The Atlanta Hawks beat the Portland Trailblazers on Monday night, halting Portland’s 6-game winning streak and sweeping the season series. With quality wins against Boston & Denver and a 9-2 record, it may be time to take these high-flying Hawks seriously.
The Hawks needed a 35 point effort from Joe Johnson & a 20 point and 16 rebound performance from Josh Smith to overcome the stubborn, division-leading Trailblazers 99-95 in overtime in Atlanta on Monday night. It’s beginning to look like the Hawks have the makings of a true winner for the first time since Dominique challenged Bird in the mid 1980s.
Save a road loss to the Lakers and an embarrassing gaffe against at Charlotte, the Hawks have taken care of business this year. They are undefeated at home (5-0) and managed and impressive road record of 4-2, including a win at Boston. But how are they doing it? Is it smoke and mirrors, lucky breaks, or are they legitimate contenders in the East?
Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat absolutely posterized Anderson Varejao of the Cleveland Cavaliers on a monster dunk, showing his vertical leap and power.
Dunking is almost entirely dependent on your vertical leap. If you can increase your vertical, you have a better chance to throw down at the rim.
Part of jumping higher involves building up your leg muscles. Plyometrics (exercising design to mimic game-time jumping) can be very effective in building muscles. Additionally, technique is important. Visualizing yourself jumping higher can often add a few inches, as can swinging your arms upward.
LeBron & Wade are the current and future stars of the NBA. They showed the rest of the league why when they clashed in Miami on Thursday.
A much anticipated, star-studded clash took place in the NBA on Thursday as LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers visited Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat. When you look to star power in the NBA, few shine as bright as LeBron and Wade. They are the #1 & #2 centerpieces of a dynamite 2010 free agency class. Friends off the court, and respectful adversaries on the court, LeBron & Wade have even mused about playing together one day — though desired salaries and existing cap space will make that likely impossible.
“I like playing against LeBron more than anybody else in the league,” Wade said. “He brings out the best in me, and I bring out the best in him.”
The All-Star duel took place amid speculation James and Wade might become teammates next season.
Arenas was two assists shy of a triple double in loss to Miami — but only if you count turnovers! His 12 turnovers were the most in the NBA since Wade in 2007.
You can blame injuries to All-Stars like Jamison for the Wizards’ slow start, but on Tuesday night, it all came down to Gilbert Arenas and his inability to hold onto the ball!
There may be 10 guys on the NBA court, but sometimes it is man v. man. Wade & Arenas did battle on Wednesday night with Wade’s 40 trumping Arenas’ 32.
If there was any question as to whether Arenas has his game back, it was answered with a definite YES on Wednesday night. Arenas did battle with Dwyane Wade and their showdown was must-see-tv. But it was Dwyane Wade, who had an MVP-level season last year, who came out on top.
Wade outdueled Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas, who scored 32, in a game that was deadlocked down the stretch until the final minute. With the game tied at 89 and a minute left, Wade made plays when he needed to and Arenas couldn’t answer. Source: Yahoo! Sports
Expect more great match-ups like this as the NBA season wears on. If Washington is going to make any noise in the NBA, they need Agent Zero at his absolute best. Though the supporting cast of Butler, Miller, & Haywood are chipping in admirably, it is up to Gilbert to keep the ship afloat until Jamison returns.
Any idea who is leading the NBA in made 3 pointers? Raise your hand if you’ve never heard of Danilo Gallinari…because he is the next pure shooter in the NBA.
Though it is dangerous to extrapolate small numbers into large numbers, it is impossible to ignore what is happening at Madison Square Garden. There in the bright lights of New York City, a 21-year old, 6 foot 10 inch Italian is putting on a show like we haven’t seen in some time. The 6th pick in the 2008 draft by the Knicks, Danilo Gallinari did very little his rookie season.
With Mike D’Antoni firmly in control, and with an extra year under his belt, Danilo has been unchained and he is firing away from 3 point land. In three games he has 18 3 pointer. Not attempts, but 18 made 3 pointers…and shooting at a better than 50% clip from downtown. Some guys might have suspected that this kid could play, but no one could have foreseen the volume and efficiency with which the Italian Assassin could stroke the ball.
No doubt the second year player will find it hard to keep up such a pace, but given the volume of shots available in the Knick offense, and his recent insertion into the starting lineup, this could be a sign of things to come. Even the return of little Nate won’t take the ball out of his hands.
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