What comes around goes around.. This was karma for LeBron James dunking the ball in Allen Iverson’s chest.

Team USA basketball got off to a good start in their quest for gold with a 101-70 whooping of host country China. LeBron James tore up the first half while Dwyane Wade was the team’s leading scorer with 19 points. Team USA struggled shooting the ball early but got it going in the second half to cruise to victory.

Yao Ming sprained his ankle in the game but he did return to the game. Before he got hurt he welcomed Kobe Bryant to China:

Team USA, China, basketball, video, youtube

David Stern is on a mission to make the NBA a global league, and he gave us a glimpse of his European expansion plans earlier this year. In 2007 the league appointed Timothy Chen, the former head of Microsoft’s China division, to oversee NBA China. Although the Chinese market represents the fastest growing group of NBA fans, the broadcast of playoff games have been suspended.

The official word is that the games are being put on hold while the country is mourning the earthquake victims. Of course, this is the NBA, so conspiracy theories can’t be far behind. From Danwei:

Neither the newspaper nor SARFT’s media administrator has offered an explanation for the suspension. The only official explanation came from Jiang Heping, director of CCTV’s Olympic Channel, who said that the NBA was “too entertaining” for this special time when the country is mourning for the victims of the earthquake.

It seems that many have found Mr Jiang’s explanation unconvincing; people tend to believe that there has been a ban issued on broadcasting NBA games. There are a number of alternate theories on the internet, all highly speculative: Some people are arguing the ban is politically-motivated ?some NBA players have been protesting the role the Chinese government plays in Darfur?while the others think politics is unlikely the issue. After all, the last time NBA was banned in China was in 1999, after an American missile hit China’s embassy in Yugoslavia, and relations with the US are not nearly as tense as they were then.

The Beijing News also ran an article today about the NBA ban. In the article, an insider from CCTV is quoted as saying that NBA broadcasts will resume on June 6, though no official orders have been announced to the public. The article also refers to NBA’s announcement on May 28 of a 14 million-yuan donation to China’s earthquake relief.

I don’t know why the NBA game broadcasts have been suspended. To me, a little entertainment might be a good to help ease the pain of such a tragic event. And I’m willing to bet everything I’ve got that if Yao Ming and the Rockets were playing not only would the games be shown, they’d probably be on a continuous loop.

NBA broadcasting suspended in China. Courtesy of Danwei

NBA, China, playoffs, broadcast

1. LeBron James
2. Dwayne Wade
3. Kevin Garnett
4. Shaquille O’Neal
5. Kobe Bryant
6. Yao Ming
7. Tony Parker
8. Kevin Durant
9. Yi Jianlian
10. Eduardo Najera

Steve Nash and Gilbert Arenas are the most glaring omissions, and I’ll listen to arguments for AI, Dwight Howard, and Dirk Nowitzki.. Too bad the only time that Tim Duncan talks is when he’s arguing with Joey Crawford, or else he’d be raking in the endorsement money too.

And of course.. If there’s a “Most” list, there can be a “Least” list. Here are my 5 least marketable NBA players:

5. Oleksiy Pecherov, C, Washington Wizards
4. Darius Miles, F, Portland Trailblazers
3. The Knicks, Team, New York Knicks
2. Stephen Jackson, G, Golden St. Warriors
1. Ron Artest, F, Sacramento Kings

Can LeBron surpass Michael on Madison Ave.? Courtesy of MSNBC

Tags: NBA, Most Marketable, Endorsements, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant

According to information provided by the Oregonian’s Jason Quick and my assumptive deduction, 2 players from the Garnett, Iverson, and Kobe trio were recently offered to Portland in exchange for the #1 pick. You can listen to Jason drop the hint here or just check out this quick excerpt:

“I know that two Western Conference teams have offered their superstars in return for the number one pick… And they are Hall of Famers and the Blazers have turned them down on both.”

There you have it. So how did I end up with Kobe, KG, and AI representing the players on the block? Walk with me.

NO CONSIDERATION: Portland and Seattle obviously. New Orleans, Memphis, Utah, Golden State, and Sacramento all have zero Hall of Famers on their rosters at this moment.

NOT YET: Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, and the L.A. Clippers all have players that are close or should play their way into the Hall of Fame. Dirk Nowitzki should be in one day, Tracy McGrady needs a few more solid years and he has to do some damage in the playoffs, Yao Ming could get in one day if he continues to improve, and Elton Brand has a legitimate chance if he continues on his current pace. I don’t have Steve Nash from Phoenix in the Hall of Fame yet. I know Steve has the two MVPs but his career numbers 14pts, 7.6ast, and 2.9rbds, are still lower than Stephon Marbury’s 19.9pts, 7.9ast, and 3.0rbds, even with Nash’s incredible 3 season stretch.

NOW WE’RE TALKING: San Antonio, Denver, Minnesota, and the L.A.L are the only teams in the Western Conference that have Hall of Fame locks on their rosters right now. Let’s go ahead and assume that the Spurs aren’t dealing Duncan. That’s a safe bet right? Well, that leaves Allen Iverson, Kevin Garnett, and Kobe Bryant as the only players that could have been offered to Portland.

So who were the two players? I could see Minnesota making that offer. They would set Garnett free and start over with a major chip in their pocket. The T-Wolves would have been looking at a young nucleus of Oden/Durant, Randy Foye, and Rashad McCants (depending on what you think of McCants’ game). The Nuggets would presumably move Iverson out, bring in Durant/Oden and piece either one of them together with Melo, Camby, J.R. Smith, and hold on to Steve Blake. What about the Lakers offering Kobe? I can’t see Portland turning down a trade offer that includes Kobe Bean Bryant unless they are so turned off by his off the court problems, and so wary of his emotions that they wouldn’t want the best player in the league on their roster. Plus, the Lakers would become a non-factor for a couple of years while their young roster developed. I can’t see the La-La land management doing that.

