1. Making The Rounds (03/15/2010): Check out where Peter Kim and I have been making our rounds. While we’re at it, I also made a post at LadyBallers.Net.

2. Lakers Don’t Have That Edge Just Yet: Lakers got physical with the Phoenix Suns but I would like for them to sustain that physicality for the rest of the year.

3. TNLP Talks To Zach Harper: Zach Harper of the famous TalkHoops.Net and Cowbell Kingdom answers questions about the Lakers/Kings match-up. We even made a little bet.

4. Sweet Dishes: Grant Hill In Living Single: Remember that 90’s show with Queen Latifah? Yup. Grant was a guest star.

5. I Repeat… Lakers Colors Don’t Include Green: Ooh, boy. Who was smart enough to wear green with a Laker logo on it?

6. We Like Obscure NBA Players: Winston Bennett: Peter Kim brought out Mr. Bennett. Did you also know that Bennett bedded 90 women per month? Click the link to find more about it!

7. I Can’t Stand This Brand Of Basketball: I normally don’t, uh, hate on NBA players. Brand is actually one of the very few that annoy me.

8. Shane Battier Would Be The Greatest Trash-Talker Of All-Time: Imagine if a well-spoken man like Battier talked trash. It would be the greatest ever!

9. Chronicles Of Crotty #46: Somebody’s Watching Me: No guest in our latest podcast. We talked about Kevin Durant, Chris Bosh, playoff positioning, and Filipino Rap Battle Leagues. No, I’m serious.

Hope your weekend is awesome. I’m hoping mine will be!

Follow me on Twitter. My name is @TheNoLookPass. Remember to think of TNLP.

And please… join our FaceBook page.

MARCH MADNESS! DOWNLOAD NOW!

Hosted by…

THE CHRONICLES OF CROTTY KREW!

PICTURED L to R
David Diep (@illastrate): (PF) Chris Webber!
Jimmy Castro (@WinInTheEnd): (SF) Ray Jackson!
Nick Perkins: (C) Juwan Howard!
Rey Moralde (@TheNoLookPass): (SG) Jalen Rose!
Peter Kim (@YungBolo): (SG) Jimmy King!

No one knocked on our door so no guests for this podcast! And unless it’s VERY important, we are taking the week off next week! No podcast until April!

BREAK IT DOWN
A. Around the league. Kevin Durant hints about an extension, Michael Jordan is the new owner of the Bobcats, and Chris Bosh is angry.
B. Playoff Picture! Are we overlooking the Jazz? How about those Bulls, eh?
C. L.A. Segment. Lakers aren’t a tough team YET. And the Clippers FINALLY won a game.
D. Filipino Rap Battle League? Really?

TEASERS
REY: “This is the same guy that picked our favorite Laker, Kwame Brown…”
NICK: “Hell, yeah. I would have, too.”

PETER: “I’m going to go out on a limb here. I’m gonna say they’re going to win four more games and (the Nets) are going to win 11 games.”

DAVE: “But the (Clippers) of two years ago I enjoyed watching. Like Dan Dickau… Brevin Knight…”

REY: “What? A line-up with Andre Miller (is winning)? No way.”
PETER: “No. Pig Miller.”

EXTRACURRICULARS
Someone help me. FILIPINO RAP BATTLE LEAGUE!

And do you like balut?

