Yardbarker: Kenny Smith

Comedian Mike Polk Takes on TNT's 'Inside the NBA'

Fri, 29 May 2009 02:28:55 -0500

Click the link below to view the video. Comedian Mike Polk is a Cleveland native who has put some hilarious clips on YouTube. One of which was a Cleveland Tourism video which deadpans all of the great reasons to visit the city. Well, Polk took the challenge of making a video of TNT's "Inside the NBA" crew of Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Reggie Miller. It is awesome and the guys over at TNT felt the same way. So enjoy!

Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller, and Kenny Smith Give Their Top 5

Wed, 20 May 2009 19:49:17 -0500

Reggie Miller started things off by giving his all-time NBA top 5: PG - Magic Johnson SG - Michael Jordan SF - Larry Bird PF - Hakeem Olajuwon C - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Then Reggie and Kenny Smith got Barkley to give his: PG - John Stockton SG - Michael Jordan SF - Larry Bird PF - Bill Russel C - Wilt Chamberlain I am not sure [...]

Another reason to like Manny Pacquiao | WILD BEATDOWNS!

Mon, 11 May 2009 10:17:16 -0500

Manny Pacquiao with his best Braveheart impersonationHeads Up : Scotsbox1As if Manny Pacquiao isn't already amazing, here's another reason to like him :His ability to forgive and progress.From all accounts, the Philippines is a nation whose society is heavily characterized by clear demarcations in class, status and inequality of wealth. Manny Pacquiao came from the bottom rung of that ladder.Many people develop chips on their shoulders as they rise from rags to riches, getting ready t...

Ron Artest is a foxhole guy …

Thu, 07 May 2009 16:22:06 -0500

… just like Charles Barkley & Kenny Smith said. Yours truly has always had a soft spot for “players” with gifts like that.

Create The Caption #386

Wed, 06 May 2009 11:52:22 -0500

(Usually) Everyday I'll throw out a photo, you provide the caption, and then hilarity ensues. I'm also adding a handful of links at the bottom of the page that you should check out each day.Yesterday's Winners...."Kobe Bryant....you are.... NOT THE FATHER!"- That's My Story...."You aren't getting any special treatment until I see a $4 million ring on this finger!"- Wade Robertson"CUT! Kobe, this is a documentary. Stop over-acting!"- D Whit&quo...

The Run Out Versus the Block Out

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:58:27 -0500

It has been an interesting series between the Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat. Both teams have ratcheted up the physicality and the list of injured is growing on both sides. I know Kenny Smith on TNT keeps talking about how he hates the Hawks half-court offense, he calls it dribble-dribble, dribble-dribble... But I actually think it works well for the mix of speed and athleticism that the Hawks have.

But what I wanted to talk about was this one play at the end of the 3rd quarter. The game was already well in hand with the Hawks up by 15 or so, but I think it illustrates an important point for all coaches to consider. If you like to play fast, you teach your players to close out shooters and run out on the break. That's what the Heat do here, but it backfires on them on and Flip Murray of the Hawks gets the offensive rebound and goes to the hoop and picks up the foul and makes 2 FTs,

I guess what I'm trying to say is not so much that teaching the run out is a bad strategy or tactic. But that as a coach, you have to do a cost-benefit analysis. How many more points can we score with the run out versus how many points we give up by allowing more offensive rebounds against. Much also depends on the talent of your players. Against a much bigger team you may give up more offensive rebounds anyways, so running out may make sense. Or even with a run out, how many points can you expect to score if you have a slow team.

Obviously, in this scenario at the end of the quarter, it would've been ideal to say always block out first. It requires a player with a high basketball IQ to recognize that in an end of quarter/game scenario, the better option is to block out and rebound down. But as coaches we often teach players not to over-think and just do, so Cook was just doing as opposed to thinking.

Summary:

Its perhaps presumptuous to say that had the Heat secured the rebound, gone the other way and scored, maybe they would have won the game. But still, one cannot underestimate the psychological impact of closing to within 11 or 10 points.

