Hey Rookie

Yes, an update from The Sixteenth Man. The baron wasteland of this, the NBA offseason has clearly taken its toll on me, with no updates during September. So October has rolled in, and the first official pre-season game took place today, with the Jazz comfortably dealing with the Nuggets.

So where does this leave I, The Sixteenth Man? Well, here is the plan. Starting on Monday (5th October), I will starting producing my 2009-2010 NBA Season preview. Two teams, every weekday, for three weeks. If I actually stick to this schedule, I should have all 30 teams done by the regular season tip off. I was going to plan on also having one big round up of the last month and a half, however I just think I will incorporate that into the individual team previews.

So yeah, no real jokes or humour or basketball analysis in this entry, just an update of events. And now, for something completely different.

Ron Artest would have much preferred the Rooster Hat (not me) you get when you pre ordered Scribblenauts.

TSM

The Friday Five

Back To The Future Part IV: Not as Good as Parts I or II, but Better than III

So as usual, the Rookie Photo shoot has caused the premature release of yet another new jersey, this year, the Philadelphia 76ers new digs. Fundamentally, it is a nice design, with a definite sense of going retro. However, the shiny blue trimming on the shoulders almost make it feel too modern for mine. I am still a bit undecided on the lack of an outline on the word mark or number, might have to see how the home jerseys look.

I suppose that I am in the minority is thinking that it is actually a fairly poor change, with the intention to be going back to their roots, as seen in their logo change, which also ended up being a complete bastardisation, putting it in that rectangle and all.

So this got me thinking, what are the five worst jersey changes or worst jerseys in general of all time? (Newest jerseys are on the right). If you want clearer images of the whole jersey sets, head over to Chris Creamer's Sports Logos.

1. Cleveland Cavaliers (Switch occurring in 1994)


2. Detroit Pistons (Switch occurring in 1995)


3. Houston Rockets (Switch occurring in 1995)


4. Orlando Magic (Switch occurring 1998)


5. New Jersey Nets (Switch occurring in 1990)


TSM

The Fr...No Wait This Is Better

I don't care that Rashard Lewis was suspended for 10 games, well I do care, and will probably right about it another time. Its just unfortunate that Nike released this new ad campagin the same day that Lewis' suspension was released. Ladies and Gentlemen, be prepared to be HYPERIZED!

TSM

The Denver McNuggets

B-B-B-B-Big Mac Meal Thanks.

As I wrote about briefly in my last entry, the NBA has lightened its stance on advertising on jerseys, allowing teams to place sponsor material on practice jerseys. So of course this has opened a realm of potentially hilarious sponsorship deals for teams to take on. New Jersey could be sponsored by their owner's very own record label. Boston Celtics form a deal with Guinness? The Orlando Magic could be sponsored by Disney! Hell, the New York Knicks? How about the Make A Wish Foundation?

I don't think it will just stop at team sponsorship either. I have no doubt that many players will sign lucrative individual sponsorship deals, sporting logos and mottoes on their own jerseys.

Chris Bosh could continue to show his love for Twitter.

Brian Scalabrine should sign a deal with the new season of Scrubs (which is going to be awful D=)

Robert Swift could promote safe sex.

New York's Al Harrington should strike a partnership with Al Harrington to sell Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Men.

Oh and one closing thing. I would like to thank the Boston Celtics for signing Shelden Williams so I could pull out this gem. This is an exclusive photo into the physical that Celtics management put Williams through.


TSM

The Friday Five

FRIDAY FIVE - 31st JULY 2009

1 - We are not going to see Lamar Odom next season as a Blazer, nor a ...Miami Heater...Heat thing? Odom has reportedly resigned with the Lakers, on a four year deal with the final year being a team option. Without a doubt this deal reassures that the Lakers remain in the upper echelon of the Western Conference, essentially having upgraded Trevor Ariza with Ron Artest, and having kept all their other Championship pieces. So for at least 3 years, up to $33 million, the Lakers have established a strong foundation for their bench, and Lamar Odom gets to play for a contender. A win-win for both parties in my opinion.

2 - The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed Ron Artest. No? So they managed to sign Trevor Ariza right? Well Anthony Parker isn't all that bad a of a pick up, and the Shaq deal looks pretty good right? Well, all this pails in comparison to the Cavaliers signing the 29 year old, one hit wonder Jamario Moon. Word is that the NBA are going to do away with the Dunk Content and just market the hell out of Cavalier-Magic games (LeBron and Moon vs Howard and Carter).

