LATEST STORIES FROM 20 SECOND TIMEOUT
Midseason Maestros
July 15, 2009 by
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This article was originally published in the March 2002 issue of Basketball Digest.The midseason NBA All-Star Game provides basketball fans a unique chance to see the sport's greatest players compete with and against each other. From Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell in the '...
James "Captain Late" Silas Commanded Respect in the Clutch
July 09, 2009 by
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This article was originally published in three parts at Suite101.com on February 28, 2005, March 8, 2005 and March 17, 2005.Before Tim Duncan made bank shots with the regularity of a metronome, before David Robinson ran the floor like a gazelle and before George "Iceman"...
Billy Cunningham: The “Kangaroo Kid” has Never Forgotten his Tar Heel Roots
July 05, 2009 by
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This article was originally published in the January 2006 issue of Tar Heel Monthly. Billy Cunningham was known as the “Kangaroo Kid” because of his tremendous leaping ability but that nickname also aptly describes how he successfully jumped from playing to coaching to broadcasting...
Artest versus Ariza
July 04, 2009 by
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"You're a player but only because you be playin' yaself."--Jeru the Damaja, "Ya Playin' Yaself"A prime example of the media's never-ending quest to completely misunderstand how basketball games are won and lost is the sudden elevation of Trevor Ariza...
Is There Mandatory Drug Testing at the Sporting News?
July 04, 2009 by
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According to a feature in the July 6, 2009 issue of the Sporting News called "SN's 2009-10 Power Poll," the Washington Wizards rank third in the NBA, just behind the reigning champion L.A. Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The reason given for that ranking is even more...
Stephon Marbury: Insert Your Own Punchline
July 04, 2009 by
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Stephon Marbury says that collecting roughly $18 million from the New York Knicks for not playing for the team in the 2008-09 season "mentally damaged" him. You cannot make this stuff up; just insert your own punchline--and I'll even give you a head start by quoting a...
Larry Miller: Tar Heel Legend and ABA Single Game Scoring Leader
July 02, 2009 by
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This article was originally published in the October 2005 issue of Tar Heel Monthly; since that time, L.A. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in a game versus the Toronto Raptors.Larry Miller won both the ACC Player of the Year Award and the ACC Tournament MVP in 1967 and 1968...
Etched in Time: George Vlosich III Turns a Child’s Toy into a Unique Sports Collectible
June 30, 2009 by
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A slightly different version of this article was originally published in the November 12, 2004 issue of Sports Collectors Digest under the title "Etch a Sketch Prodigy George Vlosich III Conquers New Worlds".The answers to the two questions most frequently asked of George...
Michael Jackson's Artistry Will Never be Matched or Forgotten
June 26, 2009 by
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It would be so much simpler if legends did not have feet of clay. When the great chess champion Bobby Fischer passed away last year, I wrote about his "mixed legacy." Michael Jackson passed away on Thursday at just 50 years of age and I am sure that most people know both...
Shaquille O'Neal Trade Overshadows Draft
June 26, 2009 by
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Several trades overshadowed Thursday's NBA Draft, with the biggest move--literally and figuratively--sending Shaquille O'Neal from Phoenix to Cleveland in exchange for Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, a conditional second round 2010 draft pick and cash.It is fascinating that for...
How Good are the Lakers Compared to Recent Championship Teams?
June 23, 2009 by
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The L.A. Lakers are often called the most talented and/or deepest team in the NBA. I am skeptical of both claims: the Boston Celtics at full strength are more talented--they have three future Hall of Famers--and there are many teams that have more productive benches than the Lakers...
Hal Greer: Productive, Consistent and Durable
June 23, 2009 by
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This article originally appeared in the January 2006 issue of Hoop.Star Guard on a Team for the Ages Hal Greer made the All-NBA Second Team seven straight years but never was selected to the All-NBA First Team. That’s what happens when you play during the same era as Oscar Robertson...
Deconstructing Bad Writing: Krolik's Slam Job on Kobe Bryant, Part II
June 22, 2009 by
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Part I of this series examined John Krolik's deeply flawed article about why game seven of the Lakers-Rockets series would prove to be the biggest game of Bryant's career.I casually referenced Krolik's article a few times in posts/comments at 20 Second Timeout, prompting...
