Hooped Up

Out of all the guys on the Raptors that stand around waiting for a clear shot because they can’t put the ball on the floor to create one. Jason Kapono was maybe the best of the bunch which may or may not be a bad thing for Toronto. So today, Bryan Colangelo decided to shake things up by trading sharp shooting Kapono to the 76ers for hard nose rebounder Reggie Evans.

“We are too nice, we are too nice as a group. Collectively, the group is too nice,” the Raptors president said last month. “That’s not to say you’ve got to go out and get bad guys [but] when you step on the court, you better have some fight. I think some of the guys were saying you better have some dog in you … in terms of what we’re looking to do when we’re addressing personnel this summer, we’re going to be bringing in perhaps players with a different mentality.”

With this deal the Raptors will save $1.2-million in salaries this season and $1.5-million next year. It’s a good thing Reggie Evans is already familiar with Toronto’s offense thanks to Vince Carter.

Via Globe & Mail

Eddie Jordan had been linked to the Philadelphia 76ers coaching job since December. He was friends with team president Ed Stefanski from their days together in New Jersey, making him a natural contender to fill the first seat on the bench. It just took Jordan until May to get the job.

The former Wizards and Kings coach was introduced in Philadelphia on Monday with a promise that his Princeton offense can turn the Sixers into Eastern Conference contenders.

“This team has a good core group, has future stars in the waiting, they’ve had playoff experience for two years,” Jordan said. “Now it’s time to go uptown.” Continue »

Sam Dalembert is a Canadian despite the fact that  Leo Rautins won’t let him on the Canadian national basketball squad (boo!), and on this play he proves it. Watch as Dalembert chases down this loose ball like a hard nose hockey player chases a puck into the corner with reckless abandonment, and then passes it to Iggy who slams it upstairs where mom keeps the peanut butter.

If this doesn’t convince you that Dalembert is Canadian, you should have seen the Poutine eating clinic he put on after the game.

As part of the annual perfect bikini storm that is the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. SI has added 10 NBA Dancers to this years mix, for Category 5 results!

Now enough with the weather talk, let it rain NBA Dancers after the jump.

Continue »

Elton Brand can’t catch a break these days! After signing a five-year $80 million deal  with the Philadelphia 76ers as a free-agent this summer. Brand will now miss the rest of the 08 - 09 season to undergo surgery on his right shoulder, as a result of dislocating it on December 17, 2008. 

After the initial injury, Brand missed the next 16 games before returning in mostly a limited role for the 76ers.

Of course last season, Brand only played the final eight games of the 07 - 08 season with the LA Clippers due to a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in the summer of 2007. 

Currently, the 76ers are 24 - 24 and 7th in the eastern conference.

Via Sporting News

Shawn Bradley ain’t dead but some how, Andre Iguodala made Yao Ming channel his ghost for this dunk. The one time it sucks to be 7′6″, is when you’ve been served!

Getting a technical foul for slapping a guy on the butt is apparently a new rule in the NBA and Reggie Evans was the first player to get hit up, after slapping Kyle Korver on the @ss last night in Utah.  

Demi Moore is sure gonna be pissed that somebody laid hands on her boy toy!

Via NESW Sports + Ball Don’t Lie

The news just got worst for the 76ers today, after the results came back regarding the injury suffered by Elton Brand last night.  

“Philadelphia 76ers forward Elton Brand is expected to be sidelined for month with a dislocated right shoulder, the team announced Thursday.

Brand jammed his shoulder in the third quarter of Wednesday’s game against Milwaukee when he was upended by Bucks rookie forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.

An MRI revealed Brand suffered a fracture of the humeral bone and a tear of the labrum. Sixers team physician Dr. Jack McPhilemy said Brand’s injury will not require surgery at this time.”

National Post

After a 9-14 start, one time 76ers player turned coach Maurice Green was fired making him the fifth coach to get
“whacked out”  this young NBA season.  Assistant general manager Tony DiLeo was appointed head coach of the 76ers, for the rest of 2008-09 season and won his first game a few hours after Cheeks was shown the door 104 - 89 against the visiting Washington Wizards.

Other coaches fired so far this season include P.J. Carlesimo (Oklahoma City), Eddie Jordan (Washington), Sam Mitchell (Toronto) and Randy Wittman (Minnesota).

The good news regarding Brand’s injury is that it’s not his achilles! The bad news is that it’s his hamstring.

“After the game, Sixers coach Maurice Cheeks said that Brand had suffered a hamstring injury when he took him out for good with 4:49 left in the third quarter.

A Sixers spokesman, after consulting with team physician Dr. Jack McPhilemy, said Brand reported the injury midway through the fourth quarter. By then, he had been sitting for nearly an entire quarter.

Brand wasn’t available after the game, getting treatment with the door to the trainer’s room shut. Brand will be re-examined today. He was diagnosed with a strained right hamstring.”

Courier Post