LATEST STORIES FROM WALTON'S WISDOM
Blazer Analysis
August 02, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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This has been a tumultuous offseason for the Portland Trailblazers. Whether you're pumped or baffled about the moves and the direction of the franchise, you have to agree to that much. Living in Portland, my 45 min morning commute is comprised of 35 min of Blazer analysis on the...
Trades Out-Hype the Draft
June 26, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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It is fitting that the draft commonly thought of as the weakest in years was outdone by trades. When Orlando and Cleveland met in the Eastern Conference Finals, Orlando walked away with the last laugh. On draft night, Orlando laughed last again by countering Cleveland's Shaq acquisition...
Trades Out-Hype the Draft
June 26, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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It is fitting that the draft commonly thought of as the weakest in years was outdone by trades. When Orlando and Cleveland met in the Eastern Conference Finals, Orlando walked away with the last laugh. On draft night, Orlando laughed last again by countering Cleveland's Shaq acquisition...
Picking Apart the Top Picks
June 24, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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Admittedly, it's all speculation at this point. . . but this year's draft class seems pretty weak.Browsing the sports cyber-world, I came across NBA.com's consensus mock draft, and was shocked by how many players with glaring weaknesses were projected as lottery picks....
Memorable Draft-Day Moves: LA Lakers
June 19, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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Now that the season is over, draft talk is in full swing. While this year's class bores me overall (although I contemplated a piece on Ricky Efron-Rubio), years past have provided all kinds of intriguing moments. Franchises have been built by ingenius picks and destroyed by negligent...
Live Game 4 Blog
June 11, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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Keep in mind, this is coming from a Laker fan. Thus, the below observations are completely biased.1st Quarter:- Kobe line-drives an 18-footer. 78 seconds in, we get our first teeth-clenching moment.- Gotta give it to Courtney Lee, he's got an awful lot of confidence for a rookie...
The 5 Most Polarizing Athletes of this Era
June 10, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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Polarize (v) - "To cause to concentrate about two conflicting or contrasting positions."In my previous post about Kobe Bryant, I called him the most polarizing figure in sports. With some inspiration from Knee Jerk, I put a little more thought into this claim, identifying...
In Winning, the Magic Proved They Have No Chance
June 10, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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The Magic played nearly flawless basketball, shooting an astounding 63% from the floor. Five Magic players scored at least 18 points, and Rafer Alston looked like he was a legitimate player (for once). Pietrus went French M.J. on a few shots, and most of the bounces went the way of...
Kobe Bryant and His Coat of Many Colors
June 08, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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As Kobe hones in on title #4, his supporters are applying the tanning oil in preparation of basking in his glory. It has been seven long years since title #3, and the non-stop chatter about his failure to win a championship without big brother can finally come to an end. To rest can...
The Magic Threw Away Game Two... and the Series.
June 08, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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Sorry, Cinderella... the shoe doesn't fit this time. Just got done with the most anticlimactic 3 hours of back-and-forth basketball I've ever been exposed to. I'm a Laker fan, the Lakers won an overtime game, and there were something like 21 lead changes in the fourth quarter...
How the Magic can Win this Series
June 05, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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SVG's Game One Surprise: Tony Battie?Game One ReactionAfter last night's bludgeoning, few have given the Magic a chance to win this series. Sure, the commentators have gone out of their way to remind us that this is just "one game," and that more often than not a...
Game One is Here!
June 04, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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Game one has finally arrived, and I couldn't be more excited. Even though the Magic wrapped up their series with the Cavs just 5 short days ago, it feels like it's been months since the last NBA telecast. So long, in fact, that I felt compelled to pick up the pencils and create...
Rashard Lewis and the Importance of #2
June 03, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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Continuing in my quest to chronicle role players, I turn to the opposition. Sure, it's hard to argue that a player with two all-star berths and multiple 20 ppg seasons is a "role player," but Rashard Lewis is still a player that is often overlooked. This is partially...
Player Profile: Derek Fisher
June 03, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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Derek Fisher doesn't get much publicity. He's rarely asked to take the podium for postgame interviews, hasn't had his name etched into the Hollywood walk of fame, and his house hasn't been featured on "Cribs." On the national scene, Fisher is just "that...
2009 NBA Finals Preview
June 01, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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I am about to step into the realm of NBA blogger redundancy. Over the next few days, every armchair expert in the blogosphere will be detailing his/her failproof assessment of how the Finals will be won and lost. Nevertheless, I'll add to the e-pile of meaningless analyses by giving...
No Conspiracy Here!
May 29, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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The age-old story of playoff fandom revolves around bellyaching about the officials. The NBA, more than any other professional sport, has been littered with "conspiracy theories," theories propagated by the fans of losing teams from smaller markets. These theories have been...
Player Profile: J.R. Smith
May 14, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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Over the past few months, I've been especially intrigued by the skillsets and personalities of complementary players on playoff teams. More so than the stars, I've spent some time analyzing the games and court behavior of players like J.R. Smith, Luis Scola, Derek Fisher, and...
Playoffs? Don't talk about playoffs! Playoffs?
May 12, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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This year's NBA playoffs have taught us a number of things:1) This is NOT your father's NBA. In fact, this ain't even your sister's WNBA. It's a shame these refs weren't around for the early stages of Enron, because their whistle-blowing would have saved public...
2009 Free Agents
May 11, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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With the much-anticipated summer of 2010 still more than a year away, I did a little research on who would be available this summer. Below are my picks for the top five UNRESTRICTED free agents (in no particular order): - BEN GORDON:The positives - We all know what B.G. can do: score...
Manny struck out, who's next?
May 11, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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The last twelve months have been a circus. Hence, my contributions to the blogosphere have been, shall we say, lacking. So to my four regular readers, I apologize. Now that I've gotten that off my plate, let's get back to talking sports.Manny, Manny, Manny... why hast thou...
Derrick Rose is a Freak
March 11, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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Even though I listed Rose as my #1 in my mock draft post, I never realized how athletic he was... this video is pretty ridiculous:
Why not send the NBA's best team to the Olympics?
March 11, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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Quite frankly, I'm concerned for this summer's Team U.S.A. Based upon Colangelo & Co's selections, it is quite obvious that they completely abandoned building the best "chemistry" team and instead offered invitations to the best available players, regardless...
Just for Fun
March 11, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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I took an art class as a college elective and decided I would draw a bunch of nba players for my final project. I forgot how much I liked doing it until last night when out of boredom I decided to pick up the pencil. As a tribute to my hometown Blazers, this is what I came up with...
Draft Grades - Western Conference
March 11, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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Here's my take on how all the teams in the West fared on Thursday:Minnesota: A-McHale made no bones about his "love" for Love. There was some talk that he might take him with #3, but for the first time in his tenure as GM, McHale outsmarted someone. He managed to get...
Draft Grades -- Eastern Conference
March 11, 2009 by
Walton's Wisdom
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Here are my unqualified draft grades for all the Eastern Conference teams...Chicago: B-Whenever you pick at #1, you inevitably end up picking who everyone else tells you to pick. It's just too big of a risk as a GM to take a shot in the dark with so many chips on the table. That...
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