Hooped Up

A lot of players will have much to prove next season but, these players have just that much more to prove.  

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Houston Rockets 7-6 center Yao Ming, sidelined since February with a stress fracture in his left foot, will probably return this week in an Olympic tuneup tournament for China, Chinese news media reported Tuesday.

Hu Jiashi, vice chief of the Chinese Basketball Association, said Yao might return at the annual round-robin Stankovic Cup in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. China’s first game is Thursday against Serbia. “Yao will definitely go to the Stankovic Cup … and the chance of him playing is very high,”

USA Today

The Rockets see Brent Barry as the first guy off the bench and potentially playing the point at the end of games. In those situations, they could have five scorers on the floor.

They love his passing skills. He has averaged more than five assists three different seasons.

They like the fact he has two championship rings and see him as a calming influence on the floor and off.

They think his personality, his professionalism, will fit nicely in a locker room that’s already as solid as any.

They like his versatility. Depending on the matchup, he could get his minutes at small forward, off-guard or the point. He’s right for Rick Adelman’s system.

Now to the real reason the Rockets pursued Brent Barry twice in four months. 

Houston Chronicle

Derrick Rose is going home, and a record crowd of freshmen are following him to the NBA. The Chicago Bulls selected Rose, who grew up on the city’s South Side, with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Thursday night, choosing the Memphis guard over Kansas State forward Michael Beasley.  Below are the rest of the NBA draft results.

Round 1 NBA Draft Results

Second round results after the jump Read the rest of this entry »

My damn, it’s expensive not wear a rubber! Especially if your an NBA player. Pearl Vega is set to receive a big pay day from Tracy McGrady a.k.a T-Mac, in child support. Wow!

Basketball star Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets must pay a Bradenton woman $54,156 a year in child support for their daughter, plus insurance and tuition, a Sarasota County circuit judge ruled.

The amount is far less than the $204,000 a year that Pearl Vega, 36, had argued would be more in line with McGrady’s $21.6 million annual income and give their child a lifestyle more equal to that of McGrady’s other children.

Circuit Judge Donna Berlin ruled that Vega had overstated the child’s needs and has “used child support to enhance her personal lifestyle and that of her other two children.”

Herald Tribune

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It looks like Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, might not play in the Stankovic Cup as he is still on the mend.

Rockets center Yao Ming moved a step closer to returning to the court with a good report from Monday’s checkup, but is a long way from being cleared to play, Yao’s agent John Huizinga said. Though there were reports out of China that Yao has been cleared and will play in the Stankovic Cup, Huizinga said that doctors have not cleared Yao for full practices and game action, and that it is premature to say whether he will play in that pre-Olympic event in Hangzhou, China, July 17-20.

Houston Chronicle

Not only is Yao Ming tall he is all so generous.

Houston Rockets center Yao Ming created a foundation with a $2 million donation to rebuild schools devastated by last month’s earthquake in his native China, the basketball star announced Tuesday.

The Yao Ming foundation will help raise funds to build earthquake-resistant schools in China, Yao said. Some of the money from U.S. charities would also go to school-building efforts in the United States.

The May 12 earthquake, which ravaged China’s Sichuan and Gansu provinces, killed 69,146 people, and 17,516 are still missing, the Chinese government said Tuesday. About 5 million people are homeless.

Houston Chronicle

Yao Ming is tall, and if you are shocked as many others are. There is a song that confirms this little know factoid of the 7′6″ center who is the tallest player in the NBA. In a league were tall people are freaks of nature and have never done well.

This has shocked and disturbed sports fans from all walks of life.

Even more controversial will be an answer track to “Yao Ming is Tall” by artist Nas that will be titled “Shaq is Black”. This has already cause a massive stir, as the NBA is not know for having any tall or black players.