting Stars was a extremely fun experience when it first was an event. Today, it is just like a pre game shoot around. I also hate the idea of the two sides and teams idea. The idea that out of two teams, one wins and moves on. I understand the whole charity aspect of it, but it was just awful. The contestants did not look like they wanted to be there and participate, and you when that happens, it has gotten bad.

Skill Challenge
Next thing is The Skills challenge. What was that? I would like to know whose idea it was to put two point guards on a team and play it that way. Once again the team aspect annoyed me. The fact they are two teams apart of one and see who moves on is just annoying. The finish was exciting, but the overall challenge was just awful.

Three Point Challenge
Moving on to the three point challenge, it just was not what I expected it to be. Once again, the idea of East and West working together is just stupid. Another thing was the shooters. I truthfully believe they are not putting enough thought into the actual shooters. The winner, Marco Belenelli? What? When was the last time you saw Marco Belenelli make consistent threes? Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good upset, but it seemed like the only one to upset was Steph Curry. Not only that, but he did awful. These guys aren't taking it serious enough.

Dunk Contest
Moving on to the Dunk Contest. This probably was the biggest upset to me than anything else. It annoys me that the NBA thinks they can put people like Ben Mclemore in the dunk contest and call it a Dunk Contest. I wasn't looking forward to him dunking, what I was looking for was for the East to obviously dominate the West, but for there to be some amazing dunks. The only dunks that actually showed me something was Paul George and John Wall. Those two were great, but there was nothing else. The west was absolutely awful, they were given no good dunkers and the fact that the winner was pieced by the audience was just ridiculous. Back in the day, the most amazing players to ever play the game would decide a winner, not a random guy sitting home.The opening round was also very disappointing. This was a warm up, yet they were still judged? I think if the NBA fails to meet expectations next year, everything goes down for the All-Star weekend. I also think the only way to improve the dunk contest is to get better dunks, but the problem is they don't want to participate in the contest, and that is the worst part. They also have to change the format and add a round.

Rising Stars and All-Star game
The Rising stars challenge was actually very cool, I liked it mostly because they actually tried unlike the  All-Stars in the All-Star game. Speaking of that, there was absolute no defense and there were better dunks than in the dunk contest. The NBA needs to rethink this and go back to square one before it all goes bad. I am going to grade it a 2 out of 10.

I will blog about LeBron James' recent headlines next time. Thanks for coming! Keep on Swishing!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Skills Challenge

Hey Swishers! This is just going to be a quick update on the Taco Bell Skills Challenge this weekend. This is one of my least favorite events simply because it is too quick and just seems a little too simple. Nevertheless it is apart of the fun that the weekend brings. The guards selected will have to compete in a course where they will be ranked according to time. The lower the time the better the rank. The course will have multiple challenges in which a guard would have to undergo during a game such as passing and dribbling through defenders. Some of the names that stand out to me are Damian Lillard and DeMar DeRozan. These two have just been unbelievable this year. Reggie Jackson also deserves some high praise due to the work that he has done for the Thunder due to Russell Westbrook's absence. For a winner I project that Lillard will win because he has just been great this year as a guard just doing everything a guard needs to be able to do to succeed. Well that's all tell what you guys think in the comments? Who do you think will win? Keep on Swishing!

BBVA Rising Stars and Sears Shooting Stars



What is up Swishers! Welcome back to Pro Swish, where all we do is swish. Today's post, as metioned in yesterday's post will be a brief preview to the BBVA Rising Stars game and the Sears Shooting stars. Let's start with the Rising Stars game. This is the beginning of All-Star weekend where you get a taste of the fun, but not too much. There will be two teams, Team Hill, and Team Webber. These two teams each have nine players, sophomores and rookies, and will be coached by Grant Hill and Chris Webber. So let's start with the first picks made by each team. On the Hill side, he picked Damian Lilard from the Portland Trail Blazers and Webber picked Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans. These two have been two dominant sophomores this year and look to continue to have a great season. As for the finer details of the teams, Webber includes big names like Victor Oladipo, Trey Burke, and Jared Sullinger. Hill has Bradley. Beal, Harrison Barnes, and Andre Drummond. Those are just some of the names on the teams. But looking at the two rosters, I believe that Team Webber will win because they have more dominant players and do not have to rely on one guy while Team Hill might have to rely on Damian Lillard. Tell me what you guys think in the comments. Moving on to the Sears Shooting Stars, which is always just meant for fun. There will be four teams that will have to through a mukititude of shots to complete the course in a certain amount of time. The lower the soccer, the higher your rank. Looking at the big names, we have the Tim Hardaways playing on the same team for the east. Chris Bosh and Dominique Wilkins along with Swin Cash will join forces to try and win this. Going to the West we've got Steph Curry being the big name there. And on the fourth team we have Kevin Durant with legend Karl Malone along with amazing WNBA player Skylar Diggins to play on the same team. In the end I believe Kevin Durant and his squad will win. They have the most talent and experience, however with this challenge anything can happen. Tell me what you think in the comments! That's all for now see ya later and remember Keep on Swishing!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