Deconstructing Bad Writing: Krolik's Slam Job on Kobe Bryant, Part I
June 21, 2009 by
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I recently explained specifically why the "New and Improved Slam 2009 Top 50" is a subpar product. Writing is a craft and it is disappointing when people who are allegedly professionals do not take that craft seriously. I'm not trying to call out people by name--the only...
Walt Frazier: The Embodiment of Seventies Style
June 20, 2009 by
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This article originally appeared in the December 2005 issue of HoopClyde and the PearlWalt Frazier was the soul and the spirit of the New York Knicks in the early 1970s—unflappable, unselfish, versatile and smooth, he embodied the essence of what made those teams special. In game...
Slam Top 50 is a Typically Sloppy Production
June 18, 2009 by
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Someone who is affiliated with Slam/Slam Online recently emailed me and very cordially asked me to explain why I have made derogatory references to Slam/Slam Online. I responded by citing several specific examples that demonstrate what I call the "amateur hour" quality of...
The Greatest Scoring Machines in Pro Basketball History
June 17, 2009 by
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A slightly different version of this article was originally published in the January 2002 issue of Basketball Digest.When discussing the greatest scorers in pro basketball history it is only natural to look at career scoring average. Once a player scores 10,000 points or participates...
The Big Diesel is Getting Smaller and Smaller
June 17, 2009 by
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Shaquille O'Neal will always be a towering figure in basketball history but in the past few years he has become a little smaller. Kobe Bryant refuted O'Neal's profane, classless rap by leading the Lakers to the 2009 championship with a Finals MVP performance, proving that...
Cavs' 2009 Season Provided Reasons for Hope, Reasons for Concern
June 16, 2009 by
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The Cleveland Cavaliers stormed to the NBA's best regular season record (66-16), seemed to be invulnerable at home (39-2, including a meaningless late season loss during which the majority of their key players did not play) and swept through the first two rounds of the playoffs...
Kobe Bryant Literally Molded This Lakers' Team in his Hardworking Image
June 16, 2009 by
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People often speak of someone "making his teammates better" but it is not clear what this actually means or how one would go about doing this in the first place. I have declared that instead of that vague phrase I prefer to say, "Great players create openings and opportunities...
Maestro Bryant Orchestrates Lakers' Championship, Wins Finals MVP
June 15, 2009 by
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"I don't have to hear that idiotic criticism anymore."--Kobe Bryant, the 2009 Finals MVP trophy by his side, at the press conference after game give of the NBA FinalsKobe Bryant scored a game-high 30 points, led the L.A. Lakers in assists (five), blocked shots (four,...
Clutch Three Pointers by Fisher Lift Lakers to Commanding 3-1 Series Lead
June 12, 2009 by
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Couch potato coaches have been calling for Derek Fisher's head throughout the playoffs but the much maligned 34 year old point guard drained two clutch three pointers--one to force overtime and the second to give the L.A. Lakers the lead for good--as the Lakers defeated the Orlando...
Mark Heisler on Kobe Bryant's "Peaks and Valleys"
June 11, 2009 by
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I generally shy away from making the cliched Michael Jordan-Kobe Bryant comparisons: Jordan clearly had more career accomplishments--though Bryant may have enough time left to match Jordan, assuming Bryant goes on a late career championship splurge like Jordan did--and Jordan was physically...
Magic Set Finals Single Game Field Goal Percentage Record, Beat Lakers 108-104
June 10, 2009 by
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The Orlando Magic set an NBA Finals single game record by shooting .625 from the field and had five players score between 18 and 21 points as they defeated the L.A. Lakers 108-104, cutting the Lakers' lead to 2-1. The 1991 Chicago Bulls had held the Finals single game field goal...
There is a Little "Little Dez" in All of Us
June 08, 2009 by
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My favorite Nike "puppets" commercial is the one featuring "Little Dez":I think that everyone has a little "Little Dez" in him--at least until most of us are taught that it is not "cool" to be so outwardly and genuinely enthusiastic or to ask...
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