Stories Since the Lockout: NBA Players Highlight Summer Pro-Am Leagues

This summer's basketball Pro-Amateur leagues have erupted with NBA talent due to the lockout. There has been a myriad of young players trying to prove themselves (Greivis Vasquez, Josh Selby, Nick Young, and Donte Greene), league veterans (Steve Blake, Ron Artest, Shannon Brown, and Joe Smith), guys with super star potential (Brandon Jennings, Demarcus Cousins, James Hardin, DeMar DeRozan, and John Wall), and some super stars themselves like Kobe, Lebron, and Kevin Durant. The summer season has had several highlights like Durant scoring 66 in a game, Kobe scoring 43 and hitting a game winner buzzer beating, and Durant and Harden who are teammates jawing off at each other in the championship game. With the lockout happening, maybe they should make their own winter league. This summer basketball stuff just shows which guys truly love playing basketball. Look at the facilities. This isn't Madison Square Garden. It's Rucker Park, some crappy indoor facility, and all some other courts that suck. Just pure love of the game.

Stories Since the Lockout- Another Reason Lebron Could Never Even Be Kobe

Due to the lockout, the Lakers have laid off over 20 employees already and don't plan to rehire any of them until after the lockout. Because of this, Kobe Bryant has given his playoff bonus to the two video coordinators for the Lakers that have been laid off. It's a total of $65,000. I know what people are thinking. 65 grand is nothing for a guy like Kobe. Yes that is correct, but how many other guys have you heard of doing this? On another good note, Luke Walton has reportedly given a sum of money to the training staff that has been laid off also. Lebron probably has the laid off Heat staff working as his butlers for minimum wage.

Stories Since the Lockout: Calipari Welcomes Kentucky Alumni Back

John Calipari is one of the smartest coaches and recruiters in all sports. With the lockout in place, Calipari has welcomed all former Kentucky players to use the Lexington facilities during the lockout. Some of these players have even decided to take some classes to get closer to their degree. These players include John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, and Rajon Rondo. Now just think about recruits coming in to visit Kentucky. Calipari gives them a tour of the school and ends it at teh practice facility and says, "have you met John Wall or Rajon Rodon? They'll be here as long as the lock out lasts, and if it lasts over a season, they could be practicing against you." Talk about being star struck on a recruiting visit.

Just this year alone players like Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, Michael Gilchrist, and Anthony DAvis will be practicing against NBA first round picks and All Stars if the lockout continues. The guys they'll be practicing against will be better than the guys the play in games. That's how you improve a team.

He also had an alumni game at Rupp Arena against the National Dominican Republic team that he is coaching. Players included young gunners John Wall and Demarcus Cousins, former NBA All Stars Rajon Rondo and Tayshaun Prince, and NBA role players such as Ketih Bogans and Nazr Mohammed. All past Wildcats loved playing in the game and hope they can do it again sometime soon.

Stories Since the Lockout: NBA Players Trying Out New Professions

Since some have predicted the NBA Lockout to last longer than next year's entire season, some players have already taken their talents somewhere else.

Brandon Jennings is working as an intern at Under Armour. With Under Armour Jennings has been working with the sports marketing department focusing on shoes. It's a pretty sweet gig for him since Kevin Plank, Under Armour CEO and founder, got Jennings a condo in Baltimore, lets him use his jeep, and gives Jennings access to their beautiful 10,000 square foot workout facility. To top it off, his position title is "Curator of Cool".

On the other side of the spectrum Delonte West is looking for more of a blue collared job. Due to a court order, Delonte can't leave the country to play basketball overseas. Because of this, he's applied to take his talents to Home Depot. Delonte has been diagnosed with a serious case of being  bipolar and that could play a part in him helping you carry your new shrubs to your car. I guess it would gice that particular Home Depot an increase in customers just to see Delonte there also. He's no Ray Allen or Kobe but people would still think it's cool to see him at Home Depot. Maybe Lebron's mom will now be  a frequent customer there.

Ron Artest has been doing some stand up comedy since the lockout. He actually had good reviews from his show at Caroline's in New York City and also had another showing at the Brea Improv Comedy Club in California. The LA Times had some videos here's one below. You're a therapist? I love therapists.

Ten Basketball Stories Since the Lockout

In honor of billionaires fights with millionaires, I'm going to do ten interesting basketball stories since the lockout has started. I'll do one a day for the next ten days with some days having multiple stories about a specific topic.