All Star Weekend is Here!!!!!

Hey Swishers! Welcome back and guess what time it is? ALL STAR WEEKEND!!!! All the good stuff like the three point and dunk contest! I CANNOT wait. The all star weekend will star with the BBVA Rising Stars challenge on February 14 and will end with the All-Star game on February 16. So let's start with the biggest headlines coming out starting with Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers making history being in 5 events. The five events being the dunk contest, 3-pt contest, Skills Challenge, Rising stars game, and finally the All-Star game. Damian Lillard who has just been dominate this season with a 20.8 PPG, 3.7 RPG, and 5.7 APG. Lillard, along with Wesley Matthews and LaMarcus Aldridge, has led the Blazers to a successful season thus far. I expect Lillard to have a huge weekend, tell me what you guys think of Lillard in the comments. The next story tht has brought up a lot of controversy is Kobe Bryant not only making the All-Star team, but starting. Kobe, who had not played a game this season was voted in by the viewers of the NBA. This has brought up the idea that the people have too much power with voting the starters. I think it is ridiculous that Kobe has been named starter and should be changed before the game. What do you guys think of this? The last thing being something not as big, but I feel should get some attention is the fact the rules for the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest have been changed to an extent. I'm only going to point out the most important details. For one I find it ridiculous they have split the contestants into the two conferences. This was the one contest that was super popular and did not matter if you were from the West or the East. Another thing is this battle round thing. I love the idea of putting people up against each other, but I find it annoying how the winner is going to be a conference. The Dunk contest has been criticized the past years cause of the weakness that has been brought to it and I feel like it is going to continue that if they keep these rules. Give me some feedback on what you think of this. But that's all for now guys! Over the next five days I will be posting a brief analysis on the most important contests for each day. Tomrrow will include two(Rising Stars and Shooting Stars) Thanks for coming! And leave me some feedback please it really helps! Keep on Swishing!🏀

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Andrew Bynum signing

On February 1st, 2014 news came out that was confirmed by multiple sources that former Cleveland Cavalier Center, Andrew Bynum has signed with the Indiana Pacers. Bynum has been bouncing from team to team lately with his latest cut being from the Chicago Bulls immediately off of a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Bynum now has signed with the dominant Indiana Pacers adding size and skill. Andrew Bynum is a Center who once was a great player and has lost a bit of that "swagger" over the years. With the LA Lakers Andrew Bynum was a DOMINANT force. He was an amazing player who was adored by many, including myself. After leaving the Lakers and suffering multiple knee injuries and surgeries, he just has not been the same. Nevertheless, the Pacers expect big things from him. Pacers President of Operations, Larry Bird, stated “He gives us added size, he is a skilled big man and he has championship experience. With the minutes he gets, he should be a valuable addition.” As if the Pacers already did not have enough size with players such as 7' 2" C Roy Hibbert and 6' 8" Paul George, who has just been amazing this year. So the big question now is what can Bynum really do for the Pacers for the rest of the season. Well in my opinion Andrew Bynum will have little to no affect with the Pacers, this is because the Pacers right now are most likely the best team in the NBA and they really do not need any more size. They are doing perfectly fine with their big guys, that's not to say Bynum will not do anything, but Bynum has just lost it, the spark and the skill and there is just not enough there to have a massive affect on the Pacers organization and season. Well that's just what I think but I want to hear from you guys, what do you think? Am I completely wrong? Leave something in the comments and thanks for reading this! Sorry for posting this so late I will work harder to be more productive for you guys! Bye and remember Keep on Swishing!
Andrew Bynum as a Cleveland Cavalier