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LeBron praises Hedo, talks Cavs

Here’s LeBron James at 2008 NBA All-Star weekend:

Q: Are things good enough to go to the Finals without making any move?

LeBron James: It’s going to be tough because of how the Eastern Conference has gotten better with the addition of how Boston recreated themselves. Detroit is always going to be better. Orlando’s much better. They’ve had some off season acquisitions. It’s going to be tough for us. It’s going to be a challenge. We have to mentally prepare ourselves to go out there and play the game of basketball the right way.

Q: If you don’t make any moves, can you guys get better?

LeBron James: We’ll see. We’re going to let the game do the talking. It doesn’t matter who you have on paper, you’ve got to go out there and win a seven game series.

Q: Are there any players that didn’t make the All Star team that you thought should have?

LeBron James: I thought Hedo Turkoglu in the Eastern Conference played well, to make the All Star team and he’s not a part of it. He played great basketball for the third best team in the East. He played great basketball.

Q: Is this easier than your first All Star Game?

LeBron James: Most definitely easier to take in. It was erratic my first year. I was excited being my first year. I’m kind of used to it now, but at the same time I’m always excited to get around these great athletes.

Q: It must be a surprise having a lot of big names move. What was the most surprising thing?

LeBron James: This year has been most surprising in season and off season we’ve had in the NBA in a long time. With the Lakers dealing Pau, and Miami and Phoenix dealing Shaq and Shawn Marion, and the off season acquisitions… you look at Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett going to Boston, and Rashard Lewis going to Orlando. There’s been so many new faces. I mean, same faces, new teams. At times it can be hard to keep up with. So it’s been good for the NBA. And hopefully, you know, it’s been good.

Q: Does it put more pressure on everybody to have to try to keep up?

LeBron James: You know, you always want to get better. Especially with me. I’m a competitor, I want to get better. Hopefully we can continue to get better. If not, we’re going to stick to our guns that we have, and get ready for the second half of the season.

Jason Kapono wins 3-point Shootout

By InsideHoops.com

It’s 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend, Saturday night, and we’re up to the NBA Three-Point Shootout. Jason Kapono won it last year.

Richard Hamilton is up first. He hit 2 shots on the first rack, 4 on the second, 3 on the third, 3 on the fourth, and 4 on the last — but two of his last-rack shots were discounted by the refs because Rip stepped on the line. Hamilton actually shot well but did not hit a single money-ball except on the very last rack, but that shot was one of the shots discounted by the refs. Rip’s final score wound up being 14.

Daniel Gibson went second, and started from the nontraditional left side. He struggled early, but then picked things up. Gibson hit 1 shot on the first rack, 4 shots (including a money-ball) on the second rack, 3 shots (including a money-ball) on the third rack, 3 shots on the fourth rack, and 3 shots (including a money-ball) on the last rack, getting 17.

Steve Nash went third, also starting from the left side, and was awful from start to finish, getting a pathetic 9 points. They should have let InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner shoot.

Dirk Nowitzki was next, continuing the new tradition of starting from the left side. He shot a very long, slow, high-arc release which wasn’t very fitting for this competition. After a slow start he picked it up, and on the five racks he hit 1, 5, 3, 3 and 3 shots, with money-balls on the second and fourth racks. Dirk finished with 17.

Next is Peja Stojakovic, starting from the right side. He hit just one shot in the first rack and his first money-ball attempt hit the side of the backboard. His struggles continued until he got to the top of the key, which he rocked. And then stepped up on the last rack. In the five shooting areas Peja hit 1, 2, 3, 3 and 4 shots, with money-balls on the third and fourth racks. He got 15 points.

InsideHoops.com is the best pro basketball website ever, by the way. Just a reminder.

Last up is defending three-point champion Jason Kapono, who starts from the left side. He is shooting very quickly and did well all-around, though missing the money-balls, but rocked in the end when he needed it. From the five racks he hit 2, 4, 3, 4 and 5 shots, with money-balls on the second and fifth racks. Kapono finished with an awesome 20 points.

Reaching the second and final round is Kapono, Dirk and Gibson.

Starting first is Gibson, shooting very quickly, picking up steam halfway through and again at the end. The money-ball saved him. In the five racks he hit 2, 2, 3, 2 and 4 shots with money-balls on the first, third, fourth and fifth racks, finishing with 17.

Nowitzki is up second, high arc and all, and did decently but struggled with money-balls. In the five racks he hit 1, 4, 2, 3 and 3 shots, with just one money-ball, the very last shot. He got 14 points.

Kapono must beat 17 to win it. And unleashed one of the best performances ever, hitting every single money-ball, and on the five racks making 3, 5, 4, 4 and 4 shots, finishing with an awesome 24 points.

As always, this was a fun competition.

Kapono repeats as the three-point shootout champion.

InsideHoops.com is your home for the web’s best pro basketball coverage.