NSHL MVP

This award also came down to the final vote. This kid is the ultimate scorer and catapulted No ID No Idea to an undefeated regular season. Malik Little is virtually unstoppable when he gets on fire. He has a stroke from any range, shows a step back that can't be stopped, works the transition game extremely well, and gets some cookies when nobody is paying attention. He single handedly took down Super Villain Squad in the regular season with over twenty points in a single game. The runner up was league Champion and smooth shooter Dan Hopewell.

NSHL Offensive Player of the Year

This kid has been an iconic piece to Thumbs Up and there is no one the Commish would rather go to war with. Doug Schlehuber did not have quite the year he hoped for, but still was a force on offense. When he gets in the lane he's almost impossible to control, and to top it off his vision while driving is pin point. Doug also has top tier trey range and is just non stop on the offensive. Doug was last year's Conference Player of the Year and has a good shot to keep the awards rolling for years on.

NSHL Defensive Player of the Year

The awards have been late to go up becaues the Commish has had some important business matters to take care of, but today all of the awards will be announced. The Defensive Player of the Year Award came down to the very last vote. I'm proud to announce that the award goes to No ID No Idea's Joey Wilkes. Joey's a versatile athletic defender that can match up with basically anyone. Joey is a ball hawk on defense misdirecting balls constantly. He's a cookies machine picking pockets and throwing down.

Anyone Interested in Getting All Star Tank Tops

Guys I'd like to make some All Star Tanks, but due to the league having no money each person would have to buy their own. The cost would be $16 a tank. It's not that bad of a price for a tank that I think looks pretty ill. This is what they'd look like. Let me know what you think. Hopefully in years to come we can make some more custom apparel and have people wearing our stuff around town. The only catch is I need at least ten people to be in. The site I'm using lowers the price depending on how many shirts.

   

NSHL All Star Was a Good Time

The season had some bumps in the road with weather and some teams lack of flexibility for make up games, but the All Star Game was a nice way to cap it off. Seven guys from each side were able to attend. for the East side there was Joey Wilkes, Malik Little, Eddie Hannon, Phil Rizzo, Dan Nagle, Royal Healy, and the Commish. The West side was Jordan Weygand, Chad Earls, Tim Laconte, Charlie Beatrice, Dylan Carter, Kurt O'Sullivan and Chris Brooks. It was a good relaxed setting with actually a great game to go along with it. The score was 20-19 at half and ended with the East winning 40-37. I wanna say thanks to Mehdi Ahmadi for manning the grill and helping with the cooler. In years to come I hope the league can evolve more with the All Star Game having some more events like maybe a thee point contest, horse competition, and/or a dunk contest. I took a couple videos and made a Youtube Channel for the league. There's a link to the channel on the right side bar. Here's two of them right below.

Western Side All Stars

The All Star Game was great last night, but I'll post about that latter. Here's the Western side from the All Star Game:

Chad Earls- Chad is one of the top defensive players in the league. He's redirecting shots every game, and has a great inside out game on offense.
Charlie Beatrice- Charlie controls the blocks on offense with strong put backs and is always all over teh boards.
Chris Brooks- Brooks for two years in a row, has put the Dirty Burg on is back. If they don't recruit some better players, they could be saying good bye to him.
Dan Hopewell- The Silent Assassin this year AKA Death Stroke was Dan Hopewell. Dan is one of if not the best shooter in the league. He hit dagger after dagger in the championship game Thursday.
Dave Glassman- The big bodied rebounder is the perfect addition to any team. He understands what needs to be done and uses his talents to perfectly match that.
Dave Martin- Dave is Mr. Do it All. He moves without the ball, finds anyone who's open, plays great defense, and can shoot from anywhere.
Dylan Carter- Dylan has a great long range game to go along with a strong transition game.
Jared Lang- The big enforcer is a mismatch nightmare. He's a raging bull with the ball and no one wants to get in his way.
Jordan Weygand- The hometown hero has missed a beat since he's been back. Jordan had no rust in yesterday's game.
Kurt O'Sullivan- The heart of the NSHL Kurt just brings a smile to everyone in the league. The general on the court, Kurt makes everyone better on the court. He is the best shooter who never shoots.
Matt Hooper- The lengthy shooter is a key component to Cougar Bait. He also can cover anyone at defense with his size and semi athleticism.
Tim Laconte- Tim sets the pace for Super Villain Squad's offense and has been a lockdown perimeter defender.

