During an NBA rookie event, Boston Celtics rookie Fab Melo was kind enough to make those of us who are not recently-drafted millionaires feel a little better about ourselves:
Melo may want to rethink his new jersey number (unlucky 13?), but his choice of footwear is beyond reproach. (Also, high marks for not taking himself too seriously).
Chris Kowalczyk is the Director of Creative Content for the VCU Athletics Communications Department and maintains the Around the Horns Blog, which is a must-follow for any Ram fan.
On Friday, Around the Horns featured a video on rising (redshirt) senior David Hinton, who began his VCU career as a walk-on but appeared in 22 games for the Rams last season.
As a general proposition, It Goes to XI supports the hometown ODU Monarchs, but make no mistake: game recognize (shoe) game, even when it comes from Richmond. Forward to the 3:10 mark to see why Hinton may become a favorite on the blog in the upcoming season:
Check out the adoring look on his face when Hinton says that the Jordan XI (in the original colorway) “changed the sneaker game … forever.” Yes sir, this blog is named after that shoe for a reason.
Skip ahead to the 4:15 mark for a cameo by the new Hyperdunk London 2012, in the ridiculous Brazil colorway.
Well played, Mr. Hinton, well played.
It’s that time again – NBA.com has posted the Top Ten Plays for the week ending on Thursday, April 19. Click here to watch them. (The NBA still won’t let me embed the video. Thanks a lot, David Stern.)
In no particular order, thoughts on the plays of the week and the players who made them:
Okay, there is a particular order: Russell Westbrook’s flush on the alley-oop from Kevin Durant was ABSURD. How did that get stuck in the second spot?
The mention of Kevin Durant required the inclusion of a photo of the Nike Zoom KD IV in the team orange colorway. Photo courtesy of oneness287.com.
2007 Dunk Contest winner Gerald Green proved that he has other skills that are highlight-reel-worthy when he canned a three-pointer with a high degree of difficulty and locked up this week’s eighth spot. Jonathan Abrams’ piece for Grantland about Green’s odyssey (he literally played in Siberia) to return to the league is highly recommended reading.
It Goes to XI has perhaps been less than kind to the Celtics’ Greg Stiemsma, but he earned his spot in this week’s Top X with a rejection of Earl Clark that was just plain mean-spirited.
Rudy Gay took off a long way from the basket before hammering his way to number five this week. Clearly, Gay was only able to finish this dunk because he was not weighed down by Memphis’ green-and-yellow throwback uniform.
Finally, Utah’s Paul Millsap landed at number three for his tip jam that pulled the Jazz into a tie with the Mavericks at the end of regulation. Utah went on to win the game in three overtimes. Millsap’s clutch dunk was the finest play from that game that did not involve Delonte West’s finger and Gordon Hayward’s ear.