Rest In Peace Jun Seba AKA Nujabes. 1974-2010. His music will live forever:

CREDITS

BANNER
Greg Sorvig

MUSIC
Free Your Mind by En Vogue (instrumental)
Kung-Fu Fighting (Bus Stop Remix) by Bus Stop and Carl Douglas
One-Winged Angel from Final Fantasy VII
Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis
Listen To Your Heart by BoA
Somebody’s Watching Me by Rockwell and Michael Jackson
I’m Not Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance
I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight by Cutting Crew

PROMOS
Jon Santiago from Davis Sports Deli Podcast
Tracy Murray, 12-year NBA veteran
Jared Dudley from the Phoenix Suns
C.J. Miles from the Utah Jazz
Russ Bengtson from SLAM Online
Eric Wagman from Outside The NBA
John Crotty, Miami Heat radio analyst
Holly MacKenzie from SLAM Online
Clipper Steve from Clips Nation
Stephanie K from StephanieKMusic.Com
Violet Kanian from VioletKanian.Com
Elie Seckbach from ES News
Zach Harper from TalkHoops and Cowbell Kingdom
Glenn Moore from Dugout Sports Show
Eric Pincus from Hoops World

Please subscribe to us on iTunes. Let us know what you think about it! Thanks for pushing play!

Battier singing is not actually the real reason why I’m doing this post. As you all may know, Battier is quite the scholar. He uses big words that I would probably never use in my lifetime. Cotillion? Aficionado? The only time I heard Cotillion was when I was watching The O.C. but we’re getting a bit off-topic here.

Last year, my Twitter buddy, @isaiahk, was demonstrating on how a scholarly gentleman like Shane Battier would talk trash. I joined in on the fun with him but we didn’t explore it too much.

Well, after showing him this wonderful karaoke video, Project Spurs’ Jeff Garcia and I came up with stuff that Battier would most likely say during a game. This really shouldn’t be called “trash-talking”. I suddenly feel a whole lot more intelligent after going this over with Jeff. Before this “trash-talk”, I felt like I had a 3rd grade education. After? I feel like I can get straight A’s in junior high!

“Your offense, sir, will be overwhelmed by my defensive prowess.”

“I am a defensive aficionado and your worthless offensive efforts will fall short to my superior knowledge of our ironclad scheme that is rich in ancient Chinese history that has gone way back since the Ming dynasty.”

“You absolutely have no skill putting that sphere through the hoop. Making the ball rotate on a speed of 304 rotations per second is quite a tricky maneuver to pull off, which only the best can execute. Such as I.”

“This vexing defensive scheme is no match for my insightful knowledge on the complexities of bearing down and limiting my opponent’s abilities to mathematically calculate the trajectory and angle of which to elevate the orb and loft it into the cylinder with thread coming down.”

“You wear the number 13. Didn’t you know that the number 13 is bad luck? You may acquire leprosy tomorrow. Or the day after that. That’s why I wear 31 because when you flip the numbers, it also flips bad luck into good luck logically. And did you know that 13 and 31 are prime numbers? Of course, you wouldn’t know because you are a peon with a pea-sized brain. Since 31 is a greater number than 13, that makes me a better prime time player. I apologize, sir, that you are a more inferior player than I.”

“I do say, sir, your concentration is no match for my witty banter. Last I checked, your mother performed magnificently last evening in the throws of passion with yours truly. She was quite the performer and complimented my abilities to not only help her achieve coitus but also the size of my genitalia.”

Shane Battier, trash talk extraordinnaire. Whoa. I just used a big word.

Check out Jeff Garcia’s work at Project Spurs. Also, follow him on Twitter at @sa2ny2004.

Follow me on Twitter. My name is @TheNoLookPass. Remember to study on your S.A.T.’s. Because I sure as hell didn’t.

And please… join our FaceBook page.

As I mentioned, Elton Brand bolted the Clippers in the summer of 2008 after he recruited Baron Davis to go to L.A. We were all excited about the prospect of Baron and Elton teaming up. It would’ve been one hell of a 1-2 punch. Before Brand got hurt, he was an automatic 20-10 guy. And to team up with one of the catalysts of the “We Believe” Warriors? Staples Center might actually house two good Los Angeles NBA teams.

I just don’t know how the negotiations went wrong but it was evident that Brand didn’t want to be the face of the franchise anymore. So he escaped to Philadelphia. The Sixers suddenly looked like a team to be reckoned with. The Clippers stumbled even though then-GM Mike Dunleavy had a very active summer to try to make up for the loss of Brand.