LeBron guarantees Team USA Olympic gold

This summer, the USA Basketball senior men’s team and other top national basketball teams around the globe head to China to compete in the 2008 Olympic basketball competition.

Team USA are clearly a favorite, and on paper the top favorite, but as we know from past international basketball competitions, many other countries put together some extremely effective squads who play very well together. But LeBron James today made a loud, clear statement. The Akron Beacon Journal (Marla Ridenour) reports:

When questioned by an international reporter, LeBron James guaranteed a U.S. victory in the 2008 Olympics in Bejiing. ”We will win. We’ll be Olympic champions this year,” James said.

Asked why he was so confident, James said: ”I think we have a great coach in (Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski) who allows us to do what we want to do as long as we abide by some of his rules. Then we have leaders and guys who don’t want to lose. We have a guy like Jason Kidd, who has not lost in FIBA sports his whole life. He’s like 30-something and 0. ”We’ve got Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard that hold down that starting lineup and guys coming of the bench who are going to be good for us, Dwyane Wade. We’ve got so many players, it’s going to be unbelievable. It’s going to be hard for us to be beat.”

InsideHoops.com will provide full previews and coverage of the summer’s competition.

Melo loves battling rivals

NBA.com reports: Carmelo Anthony can not get enough of playing against the Miami Heat and Dwyane Wade. Melo was at it again on Tuesday, posting 22 points and 11 rebounds as the Nuggets won a one-point overtime thriller for their seventh straight win over Miami. Anthony has won eight of 10 meetings against D-Wade since both entered the league in 2003. Melo was fresh off a 27-point performance in Sunday’s win over the Cavaliers and LeBron James, also part of the draft class of 2003. While Wade and James have enjoyed more postseason success, Anthony has gotten the better of the two in the regular season. He is 8-2 against LeBron’s Cavs, the reigning Eastern Conference champs. Melo has rebounded nicely from an ankle injury that slowed him in late January. In his previous five games entering Tuesday’s action, Anthony averaged 31.6 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 55.7 percent from the field.

LeBron minor ankle sprain, game-time decision for tonight

Cavaliers forward LeBron James experienced a right ankle sprain with 23.3 seconds remaining in the second quarter in last night’s Cavaliers game in Portland versus the Trail Blazers. He returned to start the second half and played the remainder of the game.  He traveled with the team to Seattle following the game, was re-evaluated this morning and is currently listed as a game-time decision for tonight’s Cavaliers-SuperSonics game.

Can’t stop the King: LeBron rises when it counts against the Blazers

NBA.com reports: They knew what was coming, but weren’t even close to stopping it. With the Cavs down by one and 4.9 ticks left, Cleveland sent its inbounds pass to LeBron James, who demonstrated why he is truly the king of the clutch. James blasted past the defending Brandon Roy, seeped through LaMarcus Aldridge and went around the extended arms of Travis Outlaw to drain a game-winning last-second layup to give the Cavs a thrilling road triumph over the Blazers. It was the finishing touch to a 17-point fourth quarter for the King, who brought the Cavs back from an 11-point final-period deficit. “We stepped up too late,” Roy said of Portland’s defense on LeBron’s final drive. “Once he got to into the paint we didn’t want to foul him so a couple of guys shied away. We’ve got to force him into a jump shot in that situation.” Cleveland has now won five straight games on the road, its longest streak since April 1998.

Anderson Varejao out 3-4 weeks

The latest Varejao injury update, this time with a timeline:

Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao arrived back in Cleveland from the Cavaliers’ current road trip west Tuesday evening and was evaluated at Cleveland Clinic Courts by head team physician Dr. Richard Parker. He has a left ankle sprain (inversion sprain) with bone bruises, which he experienced during the third quarter of the Cavaliers/Lakers game in LA on Sunday afternoon. He will remain in Cleveland to continue his rehabilitation process and is currently estimated to be out 3 to 4 weeks.

Anderson Varejao ankle update

This is official information as of 6:20 p.m. ET:

Cavaliers forward/center Anderson Varejao experienced a left ankle sprain during the third quarter of the Cavaliers game vs. the Lakers in LA, Sunday afternoon. X-rays taken at the arena were negative. He received an MRI today in LA, the results of which showed no additional injury beyond the sprain. He will continue to receive treatments in LA today and travel to Cleveland tomorrow morning. He will be evaluated at The Cleveland Clinic tomorrow night and his status will be updated after that. No timeline has been established for his return to the court at this point.

LeBron or Kobe for one game

If I had to choose between LeBron James or Kobe Bryant for one game, it would probably come down to who their teammates are. LeBron looks to create for others a bit more, Kobe looks to take over the game himself. But both players are perfectly good at everything on offense. If a dude is open, Kobe can nail him. And LeBron can completely dominate all on his own, teammates or no teammates. Still, if I had to pick one or the other for one game, I’d probably still go with Kobe.