2nd Round- September 19 @ 1215AM and 3AM
Semifinals- September 20 @ 1230AM and 3AM3rd Place- September 21 @ 1230AM

Finals- September 21 @ 315AM

BTV

2nd Round- September 19 @ 1215AM and 3AM
Semifinals- September 20 @ 1230AM and 3AM
3rd Place- September 21 @ 1230AM
Finals- September 21 @ 315AM

BTV

2nd Round- September 19 @ 1215AM and 3AM
Semifinals- September 20 @ 1230AM and 3AM
3rd Place- September 21 @ 1230AM
Finals- September 21 @ 315AM

BTV

ESPN
Sky Cable 31
Destiny 82

The LeBron 2 on 2 commercial.

After months of waiting, the NBA will finally lay down the curtains on the 2007 Draft. More than a hundred basketball prospects from all over the world will be on the pool, but only 60 will actually hear their names being called by the Commissioner. To date, the top mock draft outlets: draftexpress.com, nbadraft.net, espn.com, sportsillustrated.com to name a few, are jockying in position as to who makes the most accurate hits. I still think nbadraft.net makes the most sensible and most accurate mocks but when it comes to scouting reports, no one comes close to draftexpress.com. The consensus top 3 picks are: Ohio State's Greg Oden, Texas' Kevin Durant, and Florida's Al Holford. Picks 4 and below could be wild and woolly: Florida's Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer are attracting attention, as well as Georgetown's Jeff Green, China's Yi Jianlian, Ohio State's Mike Conley, Washington's Spencer Hawes, UNC's Brandan Wright, Kansas' Julian Wright, and Florida State's Al Thornton. Excited already? Sit back, relax and enjoy the show. The NBA Draft will be shown tomorrow, Friday, live on BTV (Basketball Channel) on cable starting 7:00 am.

What makes the draft more exciting? Well, for one, there are a lot of activities going on in NBA circles. There are deals being discussed, players being moved, and superstars being dangled. Recent talks have centered on Minnesota's disgruntled star Kevin Garnett. The latest I've heard is a multi-team deal that sends the 6-11 superstar to the Phoenix Suns. In that deal, the Suns would ship Amare Stoudamire to the Atlanta Hawks, while the Hawks send their number 3 and 11 picks in tomorrow's draft, along with Anthony Johnson and Zaza Pachulia to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves could use those picks to draft Florida's Al Holford and Georgia Tech's Javaris Crittenton or Texas A&M's Acie Law to form a solid young nucleus together with incoming sophomores Randy Foye and Craig Smith. The Hawks under this deal would have a pair of exciting frontcourt players in Josh Smith and Stoudamire and make them instant contenders in the East.

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the making of after the jump:

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It occurred to me when I woke up today that if the NBA Finals would've gone all the way to 7 games, I'd be waking up pretty excited right now. Instead, we got Kobe news. Again. And I gotta tell you, I really don't know what to think anymore.

See, there's Kobe the player we know (and love??) and hundreds of thousands of kids emulate. His stats are astounding to say the least. To sum it up: All-NBA honors in each of the last eight seasons (First Team in 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2005-06, Second Team in 2000-01 and 1999-2000 and Third Team in 1998-99 and 2004-05), NBA’s All Defensive six times (First Team in 2005-06, 2003-04, 2002-03 and 1999-2000 and Second Team in 2001-02 and 2000-01), A starter for the Western Conference All-Star Team in each of the last eight games (2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000 and 1998 - no game in 1999) … Led all NBA players in voting for the 2003 All-Star Game, youngest player ever to score 10,000 - 16,000 career points, 1997 Gatorade Slam Dunk Championship, and most importantly, 3 NBA Championship Rings, in 1999-2000, 2000-2001, and 2001-2002. A lot of people seem to forget that.

Then there's the ugly side:

And the truth is, I don't wanna put a link to that, because to me, that is not basketball. That is a player, a player of great magnitude true, but just a player all the same, making himself less of what he should be.

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Some people feel that Anderson Verajao failed his team last Game 3 when he failed to give the ball back to Lebron James after receiving a pass, forcing an ugly shot well that missed and might have cost them the game. Today, at Game 4, some will likely blame Lebron James for an unforced 4th quarter turnover when, receiving the long rebound after a Ginobili miss, he hurriedly dribbles the ball onto his foot, sending it sailing out of bounds, again probably costing them the game.

I have a somewhat bigger outlook on issues like that basketball - wise. See, errors are errors, they happen or they don't. The bigger issue for me is, why is your team in such an improbable situation where something like that would be so crucial? And why does it happen so consistently?

