Archives › Kurt Helin
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Not much you can really take away from a game both teams treated like an exhibition, save that it is a lot of fun to watch Team USA in the open court.
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It’s one of the most divisive of question in basketball, right up there with “is David Kahn as bad a GM as Isiah Thomas?” You’re up three, there’s 10 seconds left in the game and the other team has the ball. Do you foul and send them to the line for two free throws? If…
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Bulls to give Scottie Pippen a statue outside United Center. Yes, same size as Jordan's.
Aug 25, 2010, 5:33 PM EDT
It’s been a good month to be Scottie Pippen. First, he gets to bask in the spotlight of the Hall of Fame inductions, without the looming shadow of Michael Jordan in his way. Now, he gets his own statue outside the United Center. It will be unveiled at some point near the end of this…
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Winderman: It's okay not to get excited about the World Championships
Aug 25, 2010, 4:41 PM EDT
As the telltale economic numbers will eventually show, productivity was down across America on Wednesday afternoon. Such is the result of a nation shutting down to catch the riveting drama that is U.S.-Greece international basketball. Or not. Somehow, we’re having a hard time getting caught up in World Championships fever. So, for that matter, apparently…
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You know Luol Deng is a Chicago Bull and maybe as the star of Great Britain’s national team in basketball. But he was born in war-torn Sudan. One of the lucky refugees to get out alive and to get a real chance somewhere. He went back to the Sudan recently, along with a crew from…
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As is happening all over the nation right now, there was a high-level pickup game at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. last night. Some NBA guys, some borderline NBA guys, probably some college guys, all getting together for a little run that makes your weekly YMCA game look woefully unathletic. New Wizards owner Ted…
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You can read about as much into the USA win over Greece Wednesday as you can the final NFL exhibition game of the season. All 12 USA players saw the court in the first half. Greece didn’t even suit up its two best big men. Because these teams could meet in games that really matter…
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We told you yesterday Doc Rivers said the Lakers “still have not beaten our starting five,” implying that if Kendrick Perkins had been healthy for Game 7 the outcome would have been different. The Lakers were quiet on that. Phil Jackson probably didn’t notice, Kobe Bryant probably mentally filed that away in the “anger/motivation” file…
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Today's Carmelo Anthony speculation: It's all about the exciseman
Aug 25, 2010, 12:57 PM EDT
It appears that if Carmelo Anthony leaves Denver his preferred destinations are Houston and New York. Which baffles New Yorkers. How could any sane human being choose any city over New York, let alone one in Texas? Doesn’t Anthony realize that all the best restaurants, the best shops, the best people are in New York?…
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This is video of Yao Ming working out yesterday, the first of his public workouts (hat tip to Trey Kerby at Ball Don’t Lie). He is still tall and still has a deft touch. That is Chuck Hayes talking smack by the way. The question about Yao is can he stay healthy this season. Good…
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Bobcats still looking to trade Erick Dampier, not just set him free
Aug 25, 2010, 10:26 AM EDT
This much we know: Erick Dampier will not be playing for the Charlotte Bobcats this season under his current $13 million contract. Dampier’s contract is not guaranteed, meaning he can simply be waived and the money comes off a team’s payroll. That kind of contract has value a lot of places. One of three things…
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The conventional wisdom out there is that Michael Jordan ruined Kwame Brown, and with that the two men can’t stand each other. But then explain how Jordan signed off on inking Brown to a one-year deal with the Charlotte Bobcats? You can’t. Brown told the Charlotte Observer that the perception of their relationship is wrong.…
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The Denver general manager job will not be going to a name you know (unless you are an NBA front office insider, and even then). Former Suns executive David Griffin turned down the job, according to Ric Bucher of ESPN. So to be clear, an unemployed guy just turned down the job. That’s not really…
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Remember what a disaster Michael Jordan was playing baseball? The well done ESPN 30 for 30 movie “Jordan Rides the Bus” has come along to remind us that why we thought Jordan went to play baseball was wrong. Oh, and that he was pretty good at it, as Eric Freeman notes at Early Termination Option…
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USA vs. Spain rematch probably a semi-final game at World Championships
Aug 25, 2010, 8:29 AM EDT
For the first half of the 1990s in the NFL, the NFC championship game was the defacto Super Bowl. Dallas and San Francisco (usually) played that game with everyone knowing full well they would crush whomever they met in the Super Bowl. That’s pretty much how the FIBA World Championships will go. If the USA…
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The Midnight Madness dunk contest in England — yes, Great Britian, across the pond — has a reputation as the best around. A well deserved reputation. Check this out, with legendary street ballers Easy J and Jus Fly. (via SLAM) And why not invite these guys to the All-Star Weekend dunk contest again?
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Another Denver contract sits unsigned, Nuggets offer David Griffin GM job but no deal
Aug 24, 2010, 9:25 PM EDT
What is it with nobody signing the contracts the Denver Nuggets are offering lately? The Denver Nuggets have offered Suns executive David Griffin their general managers job, but the two sides are still negotiating money, according to Sam Amick at FanHouse. A source close to the process said the holdup has everything to do with…
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Like everyone else in the country, we’ve taken a hard look at our business and found out that you can’t do business today like we did three years ago. We had some major cuts throughout the organization. We’re very lean now. We’re trim. We have no fat. Our goal is to get more fans into…
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Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard will be "Amazing" on the big screen
Aug 24, 2010, 7:25 PM EDT
I’ll take “movies destined for midnight showing cult status” for 400, Alex… Following in the footsteps of Ray Allen (in a good movie, “He Got Game“) and Shaquille O’Neal (what to say about “Kazaam“…), Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard are going to star in a movie together. Currently titled “Amazing,” it will be directed by…
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Could Portland's Nate McMillan really be on the hot seat? Yes, yes he can.
Aug 24, 2010, 6:38 PM EDT
Nate McMillan has been at the helm of a basketball renaissance in Portland. This was a team that won 21 games his first year with a roster led by Zach Randolph and Darius Miles — a roster that needed an overhaul. That overhaul came and so did the wins (and a better reputation). Two years…
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On opening night, after the Lakers put up their banner and get their rings, they are going to have to deal with Yao Ming. Monday Rockets doctors cleared Yao for basketball activities and Tuesday he was on the court banging bodies with Chuck Hayes and others, according to the Rockets official Web site. “Yesterday when…
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Carlos Boozer sees the Bulls right there with the Heat, East elite
Aug 24, 2010, 4:18 PM EDT
Carlos Boozer is one of those guys shifting the power in the East. He has gone from a loaded Jazz team that couldn’t quite get past the Lakers in the West to a loaded Bulls team that nobody thinks can get past Boston or Miami in the East. Boozer doesn’t see it that way; he…
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Kwame Brown in Charlotte means Dampier will be waived… Miami anyone?
Aug 24, 2010, 3:51 PM EDT
Want to add to the conspiracy theory, anyone? If anyone could add a new, quality center to their roster right now it would be Pat Riley, the magician who has been pulling rabbits out of his hat all summer long as it is. Here’s how… and we’ll start with the facts. The Charlotte Bobcats signed…
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It was a tough injury at the time: Mehmet Okur going down with a ruptured Achilles tendon in the Jazz’s first playoff game. It meant he out for the playoffs — and the fate of the Jazz was sealed. It also meant the native of Turkey would miss the FIBA World Championships his nation is…
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I’ve played pickup games on some pretty rutty outdoor courts before, but this would take the cake. It is in Poland, part of a new sports complex where they needed a field to use for soccer too (according to the translation) so here you go. (Thanks to reader Marek Dziuba for the tip) As SLAM’s…
