I read a lot on the Internet about pro basketball. A lot. I subscribe to well over 100, maybe approaching 200, blogs through RSS, and several hundred blog posts pass through my Google Reader on any given day, and while I read the full text of very few of them, I scan the headlines and read stuff that intrigues me, stuff that pertains to guys on my fantasy team, and stuff that pertains to players I like.
A lot of blogs throw together a daily links post full of essential reading. That's not my goal; if you want a comprehensive compilation of Celtics coverage, check out Celtics Blog, and if you were worried about missing a single bit of vital information from the excellent basketball blogs out there, you'd subscribe to them yourself. But I do think it'd be fun to share a few items -- maybe a handful -- that are informative, entertaining in themselves, or allow me to amuse myself with commentary and/or witticisms.
As the moniker "Links of the Day" suggests, my ultimate goal is to do this daily. Knowing me and my schedule, however, this could quite quickly turn into "Links Whenever I Feel Like It Or Have The Time." But we'll try it out.
- This video of Dwight Howard training with Hakeem Olajuwon was all over the basketball blogosphere today. The stuff at the beginning and the end is entertaining, and it's cool to catch little tips like the one around 2:30 into the clip, when Hakeem teaches Dwight to hop while catching an entry pass in order to catch the defender off-guard for a quick spin to the baseline. But the other stuff is kind of meh. Howard's athleticism has never been in question, so it's not all that surprising to watch him spin and glide and jump. But on the offensive end, Howard's instincts have always been a little off, and workouts like this one will do little to change that. This surely isn't the first time he's been shown a drop step or a spin move or an up and under. He worked with Patrick Ewing for the last couple of years, and I guarantee you that Ewing wasn't pushing him to shoot the running lefty hooks he resorts to so often. My sense is that Howard, at least at the start, will get one move in his head when he makes the catch and see it through no matter what, which is going to make for some tough possessions. Nice to see Dream playing a bit better than he did in that "Pros vs. Joes" episode.
- I link to this other Howard video only to introduce you to NBA Playbook, an excellent blog that also had this post on the Celtics today.
- Via Ball Don't Lie (and RwH reader Dave Roberts, and a ton of other blogs), a complete list of unlockable characters in the new NBA Jam video game.
- The NBA GM survey is out, and just one GM thinks Boston will win the NBA championship (well, one besides Danny, because GMs weren't allowed to vote for their own team). Considering we were a few minutes (and a Kendrick Perkins injury) away from winning the title in June, this seems low, especially given our off-season additions. I wonder if it's all because of what Miami did, or if Perk's injury caused some GMs to shy away from picking the Cs.
- Dime Magazine proposes new team names for all 30 NBA clubs. If you're strapped for time, the write-ups for the Bulls, Cavs, Lakers, and Sixers were particularly clever. The rest vary from mildly funny to pretty stupid.
- This is a not a headline a basketball fan ever wants to see about his team.
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