As we all know now, Elton Brand was hurt most of the 2008-09 season. This year, he’s having the worst season of his career (13.6 points and 6.5 rebounds a game). His contract has become an albatross to the Sixers. But with that jerk move he did to Los Angeles, it’s hard for me to feel sorry for him (except for the injuries… I don’t really wanna see anyone get hurt). I mean, the Clipper guys in TNLP don’t even want to mention his name in our podcast. That’s how annoying he is to them.

I don’t know if it’s frustration for Brand but it was definitely not cool for him to throw Marreese Speights under the bus. At the time, Brand was getting outplayed by Speights and here was Brand, calling out players when he wasn’t doing very well himself.

And then when he returned to Staples Center to play the Clippers for the first time since he left them, he remarked during a halftime interview that “L.A. wasn’t booing Jrue Holiday. And he went to UCLA.” He was obviously referring to the fact that he wasn’t the only one that played in Los Angeles in the past… yet he’s the one that’s getting booed and not Jrue. Duh, Elton?

And, of course, the Sixers are struggling at 24-44. You would think that this Sixers team would be much better than their record. Nope. I wanna lay a lot of the blame on Brand. He was brought over to be the 20-10 guy like he was in Chicago and Los Angeles. Now he just seems to be taking up space with that loaded contract of his. I won’t be surprised if he gets shopped around in the near future. And my boys from TNLP are like, “Yeah! That’s what you get for leaving the Clippers!” I can’t disagree with them. And I think it’s real funny that he was one of the rare players that didn’t prosper after leaving that franchise.

I guess this is one of those cases where karma is actually a bitch.

Follow me on Twitter. My name is @TheNoLookPass. How was your St. Patty’s Day?!

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In light of Winston Bennett’s recent interview on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” where he speaks about his sex addition and trying to manage a marriage, a career and his seemingly insatiable desire to sleep with more women, The No-Look Pass has decided to feature Bennett as this week’s obscure NBA player.  He only appeared in 141 games in the NBA, which includes 5 Playoff games but he’s well remembered in two spots: Cleveland and Kentucky.  Let’s take a look back at his career.

Bennett was selected as a McDonald’s All-American in 1983 and went on to play college ball at Kentucky.  He was making great progress until what was supposed to be his senior season when he suffered a preseason knee injury.  After the surgery and the recovery process, Bennett went on to say, “I’ve never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body.”

Bennett went on to have a successful final season at Kentucky averaging a solid 15.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game and headed into the 1988 draft where he was selected in the 3rd round as the 64th overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavs were coming off a disappointing first round exit to the Chicago Bulls by Michael Jordan’s buzzer-beater and were looking to add some depth to their team by adding the 6′7 Bennett to their lineup.  His rookie season would be the best of his career with averages of 6.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Bennett found himself in the starting lineup 34 times that season including in a very memorable overtime game against the Chicago Bulls where Michael Jordan would score a career high, 69 points.

Bennett would hold his own during his 20 minutes of playing time in that game and was not afraid to take it to the hoop against Scottie Pippen and Bill Cartwright.

Unfortunately, the Cavs would lose once again in the first round of the playoffs that season, only this time to the 76ers.

The ball still didn’t seem to be bouncing their way the following season as Mark Price would go down with an injury and would be limited to playing in only 16 games.  Bennett also saw a decrease in playing time and so did the rest of the team as they failed to make the postseason.

Bennett was released by the Cavaliers at the tail end of the 1991-92 season and was then signed to a 10-day contract by the Miami Heat.  He played in 2 games and ended his career as a member of the Miami Heat.

Bennett knew that he was passionate about coaching and joined Rick Pitino on his coaching staff for the Kentucky Wildcats and the Boston Celtics.  However, Bennett explained how his sex addiction led to his firing in his ESPN interview.

