andPOP » Basketball

Justin Bieber Schools Steve Nash

andPOP Staff — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:18:41 +0000

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Not only can Justin Bieber sing and dance, he can also ball. Bieber had a quick game with Steve Nash recently, and Bieber schooled him.

The two Canadians had a pickup game where Justin crosses over Nash and scores. Some are arguing Nash wasn’t really trying against the 17 year old pop star. Others are saying Nash’s defense is really that bad.

What do you think?

Rob Kardashian Doubts Kim Will Marry NBA Star

Christian Allaire — Mon, 30 May 2011 15:24:56 +0000

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Kim Kardashian’s brother, Rob, has doubts that she will actually marry NBA star Kris Humphries.

The reality TV star and basketball player couple announced their engagement earlier this week, but Rob isn’t convinced the wedding will happen.

He told radio station Kidd Kraddick and Hyla on the Hollywood 5: “I just don’t feel confident because Kim has always been so like, you know, she’s, how old?

“She’s just been through a lot of relationships and she always gets hurt or never finds the right dude, but Kris is a really good dude.”

However, Rob believes the two are great for each other, and wishes them the best.

“They’ve had their own personal, private relationship a long time now and I feel like they are a really good match for each other.”

He also revealed how the family thought Kim and Kris, who have been dating for six months, were joking when they first told everyone about the engagement.

“We were having a family dinner and we didn’t know what it was for, we just thought everyone was in town, we were at my mom’s. She had a ring on and we didn’t know what it was for, and we didn’t believe her and we thought it was a joke, no one really, like, did anything, and it was like, oh wait, then it got crazy and there were ponies, it was really bizarre!”

“Congrats to her, it was pretty shocking in my mind.”

Justin Bieber and Mark Wahlberg Team Up for a Basketball Movie

Elisheva Baer — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:05:16 +0000

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Gossip Cop has announced that Justin Bieber and Mark Wahlberg will be working together on an upcoming Paramount Pictures street basketball movie, which is said to be “a gritty basketball-based drama with a “The Color of Money meets The Karate Kid” tone.”

Apparently, Bieber impressed Wahlberg with his b-ball skills at the celebrity game during NBA All-Star Weekend, where Bieber was named MVP. The film, which is of yet sill untitled, will be produced by Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, and Scooter Braun, Bieber’s manager, and the script will be written by Ian Edelmen, according to Deadline.

This definitely sounds like it has a lot of potential to be a great film! Keeping in mind that Bieber’s documentary Justin Bieber: Never Say Never grossed $97 million worldwide, while Wahlberg’s Oscar-winning The Fighter which has been praised far and wide.

Rewind a number of years to when Wahlberg first made his transition from his funky bunch to serious actor, starring in a few projects including The Basketball Diaries, where he co-starred with Leonardo DiCaprio. Think that this basketball movie can do the same for Bieber’s career? It’s hard to say, but it will definitely be interesting to see where Bieber’s acting career can go! No doubt that his ever-reliable Belieber minions will fill theatres everywhere just to catch a glimpse of the Biebs on the big screen, but what would be interesting is who else joins them.

The film is expected to be officially announced shortly, but for now you can check out Bieber’s MVP-worthy hoop skills below.

Do you think a basketball movie will be able to launch Bieber’s acting career as it did Wahlberg?

Game Review: NBA 09 – The Inside

andPOP Staff — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:14:00 +0000

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In a new age of video gaming, users get the complete picture when it comes to sports games. Gone are the days when exhibition and season game modes were all that were offered. These days, you the gamer get a grand variety of modes when it comes to sports games.

With PlayStation2′s NBA 09: The Inside, you get the opportunity to be a part of the logical progression of an up-and-coming NBA player with “The Life” feature. “The Life” is the primary game feature The Inside has to offer, along with your basic exhibition, season, and franchise gameplay modes. The Life lets you go through the logical progression of a young player coming up in the business. This feature is the game’s main attraction, but little else is available to whet the gamer’s appetite. If you’ve experienced some of the more in-depth games out there, you will find these basic modes are just that – basic.

Because basically gameplay controls can be tricky (for example, directional passing is hard to pick up on but is important to know how to use), I would suggest honing your skills in some of the drills the game offers, such as “Claim the Post” and “Slalom Run”. These are okay alternatives if you tire of the basic gameplay modes. Shooting is somewhat tedious in this game, far more so than in the EA Sports games of years past. The shooting meter must illuminate in green to guarantee a good shot or yellow to guarantee a chance. Defense, in addition, is also hard to work with, mainly because it is hard to transition from switching players to getting into proper defensive position. Transition defense is so critical in the game of basketball, so not being able to utilize the controls with ease is rather frustrating.

In addition, the players and announcers in this game are cookie-cutter at best. There are no classic quotes from the broadcasters, a la John Madden in the Madden franchise. Even instant replay is slow and a pain to use. Most basketball games will give the user not only the option of multiple replay looks after baskets (in some cases, games will force-feed the gamer too many replays), but also make it a luxury rather than a nuisance to utilize. The buttons needed to view a replay are as hard to work as the actual gameplay buttons. But alas, if you are one of those ultra-competitive gamers, you can never see enough replays of your wicked, 360 slam-dunk.

