Tag: Chris Andersen

The BIG3 Just Announced Its Team Rosters and Boy Oh Boy They Are STACKED

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The BIG 3 is returning for its third season this summer and it seems to only be growing as it released their team rosters today and they are STACKED.

Just in case you forgot, we are quite fond of the BIG3 here. We even had Mattes go cover a game in person last year. And that was before they stacked the deck with some big time names.

Top names playing in the BIG3 this year include Kendrick Perkins and Greg Oden on the same team to create maybe the biggest “What if these guys never got hurt” duo in basketball history. The Celtics win 2 out 3 NBA titles, the Trailblazers are still one of the best teams in the league, going to war with KD and whatever team he’s playing for at the time.

Mario Chalmers!

Brian Scalabrine returns of course and should probably have equity in this league if he doesn’t already because the White Mamba puts asses in the seats.

Agent Zero himself Gilbert Arenas joins the BIG3 this season and I could not be more excited. Arenas, before all his gunplay problems, practically invented the 28 foot pull up jumper that is so common today. Where you think Damian Lillard learned that move?

Lamar Odom is returning from the grave/the clutches of the Kardashians to play some ball and you gotta think that guy is happy to just be alive at this point. Good for him.

Mike Bibby, Ricky Davis, and Carlos Boozer just seem like a pretty solid, well built team. Plus, if they get into any scuffles Mike Bibby 2.0 will just start beating people up as all he’s done since retiring is lift anything and everything.

Stephen Jackson and Metta World Peace are teaming up to become the bad boys of the league. Coached by the goddamn oak tree himself Charles Oakley no less. Nobody is messing with that team.

The Power will be a trip down elite bench player memory lane for anyone my age with guys like Corey Maggette, Chris Birdman Andersen, Ryan Gomes(!) and Glen Big Baby Davis who somehow avoided going to federal pound me in the ass prison after a drug arrest.

Jason Terry is also playing this year, which raises the question is Jason Terry finally retired orrrr

Nearly spit my drink out when I saw Terry pulling up for 3 in a game for Milwaukee last season.

Former Celtics draft picks Joe Johnson and Big Al Jefferson will be joining forces to be the favorite team of any Celtics fan over the age of 30.

To round it all out we have Jermaine O’Neal, Amar’e Stoudemire and Nate Robinson, but I have to say it is an absolute crime that Ice Cube doesn’t have Nate Robinson and Glen Davis on the same team. Does he not remember the days of Shrek and Donkey??

They even got legit AF names coaching as well with Gary Payton, Rick Barry, Rick Mahorn, Charles Oakley, Kenyon Martin, Lisa Leslie, and Dr. freaking J just to name a few.

How about the BIG3 being the only new sports league to not only avoid going out of business, yet actually thrive? The AAF went out of business before I even needed to refill my car’s tank of gas, the XFL is looking to improve upon its high score of 1 season completed, meanwhile the BIG3 is just adding teams and big time names left and right.

Maybe we’ll send Mattes back out to another BIG3 game this year with a real mic so he can actually get Scal namedropping The 300s Podcast on tape.

Wait, Not Every NBA Team Has Their Own D-League Team? How is That Possible?

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Bleacher Report – The Los Angeles Clippers announced Monday they’re establishing an expansion team in the NBA D-League. The Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario will begin play at the start of the 2017-18 season in Ontario, Calif. “This is another exciting day for the NBA D-League as we add a record 26th team and continue to move closer to our 30-team vision,” league president Malcolm Turner said in a statement.

Maybe I’m just a moron, but I had no idea that not every NBA team has a D-League team? How is that even possible? Are the other NBA teams just drafting guys to either start Day 1 or stash overseas and if you don’t fit into one of those two plans? Well, right to hell with you. Its called the D-League for a reason. Its the Developmental League. Theres a reason it exists. To develop players. And apparently a bunch of teams are just punting on having a minor league team?

So NBA teams are just trusting other organizations with their draft picks like a loan system out of the Premiere League? I don’t even trust my coworkers to borrow a pen without fucking it up.

The Clippers had been one of the few teams without an official affiliate in the D-League. Upon being sent to the D-League, rookie forward Brice Johnson played for the Salt Lake City Stars, a Utah Jazz affiliate. Rookie center Diamond Stone split his time between the Stars and the Santa Cruz Warriors, who are under the Golden State Warriors’ umbrella.

This would be like the Red Sox wanting to groom a player, but not having a minor league team so just saying eh, fuck it go play for the Yankees Triple-A team in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for a few months. Bananas.

Its not like the D League (apologies, the Gatorade League) is a place where players go to die like some sort of exile. There’s been some pretty legit NBA players that have come out of or been optioned to the D League in their first couple of years:

Avery Bradley

JJ Barea

Marcin Gortat

Jeremy Lin

Chris Birdman Anderson

It seems like more of the league is starting to figure out its probably not a bad idea to have a place to develop talent without having to throw guys into the fire in the NBA.

Right now the only teams without a D League squad are the Denver Nuggets, New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, and Washington Wizards.

How many championships have teams that place zero interest on developing talent won? Well, that would be two titles. Between four teams. In the entire HISTORY of the NBA. Two. The last one coming in 1978 when the Wizards were the Bullets. So hey, don’t fix what ain’t broke boys.