Hooped Up

Back to his old self, Richard Hamilton scores 30 as Pistons beat Kings
Hamilton scored 30 points and Detroit pulled away in the third quarter to defeat the struggling Sacramento Kings, 101-89, on Tuesday night.

“He’s getting his legs back, that’s important,” Pistons coach John Kuester said. “He’s coming off screens well, and it’s allowing him to get good looks.”

Hamilton severely sprained an ankle in the first game of the season and didn’t return until the second week of December. It has taken a while for his game to come around completely.

Averaging 30.5 points in his past four games, he made 12-of-20 shots and hit all five free throws to extend his streak to 51 in a row.
Michigan Live

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Another van glorious season of NBA basketball is about to begin and Hooped Up does a quick and dirty preview of all 30 clubs.

Since making automobile references are mandatory when talking about the Pistons. This summer, Detroit got a new driver in head coach John Kuester plus brand new after market bolt on parts Charlie Villanueva, Ben Gordon and Chris Wilcox. But will they get better performance out of their upgraded whip? Read More »

The Boston Celtics appear willing to make major roster changes to balance a chance for a championship run and future financial flexibility. The Celtics offered Ray Allen andRajon Rondo to the Detroit Pistons for a package that includedRichard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Rodney Stuckey, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. Boston general manager Danny Ainge and Detroit’s Joe Dumars never spoke, but rather the Celtics had a lower-level executive make the pitch to aPistons official over the past weekend, league sources said. Detroit immediately rejected the idea, and it never advanced to the two top executives speaking about particulars. This isn’t an uncommon occurrence for a GM like Ainge to dispatch an underling to make that kind of a call, if for no other reason to give the top executive some level of deniability that he’s shopping his stars.

Yahoo! Sports

The Shanghai leg of an NBA cheerleading-squad contest yesterday selected eight cheerleaders for the semifinals. The eight may have the chance to go to the United States to perform at an NBA game, organizers said.

Arranged by China Central Television’s sports channel, Tsingtao Beer and the National Basketball Association, the contest will take place in 48 cities across the country over the next six months. The Shanghai leg, held at Shanghai University, was the second preliminary contest.

The contest is divided into six areas. Each area will select eight cheerleaders from 12 squads. A total of 48 cheerleaders will participate in the semifinals in Guangzhou and Xi’an. Twelve will be selected to take part in the finals in Beijing. They will be flown to the US for professional cheerleading training and may get the chance to perform at an NBA game.

At the first preliminary heat, held in Jinan, Shandong Province, on June 2, NBA star Richard Hamilton was there to encourage the cheerleaders.

Shanghai Daily

Rip Hamilton goes the illegal route to find more mask options. Too bad he couldn’t score the Mask Of Vulcan too, it woulda been sweet!

Since 2003 – 2004, Richard Hamilton has worn his now trademark protective mask due to a few nose fractures too many and he now wears it so he won’t break his nose again. The other reason Hamilton has kept the mask on is because he feels it brings him good luck.

But since the Pistons stink and Rip is coming off the bench now, the good luck has run out and Richard Hamilton needs new options. 

So here are the Top 5: Other Mask Options For Rip Hamilton.

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The latest Air Jordan commercial hit the Interweb a few days ago, and sure it has Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Joe Johnson and Richard Hamilton. But still, in my opinion Nike missed something and the talk online about it so far has been all over the place.

What do you guys think?

This season the Iverson highlight package is a little lower than usual, but this amazing bounce pass he makes to a streaking Rip Hamilton for a lay up. Is proof that good things take time.

Like a delicious pizza!

The Pistons are still trying to adjust to life without Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton coming off the bench is there latest experiment to get back on track. 

“As expected, Detroit Pistons coach Michael Curry has called on eight-year starter Richard Hamilton to come off the bench, and once again inserted forward Amir Johnson into the starting lineup. “Whatever it takes to win a championship — I’m all for it,” Hamilton said. Curry, whose Pistons followed a seven-game winning streak with a five-game losing streak recently, announced the switch at practice Tuesday. The Pistons host Toronto on Wednesday night with the latest lineup switch ready to go.”

Grand Rapids Press

Stephen Jackson has a slightly injured eye, after being poked in it by Chris Kaman, but he’ll be in Davy Jones’ Locker before he’ll wear protective goggles or stop taking shots at Rip Hamilton and his mask mi maties, tis true.

“No goggles. No, no, no. Never. I’m not going to be like Rip Hamilton, where my nose is broken eight years ago and I still wear a mask,” said Jackson, who injured the same eye during the preseason. “The only way I’ll wear a patch is if my eye’s closed. I’d rather stay with Captain Jack, not Pirate Jack.”

San Francisco Gate