Archives › D.J. Foster
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Mark Morrison is not one of our Three Stars of the Night, mainly because he does not play professional basketball. For those unfortunate souls who are unfamiliar, Morrison is a singer who made a name for himself way back in 1996 with the hit single “Return of the Mack.” While Mark Morrison and that awesome…
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The towel waver. The dancer. The 27-step handshake guy. Every bench player has their role, but our Three Stars of the Night broke the mold and did a whole lot more than watch the starters. On a night where Brooklyn beat up on their big brother and the Hornets bested Chris Paul, anything seemed possible…so…
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Chris Paul is terrifying, and he knows it. Paul doesn’t score just to score — he does it to establish the threat. When you’re 6-foot-nothing in a league filled with giants, you manipulate instead of overwhelm. Paul can have 6 points and it will feel like he’s dominating, just because he made his shadow look…
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Carmelo Anthony is on a sort of “basketball diet.” After years of not maximizing his full potential, Anthony has shown great restraint against the temptations of chucking this season, and as a result, he looks the best he ever has. He’s motivated. He has the desire to defend. He’s taking only what he needs and…
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Doubting the legitimacy of the Los Angeles Clippers is not a new or particularly uncommon practice. Despite laying waste to the Grizzlies, Spurs, Lakers and Heat in convincing fashion already, there was a sense that this would be the first true test for the Clippers. They’d be out on the road, against the team that…
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You know how announcers talk about Shane Battier? How they say he “does things that don’t show up in the boxscore” and how his value can’t really be defined by common statistics? Well, no one ever really says those things about Carmelo Anthony. Ever. And that’s fair. Anthony’s entire career has been defined by the…
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The soulless pursuit of stats by players on bad teams (or as I like to call it, the Corey Maggette special) can often be pretty brutal to watch. No one likes watching a guy play isolation basketball the whole game, hogging possessions and looking off teammates. Three Stars doesn’t reward that type of behavior, but…
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Video: Kyrie Irving turns Kris Humphries into a statue with a sick pass
Nov 13, 2012, 11:15 PM EDT
A good way to gauge a player’s star value is to watch how opposing crowds treat him. With the Cavaliers visiting Brooklyn tonight, Kyrie Irving absolutely wowed the crowd with his insane handling and off the cuff passes, winning over the fans like he was Rocky in Russia. How good was Irving in a night…
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What a night. We saw Utah and Toronto battle it out in a triple-overtime slugfest high on theatrics. We saw the Pistons put a scare into the Thunder before collapsing, and the Bulls make things interesting against the Celtics. There were a lot of memorable moments from tonight’s games, but like anyone who has stood…
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Video: Jason Maxiell sends Russell Westbrook’s layup to the moon
Nov 13, 2012, 12:52 AM EDT
The Pistons blew a double-digit lead at home to the Thunder, remaining winless at 0-8 on the season. Things obviously aren’t going great in Detroit, but at the very least, they were aesthetically pleasing tonight for the first time in a long time. Jason Maxiell was a big part of that. Although he is crazy…
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Game of the Night: Utah outlasts Toronto in triple-overtime thriller
Nov 13, 2012, 12:28 AM EDT
Ask a Schoolhouse Rock aficionado or a Utah Jazz fan tonight, and they’ll let you in on a little secret: 3 really is the magic number. The Utah Jazz traveled to Toronto to take on the Raptors, and the triple-overtime battle that ensued was not only the game of the night, but probably the game of the…
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Lakers hit the easy button, cruise to a 101-77 victory over Golden State
Nov 10, 2012, 1:06 AM EDT
In the middle of the third quarter, with the Lakers enjoying a double-digit lead, Kobe Bryant went to the free throw line. Typically, this is when Bryant is serenaded with the familiar “MVP! MVP!” chants from the Staples Center crowd. But that didn’t happen. It wasn’t because Kobe was having a bad night – quite…
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Video: Timberwolves beat the Pacers on a beautiful backdoor cut
Nov 9, 2012, 11:41 PM EDT
Chase Budinger really, really likes playing for Rick Adelman. He openly gushes about the opportunities Adelman’s corner offense creates for him, and how the principles of Adelman’s system mesh perfectly with his ability to shoot 3-pointers and make decisive cuts. With all the talk today after Mike Brown’s firing, it’s hard not to look at…