The Super Villain Squad Takes Home the Ship

Last night was an epic battle between thunder and lightning. it was a seesaw match the entire second half as the Super Villain Squad pounded the rock inside while Thumbs Up would bounce back on fast breaks and with three pointers. Thumbs Up had the lead at 37-36 but couldn't score again losing 40-37. The Super Villain Squad had some big threes by Dan Hopewell along with Tim Laconte, but there was just no answer for Jared Lang and Lex Luthor. That was the type of basketball that this league's  all about. Just pure basketball at its finest. We look forward to a revamped year 3 with some new teams.

Eastern Side All Stars

The league has been split to two sides for the All Star Game that takes place tomorrow at 6. Here's the ten warriors who were voted in:

Dan Nagle- Dan was the facilitator for Thumbs Up. He ran the point and was a shar shooter from beyond the arc.
Doug Schlehuber- Dougie Fresh is one of the most complete players on offense. He can literally do it all. Dougie is a finalist for Offensive Player of the Year.
Eddie Hannon- Eddie was a great match up for No ID No IDea. He has a great inside out game on offense and can match up with anyone on defense.
Jeff Moore- The Commish is just honored to be playing amongst the people. Most of the 15 readers we have probably think I rigged the voting. Maybe I did, Maybe I didn't.
Joey Wilkes- Joey is a premier defender in the NSHL. He also is one of the best transition players in the league.
Malik Little- Malik is an offensive animal. His deep three game and step back are amongst the best in the league.
Pat Hannon- It's great to see the brother dynamic in the All Star game. Pat the elder enforcer is just a monster in the paint. You can't move. He gets boards by the dozens.
Phil Rizzo- Phil is a big presence for No ID No Iea. The 6'4 swing man is great in transition and swats shots all day
Royal Healy- The 6'4 behemoth was the only bright spot for Kung Fu Panda. Royal lead them to victory in their only win this year against the Dirty Burg.
Steve Burrill- Steve is probably the best pure shooter in the league. He can just stroke it from anywhere.

The West team will be unveiled tonight after the championship game

1st Annual All Star Game is Tomorrow

Tomorrow will be the first annual Norton Summer Hoops League All Star Game. The league has been split into two sides and will play each other while a cookout is going on at the same time. It's for a relaxed atmosphere and a celebration of the second season in the NSHL. Later today the teams will be announced along with individual awards.

The Time Has Come: Championship Thursday

Tonight is the same match up from Week 2 when the Super Villain Squad took control in the second half. Tonight should be an intense game with clashing styles of play on each side. The super Villain Squad uses its monstrous height to pound the rock inside and play tough man to man defense, while Thumbs Up is a fast break driven team that uses the three ball to generate their offense. Either way at the end of the night, only one team comes out the victor.

No ID No Idea Gets Carded on a Tuesday Night

Tuesday was a world class upset as Thumbs Up took down No ID No Idea 40-35 in the Semi Finals game. Dan Nagle, Steve Burill, and Doug Schlehuber just drilled trifecta after trifecta to give Thumbs Up a hefty lead early. No ID No Idea had star player Joey Wilkes arrive late, but it was a little too late. This eliminates the undefeated top dogs who seemed destined for the title. tonight Thumbs Up will play the Super Villain Squad for the league title.

Only Two Speed Bumps Left for First Perfect Season

No ID No Idea is on pace to have a historical season for the NSHL. After completing the regular season undefeated, they are only two games away from perfection. With All Star Selections on their way, No ID No Idea should have plenty of names on the list. They've been led by juggernaut Malik Little on offense, lock down defender Joey Wilkes on defense, and quality play on both sides of the ball by the Hannon Brothers Pat and Eddie. The next block in the road is standing in front of them with their Thumbs Up.

Semi Finals Week!

This week commences the Semi Finals of the NSHL. We have to great match ups with tomorrow's game of undefeated No ID No Idea versus the Commish's very own Thumbs up. This should be an interesting match since last time Thumbs Up went to war with only four guys. The other Semi Final game will be a reoccurrence of last year's match up with the Super Villain Squad against Dump Em  Out.