That means (to me) that Minnesota tried to trade K.G. and the Nuggets tried to trade Allen Iverson for Portland’s number one. I guess the Blazers figured why trade for aging superstars with a ton of mileage when they have the chance to draft a player that they could have for the next 15 years. Portland was right on with this decision. They’re not an A.I. or Garnett away from the championship so there’s no need to bite at the lure of a big name.

I originally peeped this story over at Henry Abbott’s True Hoop. It’s the ninth link down. Courtesy of ESPN and True Hoop

You can read the paraphrased version of Casey Holdahl’s interview with Jason Quick here, or you can listen to the entire interview here.

This is the snippet of Jason Quick on the two Western Conference teams offering Hall of Famers for the #1 pick.

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I’m not even a real Rockets fan and my stomach is in knots. Houston had the perfect opportunity to shutdown this series and they let it slip right through their hands.. Literally.. Turnover after turnover.. Bad shot after bad shot. It was like they said “hey we could win now, but let’s wait till we get home and share this with the fans”. At least that’s what I’m hoping they were thinking.

I tried to be as positive as possible about game 6 and I thought it was working… 75-74, Utah in the lead, Houston has the ball with 8:15 left in the game.. Things were looking really good. Then Kirilenko decided to wake up. Andrei blocked a Juwan Howard gimme layup, forced a T-Mac turnover, and blocked a McGrady drive to the basket. Even with all of that, the Rockets were still in good position down 77-76, 4:45 left in the game… Little did I know, Utah would go on a 17-6 run to close the game. So close. So frustrating.

Game 7. I don’t care what Tracy says, this is the biggest game of his career. This is his latest attempt to move on to the 2nd round so this has to be the most important game for him. Before this series started McGrady said it’s all on him. I’m gonna stick with that. Tracy, do this for you. Do it for Houston… And positively do it for my blog. A game 7 at home with the chance to shake off your playoff demons is all the motivation you need.

Rockets and Jazz game 6 play by play. Thank you ESPN.com

The Law of Attraction and the Houston Rockets. Thank me

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THE HOUSTON ROCKETS WILL DOMINATE THEIR COMPETITION

Let’s Go Rockets!! Tonight’s the night Tracy and Yao will finally advance to the second round of the playoffs. I know the game’s in Utah and the Rockets have struggled there, but it’s going down tonight. At this point I can’t tell if I’m being positive or delusional. I just watched San Antonio and Phoenix close out their series (at home but so what), and now it’s time for Houston to do the same. Utah, thanks for the memories.. We’ll see you next year. The Houston Rockets are moving on to the second round.

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Game 5 tonight Houston. What you got? Are we gonna see the team from games 1 and 2 or the disappointment from games 3 and 4? I know the Rockets aren’t gonna let us down. Fellas, let’s start wrapping this thing up. Have you seen how the Warriors are playing lately? You don’t wanna go 7 games if G. State’s gonna be maxin and relaxin after 5 or 6. Here’s my positivity for the day: THE ROCKETS WILL WIN TONIGHT.

Red Rowdies are you with me?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz8VuEhps58]

To be honest, I couldn’t make out any words other than “Houston Rockets”.

Here’s a little more motivation.. The Chuckster dissing Yao (and paying for it):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YTzSvDQ26c]

We all know the Charles’ history for losing bets. I hope he has Utah tonight.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBgO06w1twc]

The Houston Rockets are the better team in this series. The season numbers say so, and the duo of McGrady and Ming say so too. Tonight is the night to take control of this series and let Utah know that their playoff stay is coming to an end. Here are my keys to a game four Rocket victory:

• Somebody besides Yao, T-Mac, or Battier needs to step up. A solid ten points from someone other than those 3 will go a long way.
• Work the ball inside out. Utah has no answer for Yao. I don’t see why he can’t drop 30 tonight.
• Flip Utah’s game 3 script. Let Carlos Boozer get his and shutdown everybody else. Giricek, Harpring, and Millsap can not combine for 30+.
• Shot selection. This is mainly aimed at Tracy, but as a whole…running the offense isn’t always a bad thing.
• Big surprise for this one… Take care of the ball. 19 turnovers for 17 Utah points and the lack of role player scoring were the biggest reasons for the game 3 loss.
• If all else fails, hire Flava Flav to cut fingers off.

ALL GOOD THINGS ARE COMING TO THE ROCKETS TODAY

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That was ugly.. Historically ugly for the Rockets. 67 points?!? Man. Look on the bright side, at least it wasn’t 66.. Or 61 like Cleveland put up last year against Detroit…

The 19 turnovers, disgusting. 17 of the turnovers were committed by Yao (8), Rafer (5), and Tracy (4). C’mon fellas!!.. The Rockets shot 33% from the field, and 32% from 3 point land. Here’s the line for Chuck Hayes and the bench: 76 minutes, 0-12 from the field, 0 points, 13 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. An all around terrible performance… Let’s look on the bright side…

The Utah Jazz had to win game 3. Go down 0-3 and the series is a wrap. I know Houston played like crap, but Utah, in a must win situation, didn’t play much better. The Jazz got more people involved on offense, ( 9 players scored for Utah. 4 for Houston) but they only shot 39% from the field and an embarrassing 13% from 3. Houston committed more fouls in the game, 20 to 19, but went to the line 8 more times.

What does it all mean? We’re fine. Yes we. Positivity, the Rockets, and me. Last year the Miami Heat won two tough home games against the Chicago Bulls. They got blown out when they went to Chi-Town for game 3, and they lost game 4. Seems like it worked out pretty well for the Heat.

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