As for the series overall, the Heat have still been too inconsistent shooting from the outside to win this series. Kudos to Hawks head coach Mike Woodson for sticking with the defensive strategy of forcing the Heat to beat them with outside shooting. With the exception of Game 2, the Heat have really struggled to find any kind of shooting rhythm, and as the series has gotten more physical, the harder it has even become. The problem for the Hawks though, is that this strategy will only work with the Heat, the Cavs are too good of a shooting team for it to work against the Cavs.

For more rebounding information, check out Jim Calhoun's brand new DVD on Rebounding and Basketball Wisdom. Coach Calhoun is the long time head coach of the UConn Huskies who made it to this season's Final Four in Detroit. Don't forget to check out the X's and O's Basketball Forum to discuss this and any of your favorite basketball topics.

Chris Webber Goes Off On Kenny Smith on TNT

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:14:21 -0500

C Webb is not a fan of the Orlando Magic or I should say he is not a fan of how the Orlando Magic ignores big man Dwight Howard from time to time. The Magic blew home court advantage today to the 76ers mainly because they started jacking up threes and missing a lot of them. Meanwhile Howard had 31 points but did not see the ball a lot down the stretch. Chris had some issues with that. While Kenny and Charles tried to be a diplomatic about it Chris let everyone especially Kenny Smith know how...

24 seconds with Dwight Howard, his best moves, Video

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:35:15 -0500

24 seconds with Dwight Howard, his best moves, Video. The title speaks for itself. These are Dwight Howard’s best sit down dance moves. Maybe he needs to have a sit down dancing contest with Kenny Smith.

Kenny Smith vs Chris Webber, Birthday Cakes, Video

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:47:04 -0500

Kenny Smith vs Chris Webber, Birthday Cakes, Video. The TNT crew is back to their old tricks. Charles Barkley is back. They are throwing birthday parties, and pulling pranks. They give the Jet his tiny UNC cake and then wheel out Chris Webber?s giant U of M cake. Kenny is not Kenny is ...

Charles Barkley Exploding Golf Ball Prank by Kenny Smith, Video

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:04:41 -0500

Charles Barkley Exploding Golf Ball Prank by Kenny Smith, Video. The TNT crew is just too funny. Charles Barkley was showing off his new golf swing that Hank Haney helped him with, which is a great improvement, and Kenny Smith had the great idea to pull the timeless exploding golf ball prank. ...

Charles Barkley Kicks Off The NBA Season In Controversial Style

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:24:16 -0500

You know it's NBA time when I have two Charles Barkley nuggets in one day. This one is actually far more crazy than the first though. Charles and Kenny Smith were in NYC for a TNT luncheon and the TNT analyst was apparently not holding back one bit. Not only did the "Round Mound of Rebound" say that Portland is overrated, that Patrick Ewing is rolling over in his grave (in reference to the Knicks) AND that he "never understood 'off the record,' you can't just s...

Basketball is back on TNT

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:36:11 -0500

Everyone is talking about the Boston big man Rick Melanson being a reason why the Red Sox made an improbable comeback in last night's game. The Gardner resident did so by taking his shirt off to get the Fenway faithful energized. Although a nice story, I am more interested in the TNT Graphics team working their magic with the video and superimposing Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith. It was a great segway to the NBA on TNT. -Awesome AwfulAnnouncing

Superman is in the building

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:29:53 -0500

"We gotta check in that cape and see if there's some helium in there." Dwight Howard's Superman routine stole the show at the NBA Slam Dunk contest. Magic Johnson loved it. Kenny Smith loved it. The whole crowd loved it. But it probably wasn't even his best dunk, and technically it wasn't even a dunk because he never touched the rim. That didn't matter, though, because the judges loved it, too. Dwight Howard is the 2008 slam-dunk champion. Just like Charles B...