NBA Blog: The NBA basketball news blog section of Inside Hoops
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NBA star Jeremy Lin says he hopes to boost young players’ enthusiasm for basketball at a four-day camp he plans to host this month in southern China.
Lin said Thursday at a news conference in Beijing that he expected 80 kids to attend. His Asian heritage makes him a huge draw in the homeland of former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming.
— Reported by the Associated Press
The Orlando Magic have signed rookie forward Kyle O’Quinn, General Manager Rob Hennigan announced today.
O’Quinn was selected in the second round (49th overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft. He averaged 8.8 ppg. and 6.2 rpg. in 21.4 minpg. during last month’s AirTran Airways Orlando Pro Summer League.
O’Quinn (#9, 6’10”, 240, 3/26/90) appeared in 129 career games at Norfolk State University, averaging 12.5 ppg., 8.5 rpg. and 2.2 blkpg. in 27.3 minpg. and shot .553 (610-1,104) from the field during his collegiate career. He was the 2012 Lou Henson recipient as the nation’s top mid-major player. O’Quinn was the 2011-12 MEAC Player of the Year and a two-time MEAC Defensive Player of the Year (2010-11, 2011-12). He was also named MVP of the 2012 Portsmouth Invitational, averaging 11.7 ppg., 11.7 rpg. and 3.7 blkpg. in three games.
As a senior (2011-12), O’Quinn played in 36 games, averaging 15.9 ppg., 10.3 rpg., 1.4 apg. and 2.7 blkpg. in 31.3 minpg. He helped the #15-seed Spartans to a historic upset of #2-seed Missouri in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament with 26 points and 14 rebounds. O’Quinn, an All-MEAC First Team selection and MVP of the 2012 MEAC Tournament, led the conference and tied for fifth in the nation with 20 double-doubles. He also ranked 14th in the country in field goal percentage (.573, 205-358), 15th in blocked shots and 16th in rebounding.
During his junior year (2010-11), O’Quinn appeared in 32 games, averaging 16.4 ppg., 11.1 rpg. and 3.44 blkpg. in 32.8 minpg. He ranked in the top 10 in the nation in blocked shots (fourth), rebounds (fifth) and double-doubles (eighth, 19). O’Quinn led the MEAC in blocked shots and rebounding, while ranking second in field goal percentage (.556) and fifth in scoring. He set single-season school records (Division I era) with 110 blocked shots and 355 rebounds. O’Quinn was named MEAC Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week four times, and was voted to the MEAC All-Tournament Team.
As a sophomore (2009-10), O’Quinn appeared in 30 games, averaging 11.5 ppg., 8.7 rpg. and 1.7 blkpg. in 28.3 minpg., while shooting a conference-best .549 from the floor. He was named to the All-MEAC Second Team. During his freshman season (2008-09), he averaged 5.3 ppg. and 3.4 rpg. in 16.2 minpg.
Now that Kobe Bryant, strangely missing, has finally joined the fun, the U.S. appears complete.
Oh, there are some major defensive flaws, but that hardly matters to this suped-up, American-manufactured scoring machine that goes from zero to 100 points in seconds.
Overpowering and dominant in a way not seen since the 1992 Dream Team, the Americans are now two wins from a second straight Olympic gold medal.
Argentina awaits.
“We’re ready,” Carmelo Anthony said.
Pushed by teammate Kevin Durant to “turn it on,” Bryant scored 20 points – all in the second half – and the U.S. team stomped its way into the semifinals with a 119-86 win on Wednesday night over Australia, which scrapped as hard as it could until the world’s best team put the game away.
— Reported by Tom Withers of the Associated Press
Dwyane Wade’s recovery from knee surgery is right on schedule, and the All-Star guard expects to be ready to go when the Miami Heat open the defense of their NBA championship.
The way he was walking around London on Wednesday, it would have been tough to guess he had surgery a month ago.
”I feel good. Rehab is going very well,” Wade told The Associated Press. ”I’m happy with it. I’m more encouraged than I was, obviously, when I knew I had to get surgery. So I’m happy.”