Another thing to note that is that if you are playing a game, and let’s say you are either getting blown out or simply bored and fed up playing that particular game, there is no option to simulate the remainder of the game, such as there is in MLB 08: The Show. You can only restart or quit. So tip to the user: if you can’t figure out how to play, you could be in for long games – literally.

The game is still a suitable choice for avid sports fans because it still has all of the bare necessities a true sports gamer needs. But the overall quality is still rather lacking in comparison to its competition.

If you have a grand choice of basketball games to choose from, the wise choice would be to shun NBA 09: The Inside.

Graphics: 2.5 / 5.0
Gameplay 2.5 / 5.0
Sound 3.0 / 5.0
Replay value 2.0 / 5.0

Sports Column: Canadian Media Bad For Basketball

andPOP Staff — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 14:43:12 +0000

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It seems, for whatever reason, that hockey will always be Canada’s dominant sport; as such, it demands a certain amount of attention from Canadian media outlets – which is something we non-hoser sports fans have come to accept. However, broadcasters, analysts, and sports writers alike can’t continue to overlook the other major sports; such as basketball.

Generally speaking, the basketball IQ of the Canadian media is terrible, at best. Their hockey-centric tunnel vision is compounded by the fact that this lack of knowledge doesn?t prevent them from sharing uninformed, ignorant opinions with their audiences about basketball.

Those in the know can discern a well-versed hoops-junkie from a hockey analyst who?s out of his element, but unfortunately fair-weather basketball fans are lured in to believing what these ?experts? have to say.

My solution? A modification of the old adage, ?if you don?t have anything informed to say, don?t say anything at all.?

Canadian television programs like Off The Record are problematic as, at some point, the guests must discuss things outside their Neanderthalic Ice Capades world. This is where the problems arise.

Case and point, a few days ago Rob Babcock, GM of the Raptors, was on Off The Record answering loaded questions posed by the host Michael Landsberg, while at the same time being berated by moronic small-talk that, in this context, passes for the majority of the show?s content.

Babcock kept his cool, toeing the company line and answering questions without even a hint of trepidation or anger towards the other guests. Commendable. He even got his own jabs in, most notably a funny dig towards Toronto sports writer and Raptor-hater extraordinaire, Dave Feschuk.

But why continue with the pattern? Surely someone must notice that in a show where basketball and Rob Babcock are the key topics, having more than one knowledgeable basketball mind is a good idea!

Zack Werner and Fred Patterson are the targets of this particular rant. They threw in some player names, some painfully obvious commentary — but nothing that went beyond the surface. Nothing that would lead any informed viewer to believe that these goons have watched more than one or two Raptors games this season (and that is me being nice; I?d be shocked if they have watched even one from start to finish). Yet there they were, arguing with Babcock, a man with more basketball knowledge than either could ever aspire to have; taunting him, telling him to his face that his team sucks, the Vince Carter trade was bad, he?s not handling the roster properly, his drafting is suspect, etc etc.

All of that might be accurate, but who are they to say? Where could they have possibly obtained this knowledge if they don?t follow the team regularly? The answer: from other uninformed sports analysts too busy listening to themselves talk to understand the damage they are doing to basketball in Canada.

This is not to say things are always rosy in Canadian basketball. Usually it?s far from. But I urge the Canadian media to leave the curling to the curlers, leave the hockey to the hosers and, for the love of God, leave the basketball to the ballers. Canada has enough intelligent basketball minds to discuss, analyze and critique the game – we don?t need help from you sub-zero saps.

Raptors Pick Opts to Play In Spain

andPOP Staff — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 18:18:21 +0000

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The Toronto Raptors? 41st overall pick in this year?s draft, Roko Ukic, has signed a deal with Tau Ceramica, according to reports on a Croatian basketball website.

Tau Ceramica, an incredibly wealthy team in the Spanish League, is a name that might sound familiar to you? and here?s why. The Raptors have also been involved in talks with its current start point guard, Jose Calderon.

According to various European sources, Calderon has been heavily pursued by the Raptors, among others, and his impending departure is the reason why they went after Ukic in the first place.

Ukic?s decision to bam-Boozer (referring, of course, to Carlos Boozer?s dealings with the Cleveland Cavaliers last year) the Raptors is a blow to basketball fans across the country. They had been sold on Ukic by commercials on Raptors? NBA TV and lavished praise of his flashy, up-tempo game.

The degree of irony involved (the Raptors interest in Calderon forcing Tau to pursue Ukic) adds a considerable amount of egg onto this franchise?s omelet of a face.

Even more frustrating would be if Tau Ceramica managed to re-sign Calderon as well. That would leave the Raptors with no back-up point guards and a considerably embarrassing situation.

It seems General Manager Rob Babcock not only has problems keeping pace with NBA GM?s? but European ones as well.