3 - The NBA have made an agreement to allow teams to sell advertising space on their practice jerseys. Now I have seen a lot of people saying that this will eventually find its way to the regular season uniforms, and inherently disrespect the heritage of the jersey and what it stands for. Newsflash, American sports are just about the only ones that dont have advertising on jerseys. If the patches or wordmarks are designed in a discrete manner, then there should be no problem. This does however, open up a Pandora's Box of potentially awesome photoshops. Watch this space.

4 - Stephon Marbury supposedly hosted a 24 hour live chat through Twitter and live streaming video a few days ago. Does anyone care anymore? He achieved absolutely nothing as a Celtic, and I doubt any NBA team really wants him anymore anyway.

5 - Andre Miller to the Blazers, Okafor and Chandler swapping places, Dallas signing Gooden, and Matt Barnes to the Magic are just some of the moves that will have playoff implications next year. Sean May to the Kings? Not so much.

TSM

The Friday Five

University holidays, messy Saturday nights, and a problem with my Iliotibial Band have seen my blogging attempts become as erratic as Dwight Howard at the free throw line during The Finals. My Iliotibial Band you say? I will let Dr. Jan Itor explain.

Pretty much what has occured with The Sixteenth Man, is a tightening of the muscle that runs vertically along the side of his quadracep muscle. This tightening has caused his knee cap to be pulled to the left, which has subsequently over worked the opposite side of his knee, causing some inflamation and tendonitis. My prognosis? He needs to harden the fuck up and stop listening to Taylor Swift.

Ok so obviously the title of this blog implies that this little "Friday Five" thing is going to be on a Friday, and involve a list of the five most "whatever" things that have occured. Yes, the five most whatever things. Whether they be important, funny, eccentric or just plain unimportant, I will cover it in the only way I can....by posting an entry?

FRIDAY FIVE - 24th JULY 2009

1 - We Are Finally Witnesses. Thanks to this video, we no longer have to bitch and moan about LeBron and his lackies at Nike for confiscating video of Jordan Crawford dunking over him. TMZ had a Paris Hilton Sex Tape-esque version of the dunk, which I prefer. It hides the fact that the dunk is actually pretty weak in relation to the amount of hype and drama around it. It isn't McGrady over Bradley, Azria over Hill or Carter over Weis. Yes it was nice, and props to Crawford for the way he handled it all. So no more Lebron drama until Free Agency next year right? Wrong.

2 - The power balance in the West is still undecided. Lamar Odom is yet to re-sign with the Lakers, with the Heat also part of the Rumour Mill for the big man. If he signs with the Heat, the arms race in the East really is in full swing, with the Magic, Celtics and to a lesser extent the Cavaliers moving towards stacking the team from 1-12.

3 - Over the last few weeks, have you noticed a change in the tides? A change in the time of sunset and sunrise? Any sudden tremors or shakes in the foundations of your house hold? Well, this can be contributed to Eddy Curry losing 50 pounds. Such a massive weight changing even this slightly can throw the earth of its axis.

4 - The Summer League is over. Is it me, or did it have nowhere near the level of impact it has had in previous years? All I have taken out of it is; DeMar Derozan is the new Air Canada and that Brandon Jennings and Amir Johnson together are the new Chris Paul/Tyson Chandler combo.

5 - NBA Live 10 released their first "gameplay" trailer yesterday. Some nice inclusions. Check it out in HD here.

TSM

The Rasheed Wallace Clause

So there I was, reading the news this morning that Quentin Richardson had been traded for Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smith and Mark Masden. Now first of all, I had totally forgotten Masden was still in the league. His incredible 2003-04 Season with the Timberwolves where he averaged 3.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 personal fouls in an incredible 72 games. Secondly, and more importantly I suppose was the fact that Quentin Richardson had been traded for a third time in the last month. Thats right, one month. I always thought there was a law that stated a player could not be traded within the sixty days following said trade. So doing a little bit of research, I found on the ESPN Trade Machine this little note:

"If a team is over the cap and receives a player in a trade or claims a player off of waivers, they cannot trade the player in combination with other players for 2 months. The player can be traded by himself."

Well that is my learning for the day. A player can be trade stand alone regardless of when they were last traded. Simple. Much like when Rasheed Wallace was traded to the Hawks from the Blazers Feburary 9, 2004, then subsequently traded to the Pistons 11 days later, after only one game with Atlanta. Darrell Arthur also has a similar rap sheet, selected on draft night by New Orleans, followed by trades to Portland, Houston and Memphis all in the one night. Impressive stuff.

So what is next for Richardson? Considering he is getting treated like a joint at a Snoop concert, who really knows. It could potentially be a pre-cursor to a deal involving Rubio, or it could simply be the Timberwolves trading a way a bunch of average talent...for some more fairly average talent.