Whenever I hear about the San Antonio Spurs being boring, I have to wince. To me, of course they're boring. See, when a good team has got all its players playing well - their offense is top - notch, their defense is suffocating, and everyone is working like the cogs of a wheel that they are, like one cohesive unit, then yes, it actually gets boring to watch.

The 90's Bulls, if you can remember, were also boring their way to a 70+ winning streak. So were the Lakers during their run. They just get soooo smooth, so well - oiled that it's like watching an engine turn. There's no drama since they execute so perfectly. There's no wild unforced turnovers, no forced shots, no out - of - rhythm plays and no must - make Hail Mary shots at the end - because they didn't need any. They usually result in such masterful blowouts that by the last five minutes the 2nd stringers are left on the court trying to get some minutes.

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And so goes LeBron's final, vain attempt at salvaging Game 3 of the NBA Finals, where he tries to convince referee Bob Delaney 3 things. 1. The Cavaliers don't suck, 2. The Cavaliers don't suck, and, what else.. oh yeah: 3. Bruce Bowen tried to foul him before he went up on an all - out - game - hanging - on - the - line - don't - have - a - chance - in - hell - but - we've - put - ourselves - in - this - hole - so - we - have - no - choice, - miracle - 18 - footer.

And so it didn't go in, and Delaney in true time honored NBA official fashion, kept his whistle to himself during important situations. Lebron can make speeches or dance the robot or do anything he likes, and that doesn't change a thing. The Spurs are now ahead 3 to the Cavs' big egg of a ZERO, and will in all likelihood wrap this all up on Fri, or if not, probably Sunday.

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A report by Gerry Ramos at People's Journal bared that PBA comish Noli Eala is considering the likes of Virginia's 6-11 Greg Slaughter, George Mason's 6-5 do-it-all guard Gabe Norwood, Bobby Parks' son 6-3 Ray Parks, Desert Christian High's 6-9 Gian Chiu, Western Kentucky's 6-9 Japeth Aguilar, Cerritos College's 6-1 Ryan Reyes, Holy Names University's 6-5 Nick Stephens, UTEP's 6-7 Joe Devance and Flagler College's 6-5 Rob Reyes for the national team training pool. And wait there's another... Colorado State's 19-year old center Ronnie Aguilar.

Just who the hell is Ronnie Aguilar?

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Don't look now but CESAFI powerhouse University of the Visayas Green Lancers is reportedly trying to enlist to 6-11 Gregory Fuentes-Slaughter from Virginia, USA to bolster its line-up in the coming season. Slaughter was first reported to join the University of Cebu Webmasters but changed his mind after receiving a generous offer from UV. It was UC who first discovered Slaughter but UV found a way to sneak in and grab the Fil-Am giant behind their backs.

“It is very upsetting because we thought that he will play with us. But UC never prevents its players from seeking greener pastures. UV made a monetary offer which UC could not counter. We could give him a good education, an ample practice allowance, but that’s about it,” said UC head coach Rhoel Gomez. UC was all set to partner Slaughter with the 6-9 gangling teenager Junmar Fajardo in UC's young frontline but as fate would have it, it was not meant to be.

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Marv Albert: "Blocked by Garnett. Recovered by Nash. Suns on a fastbreak. Nash...ALLEYOOP TO KOBE BRYANT!"

The only times when Steve Nash, court general of the Phoenix Suns, has been teammates with Kevin Garnett, 2002 Most Valuable Player, and Kobe Bryant, this season's scoring champ, are teammates were in the All-Star Games. But I do think that it's about time that these three NBA superstars starving for an NBA championship should get together and have those eyes on the prize. It had me thinking when I read an excerpt posted in pinoyexchange.com about Kobe Bryant being traded to seven teams and it caught me by surprise that the most viable trade was between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Suns. Here's what Bill Simmons of espn.com said in his May 30 blog.

Seven trade possibilities for Kobe
May. 30, 2007

Deal No. 1: Phoenix trades Shawn Marion, Leandro Barbosa, Marcus Banks and the rights to Atlanta's 2008 1st-rounder to the Lakers for Kobe and (Vladimir) Radmanovic.

Now we're talking! Some of my favorite things about this trade include …

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Lebron James has come up with a performance we all knew he was capable of and we all had been waiting for. In a double overtime victory, the Cleveland Cavaliers have taken one game ahead of the Detroit Pistons 3-2.

Here are the stats: 48 points, 7 assists, 9 rebounds, 10 of 14 freethrows and 2 out of 3 three point attempts, two at each overtime period, both just at the right moment to steal the thunder away from Detroit whom at various times looked like they were about to pull away.

In a performance heralded as 'one of the most spectacular in NBA Playoff history', the game itself was a heart pounder, with 22 lead changes and 16 times tied.

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