From the time of his firing until now, Bennett went on to become a motivational speaker as well as Head Coach of the Mid-Continent University in Kentucky and has a number of videos on his website. He is also remembered by the Cleveland Cavaliers and was even a participant in the Cavaliers’ recent “Record Breakers Night“, which commemorated 3 50+ win seasons and 5 playoff appearances.

Bennett’s sex addiction might have gotten in the way of his NBA and coaching career but he refused to let it get in the way of his life and has been able to overcome his addiction with the help and forgiveness of his wife as well as his peers.  It is a very difficult situation to be in when one is an NBA player and is overwhelmed by the number of women “at one’s disposal” as Bennett put it.  But hopefully the young players in the NBA are able to learn from Bennett’s mistakes.  The No-Look Pass salutes Winston Bennett.

Questions? Comments? Hit up the Bolo Box – Peter@thenolookpass.com
Follow me on Twitter: @Yungbolo Also, join our Facebook page!

]]> http://www.thenolookpass.com/2010/03/17/we-like-obscure-nba-players-winston-bennett/feed/ 0 http://www.thenolookpass.com/2010/03/16/i-repeat-lakers-colors-dont-include-green/ http://www.thenolookpass.com/2010/03/16/i-repeat-lakers-colors-dont-include-green/#comments Wed, 17 Mar 2010 04:50:29 +0000 Rey-Rey http://www.thenolookpass.com/?p=3332 Okay, NBA. I’m all for selling merchandise but I really don’t think this is a good idea.

Last year, there was this…

This isn’t St. Patrick’s Day-related… but it’s still green and well…

Tell me who in their right mind would buy this?

Okay, besides me?

Check out the NBA Store.

Follow me on Twitter. My name is @TheNoLookPass. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

And please… join our FaceBook page.

Grant Hill made an appearance in this sitcom. And he showed off not only his acting skills but also his skills with the piano… and singing.

In the second video, Grant shows off his musical talent around 3:52 and 8:52. I love how Grant even makes fun of his own ears.

Hope you enjoyed that episode of Living Single!

Follow me on Twitter. My name is @TheNoLookPass. Can you sing better than Grant Hill?

And please… join our FaceBook page.

I don’t do Laker GameDay Q&A’s too often but this gives us a chance to get to know other teams.

The Sacramento Kings are tonight’s opponents for the Lakers. They have a bright future with rookie Tyreke Evans on the helm. And they have played the Lakers very well this season. In this Q&A, I talk to Zach Harper, the man behind the super Kings blog, Cowbell Kingdom (part of the ESPN TrueHoop Network). And, of course, you may have heard of TalkHoops Dot Net; he is behind that site also. Watch how fast this conversation goes wrong. Gotta love it.

Zach’s answers are in purple font.

You were high on the potential Tyreke Evans/Kevin Martin duo. Then Martin was traded and now the Kings have Carl Landry. How much do you (dis)like this trade?

I love the trade for the simple fact that it gives the Kings’ offensive attack some balance. The Martin-Evans duo would have absolutely worked if Spencer Hawes and/or Jason Thompson had been effective scorers inside. The team had no balance to the offense and the Kings were trying to get their two best players going on the perimeter without giving the defense something to respect inside. Because of that, the opposing teams could overplay the perimeter with a wall of long defenders sitting behind them. Now, teams can’t do that as much. You have to respect Landry inside and with his face-up jumper because he can score on anybody. This opens up shots outside for Donté Greene, Omri Casspi, Francisco Garcia and Beno Udrih. More importantly, it gives Tyreke Evans some room to operate and a safety valve to dump it off to when he gets stopped in the paint. The trade has worked out perfectly for this Kings team.

Granted, it was at the start of the season when we talked about the Kings in our podcast… but Jason Thompson was playing well then. His play has dropped off since 2010 started. What’s up with that?