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Oklahoma City 97, Chicago 91: Kevin Durant cares little for your defense
Nov 8, 2012, 11:34 PM EDT
For roughly 45 minutes of gametime, the Oklahoma City Thunder looked awful. The Thunder led the NBA in turnovers last year, and in front of a national audience tonight, they showed why they might do it again this year, coughing the ball up 22 times on the evening. There were silly plays and overly ambitious…
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Denver 93, Houston 87: Kenneth Faried and the Nuggets get freaky
Nov 7, 2012, 11:55 PM EDT
Crunch time. Two possession game. James Harden has been completely locked up due to some stingy perimeter defense, but he still lurks as a viable closer. Rockets forward Patrick Patterson is hitting corner 3-pointers, which is apparently a thing that happens now. This has been a sloppy game, but it’s winning time for the Nuggets.…
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Video: Dirk Nowitzki sings “Born in the USA” and pretty much nails it
Nov 7, 2012, 2:57 PM EDT
Dirk Nowitzki is a man of great musical taste. He’s made beautiful music with Steve Nash in Dallas. He hums David Hasselhoff tunes (who doesn’t!?) at the free throw line. He belts out “We are the Champions” when he wins championships. And hey! He probably even knows who Bon Jovi is! Look, Dirk doesn’t need to…
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Short of wearing a helmet, there was pretty much nothing Cleveland Cavaliers rookie center Tyler Zeller could have done to protect against this injury. Zeller has been ruled out indefinitely after Cleveland’s win over the Clippers on Monday night, making it a little more bitter than sweet for the Cavs. Zeller suffered the injury after…
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Ugly players need love, too. For tonight’s Three Stars, we’ve got one of the nastiest looking jumpers you’ll ever see, a player who treats the paint like an island and everywhere else on the floor as molten lava, and a reformed grinder turning himself into a top scorer. Put on that hulking knee brace, grab…
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The Toronto Raptors got shelled by the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight, 108-88, but one loss in a great big season is likely the last thing on the mind of everyone in the Raptors organization right now. Emerging star Kyle Lowry, who has started the season as hot as anyone north of James Harden, has been…
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Gerald Henderson is having the worst week ever. It started about seven days ago, when the Bobcats opted not to extend his contract, despite the fact that he led them in scoring during the 2011-12 season. Then, Henderson had to watch draft classmate DeMar DeRozan get 40 million dollars over four years, despite the fact…
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Points are put on a pedestal in the NBA, so what happens when a team loses its big scorer to injury or simply doesn’t have one on the roster? Other guys step up. We tend to forget, but just about every NBA player (earmuffs, Reggie Evans) can score when given enough chances. It might not…
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So, who had the Bobcats, Magic, Bucks and Knicks all winning tonight? Of course you did. There were lots of upsets around the league, but who are the PBT Three Stars of the Night? Who is hanging out with Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan in the record books? And where in the world is Carmen…
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The advanced age of the Knicks has been a source of comedy this offseason, but the Miami Heat probably don’t think the Knicks are much of a joke after getting blown out, 104-84, at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks may be short on speed and athleticism with their role players, but it’s evident already that…
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When the Houston Rockets used the amnesty provision on Luis Scola, it was a pretty odd move. The Rockets were obviously juggling the numbers to make offers to both Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin this offseason, but it was still a little alarming to see a player of Scola’s caliber get cast aside for nothing…
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Getting hit with the cold truth hurts. Getting hit with it 37 times? Ask a Thunder fan how that feels. Here’s the truth, and it has been evident long before last night’s coming out party: James Harden is a star in this league. And no matter how you try to rationalize trading Harden while competing…
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Video: Metta World Peace the weatherman
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Video: Eastern Conference finals preview
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Video: Heat gearing for another physical battle
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Video: Phil Jackson compares MJ and Kobe
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Video: Grizzlies ready for 'running' Spurs
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Video: Durant won't 'compromise himself' like other stars