Wade was in London making a promotional appearance at NBA House for Gatorade, one of his longtime sponsors, and its sports science institute.
— Reported by Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press
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The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed guard/forward C.J. Miles to a contract, Cavaliers General Manager Chris Grant announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.
“C.J. brings solid NBA experience to the team, yet is still just entering his prime at 25,” said General Manager Chris Grant. “His ability to play multiple positions adds depth and flexibility to our roster.”
Miles, 25, averaged 9.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 20.5 minutes per game in 56 games (14 starts) for the Utah Jazz last season. He scored a season-high 27 points on 10-16 (.625) shooting in 27 minutes off the bench against Houston on Feb. 29th and has a career high of 40 points, which he scored on Mar. 16th, 2011 against Minnesota.
The 6-foot-6, 222-pound Miles was drafted out of Skyline High School in Dallas, Texas by the Jazz with the fourth pick of the second round (34th overall pick) of the 2005 NBA Draft and has played all seven seasons of his NBA career with Utah. He has career averages of 8.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 19.3 minutes in 389 games (159 starts).
Dan Roundfield, an NBA veteran who had three consecutive All-Star seasons, has drowned off the Caribbean island of Aruba while helping his wife as she struggled in rough water. He was 59.
Roundfield, who played 11 professional seasons with Indiana, Atlanta, Detroit and Washington, had been swimming with his wife, Bernie, off the southeastern tip of Aruba on Monday when they became caught in rough water beyond a protected reef area, said John Larmonie, a police spokesman on the southern Caribbean island.
The former All Star was apparently swept away in a strong current as he tried to help his struggling wife, Larmonie said. Police, firefighters, the Coast Guard and volunteers searched for him, finding his body about 90 minutes later, trapped by rocks underwater.
“It’s a real tragedy,” Larmonie said. “He drowned saving his wife.”
— Reported by the Associated Press
Palace Sports & Entertainment president Dennis Mannion said Detroit Pistons jerseys “most probably” will have small sponsorship patches in the future.
The NBA signaled last month that — pending formal league approval — it will allow small patches on the upper left part of jerseys. It’s not exactly going the NASCAR route, but it’s a significant move as the league ponders another revenue stream.
Mannion said Tuesday there have been discussions about offering the space as part of a package with a high-end sponsor.
— Reported by Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press
Lee Eddins had hoped he would be able to watch his idol, center Roy Hibbert, play in person when the Indiana Pacers visit Sacramento, Calif., for a game against the Kings in late November.
But Lee, 12, is not expected to live that long.
Diagnosed with stage four leukemia six months ago, Lee has been told he might only have a couple of weeks left to live.
So Hibbert has planned a special surprise. Later this week, he is flying to Sacramento to meet Lee.
“Once I heard he had a dying wish, I knew I had to do something more than send him presents and Skype with him on the computer,” Hibbert said.
— Reported by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star
Former Boston Celtics great Bob Cousy remembered Arnie Risen as an intense teammate on the court and a gentle soul off it.
Risen, 87, of Pepper Pike, a former Ohio State University star and two-time NBA champion who was elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1998, died Saturday from complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
A lung cancer survivor, he had been in remission the past six years.
“He was a very nice, gentle man who became such a competitor,” Cousy said in a telephone interview Monday. “He, obviously, reached the highest echelon in his profession and the NBA, and you don’t get there unless you’re a pretty intense competitor. But you’d never knew that. He was a sweet and gentle person.”
— Reported by Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer
The Memphis Grizzlies will open the 2012 preseason Oct. 6 against Real Madrid Baloncesto at FedExForum at 7 p.m.
With 30 Spanish League championships, Real Madrid is one of the most successful professional basketball teams in Europe and an affiliate of the soccer powerhouse of the same name. In addition to the Grizzlies, Real Madrid will also match up against the Toronto Raptors during the preseason.
— Reported by Michael Sheffield of Memphis Business Journal