I wish I had a better answer than this but he simply just played like crap. He rushed everything inside. In the beginning of the season, it looked like he was able to slow the game down and take his time on offense. But towards the end of December until recently, he played way too fast. He would also get too low on his post moves in order to get good position but it essentially turned him into a much smaller player. He was a 6′11″ guy playing in the post like he was 6′5″. He also wasn’t defending well or cleaning the glass. The effort seemed to be the problem for a short time but after a couple of weeks, you could tell it was mental. If a bounce went the wrong way, he started overreacting it. He complained more than usual to officials and it affected his motor. Now, since coming back from his back injury, the effort is a lot better and he’s been feasting on second units off the bench.

Francisco Garcia just returned recently. What kind of impact has he made since his return?

Cisco has given the Kings another reliable shooter on the court to put in the corner and give Tyreke someone to kick to during drives. But his biggest asset he’s brought to the Kings is his defense. He’s not a great defender but he works hard, plays solid defense and doesn’t give up on plays. He tries to come from the weak side and create a little chaos with big men. He did a good job of defending guys like Kevin Durant and Brandon Roy for short stretches.

Okay. We know Spencer Hawes is still weak and that Beno Udrih is still playing well… but let’s talk about the main man, Tyreke Evans. Rookie of the Year shouldn’t even be a debate. How high is this guy’s ceiling?

Look, Stephen Curry has had a great run since January 1st and Brandon Jennings is going to the playoffs and has a cool/weird Under Armour commercial, but Rookie of the Year shouldn’t even be discussed unless you’re awarding Tyreke Evans. He’s averaging 20.3 points, 5.6 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game. He also plays really good defense. People say that Jennings plays good defense for a rookie and the same with Curry. Evans plays good defense for an NBA player and could be All Defense for many years in this league. He’s a good jumper away from being a consistent problem. The 20-5-5 thing he’s doing has been done three times before as a rookie and all of those players ended up being either HOFers (Jordan, Oscar) or a future HOFer (LeBron). He has no ceiling right now if he gets a jumper. If he doesn’t, then a poor man’s Dwyane Wade is a very good probability.

All right. This is the third game between the Kings and the Lakers. And they would have won a game each had Kobe not made that three at the end of their second game. Plus Tyrese Evans (as our man, Jimmy, calls him) didn’t play in the second game. Someone else has always stepped up (Udrih on both games, Hawes on the second). Do they really match up that well against the Lakers?

I actually think they do match up well with the Lakers for the simple fact that the Lakers play down to their competition and the Kings rarely give up in games (unlike last season). With the Kings, you have to suffocate them for one quarter and play them even the other three. The Lakers didn’t really do that in the first two meetings. Even though Spencer Hawes is pretty soft, the Lakers frontcourt doesn’t have the mental toughness to benefit from that. Now that Carl Landry can get the Lakers bigs into foul trouble, the Kings can take away some interior defense from the Lakers. If that happens, Tyreke Evans will go nuts. And when Tyreke goes nuts, big things can happen.

So are you going to call the upset? Your main man, Reggie Theus (Coach Fuller), did it last year!

I really want to call the upset. The Kings had two really good games out of their last three, they’ve played the Lakers close this year and the Lakers just spent 48 minutes running with the Warriors. The Kings finally have some low post scoring they can rely on and Tyreke Evans is going on a tear right now. The Lakers still don’t have any good point guards and the Kings have enough defenders to throw at Kobe to make him work a little harder than he should. But the Lakers bigs are still… well… big. They should be able to dominate the boards and score at will. Kobe can still get hot from outside and destroy this team. And the Lakers are so much better than the Kings they should be able to roll on them. So with that… screw it. Let’s go nuts! If Reggie Theus can pull it off, Paul Westphal can get his team to steal one. I’ll say the Kings win by 4. Do I really believe it will happen? No. But it’s more fun to pit us against each other.

Do I owe you a drink if the Kings do pull it off?

Excellent idea! Winner buys the other a drink at the next Blogs With Balls or if you can make it to Summer League this year to help me jeer Adam Morrison. And winner also gets to pick the next karaoke song! Do you like Celine Dion?

Sure. I’ll bite. I hope you like New Kids On The Block.

As long as I get to be Donnie Wahlberg, I’m game.

It’ll be dangerous if that does happen… but, anyway, thanks to Zach for doing this little Q&A. He is also one of our 8th Seed brothers. Actually, let me recap on what sites he is a part of.

HIS General NBA Blog: TalkHoops Dot Net
Sacramento Kings Blog: Cowbell Kingdom
Also Makes Contributions At: Hardwood Paroxysm

Also, we collaborated (along with Michael De Leon of Project Spurs) to do a podcast about the 90’s TV Show, Hang Time. You don’t believe us? Click the link.

And you can follow Zach at either @talkhoops or @Cowbell_Kingdom.

Follow me on Twitter. My name is @TheNoLookPass. And you know that I do a mean Leona Lewis rendition.

And please… join our FaceBook page.

Do I think they have it back? Not yet.

Granted, Pau Gasol has had hard fouls in two games last week (Orlando and Phoenix). There were a few plays where a few of the Lakers got away with shoves. But I don’t think they have that edge just yet. But they’re on their way to getting it back.

Phoenix doesn’t have the most physical team in the league. They beat teams by going up and down the court all game. But if anything, at least, L.A. stood up to whatever Lou Amundson dished and turned the tables to become the bullies. It’s something that we’ve been waiting for a while.

The homestretch coming up is crucial for the Lakers. Some of the more physical teams coming up are Houston, Utah, and Denver. They have to establish themselves as the bullies in this game just so that those teams won’t be so confident against them. It’s really frustrating because the Lakers possibly have the tallest team in the league and they act more like wilting plants instead of intimidating trees on defense. And if your team is called soft… and you have someone like Ron Artest on the team? Something is wrong. He was supposed to be the Dennis Rodman of the squad. When Rodman went to the Bulls in 1996, no one dared to mess with them. Artest has to give them that aura. Ron is playing terrific D, yes, but it hasn’t quite spread to the whole team. Yes, they’re still #3 in defensive efficiency (behind Orlando and Boston) but it’s quite deceiving considering they’re still… a soft squad.

So basically, I want to see them bully or fight back against the bruising teams like Denver or Utah. I hope they actually face those teams in the postseason. That way, if they get to the Finals through those teams, they would be battle-tested and would know what it takes to beat a team like Cleveland, who have beaten them twice in the regular season.

Fight back, Los Angeles.

PHOTO CREDIT: Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images.

Follow me on Twitter. My name is @TheNoLookPass. It’s just another Manic Monday.

And please… join our FaceBook page.

I was personally part of an NBA roundtable held by Jason Clinkscales, the man behind the tremendous blog called A Sports Scribe. He asked questions such as which teams will make the conference finals, Kevin Durant wanting to stay in Oklahoma City, and what message we would put on our hair if we were to dye ours like Ron Artest. Check out both parts on the links below…

Part 1
Part 2

Follow Jason on Twitter at @asportsscribe. And check out his blog, A Sports Scribe.

And, very recently, Rasheed of Warriorsworld Dot Net asked me and Peter Kim about the Los Angeles teams. The Warriors are playing the Lakers tonight and play the Clippers late this month. Check it out on the link below.

Monday Morning Fresh

Follow Rasheed on Twitter at @warriorsworld. And check out their blog at Warriorsworld Dot Net for the latest happenings (including interviews with the players, the latest being Raja Bell) with the Golden State Warriors. Warriorsworld Dot Net is part of the outstanding ESPN TrueHoop Network.

Follow me on Twitter. My name is @TheNoLookPass. And follow Peter Kim as well. His name is @YungBolo.

And please… join our FaceBook page.