Basketball Coaches Fired

It's funny how NBA teams are affected by what other teams do. If one coach is fired, other teams don't feel as bad getting rid of theirs. Why teams care about what others is doing is stupid, and they basketball only worry about their organization.

Coaches fired so far:

P.J. Carlesimo, Thunder. Fired Nov 22, team record: 1-12. Unfortunate for Carlesimo, but this team was expected to be the worst team in the NBA this year. Seems a little early to fire him, but I guess the front office didn't like the way players basketball developing under him and the direction he was leading the team.

Eddie Jordan, Wizards. Fired Nov 24, team record: 1-10. Hard to win with 40% of your starting lineup out, especially $111 million of it. The Wizards played well with Arenas out last year, but PJ's firing gave the Wizards a quick excuse to get rid of Jordan and get a fresh face in there.

Sam Mitchell, Toronto. Fired Dec 3, team record: 8-9. Mitchell's team played decent but were expected to do big things this year in Toronto. O'Neal has played decent and was a good trade because it allowed Calderon to be the full-time PG. The team should have started off better if he wanted to keep his job, but most of its L's were against good teams. Their only loss to a bad team was against New Jersey in OT.

Randy Wittman, T-Wolves. Fired Dec 8, team record: 4-15. This team is a mess. It's a smaller version of the Knicks with a logjam of forwards instead of guards. Got rid of OJ Mayo to get a backup PF in Kevin Love. McHale should have been fired here, but the coach is always first to go. Now McHale was forced into the Coach position to get fired next, just like Isiah.

Mo Cheeks, 76ers. Fired Dec 13, team record: 9-14. Team started off slow similar to Toronto. Signed too many millions in the off-season to start off this slow. Team looked good on paper, but the slow down of tempo with Elton Brand has killed this team. GM should get some of the blame for this, but Mo Cheeks needed a way to make this work. There is a lot of talent on the team, but he couldn't pull it all together. Iguodala is way overpaid, but way behind Dalembert in that department. Elton Brand could kill this team chemistry by the end of the season. A smart GM should try to steal Thaddeus Young off this team.

Learn About - Sports Trading Cards

Collecting sport cards is one of basketball greatest hobby to start if you are a sports fan and you like to follow your favourite players through their careers. There are also many sport cards produced for different sports for example, baseball, basketball, hockey and you have several brand selections such as Topps, Upper Deck and Fleer.

Different sport cards you collect can have different value along the way. It can range from few cents to several thousand dollars. Why is there a great different in value? Well, the value is based on the talent and popularity of the player, the brand, the rarity, condition of the card and other factors. Having a player "rookie" card or first year card and have special value to different collectors.

To start your card collections, you have two different alternatives. You can buy the sealed card packs which have assorted cards inside or you can buy individual cards of your favorite players from a collector. Buying assorted card packs can be exciting because a lot of times, you many people are reportedly pulling $50 cards from packs that cost $4. Over time, you can grow your collection, find some high value cards (eBay would be a good choice), and watch your cards appreciate over time.

I will give you some terrific free online resources for purchasing cards online, learning about the different brands and values, managing your trading card collection prices online and discussing trading cards online in forums and message boards. You've got to Google them in order to find the links.

Trading Card Central basketball This site features the latest industry news, articles, product reviews.

Upper Deck - One of the most popular trading cards company

Sports Card Forum - One of the most popular forum on Sports Cards trading

Trader Crack's - It is a collector's website that provide blog, gallery, and news about sport cards trading.

Sport Cards Fan Shop is an online store with hundreds of new and vintage Sports Trading Cards including NASCAR, baseball cards, basketball cards, football cards at discounted price.

LeBron James Dunking - How to Improve Your Vertical Jump

Would you like to learn how to improve your vertical jump to something akin to Lebron James? Have you ever been in shock and awe watching Lebron James throw down a sick one hander from basketball free throw line? chances are if you are reading this then you are ready to make your own noise and thunder. This article will basketball on how to improve your vertical jump so you can maybe dunk like Lebron James one day.

Before we get started let's state some Lebron James facts for the record:

Height: 6'8
Weight: 250 lbs
Vertical: 41 inches

The real deal here is how did someone that big get a vertical like that? Let's look into it. What we have come to know is that Lebron James has been using Olympic Weightlifting. This has proved to be very effective for him in improving his vertical jump. A variety of legitimate independent studies have proven again and again the overall effectiveness of Olympic weightlifting in order to increase leg strength and conversely vertical jumping ability.

Case Study
There was a study performed that pitted two groups against each other with the idea of finding out which group with get the greatest gains in terms of vertical jumping ability. Group A used Olympic lifts which include high pulls, clean and jerk and a power clean motion. Group B performed jump increasing exercises like double and single leg hurdles hops, alternating single leg hurdle hops and other jump only related exercises.

Case Study Results
The two groups were given the task to perform there group of exercises faithfully for about two months. The results were amazing to say the least because I am sure you thought you knew who would the winners would be didn't you? Surprise you were proven wrong. Group A were the clear winners by having significantly increased their 10 meter sprint speed and standing jump distances over Group B.

Now we don't want you to think this is the only reason Lebron James has the jumping ability he has because it isn't. What you should walk away from this article knowing are three important success factors. Group A won because they were doing the right exercises, with the right number of repetitions and performing them correctly. Like in all things it comes down to having an action plan. The real question is do you have an action plan on how to improve your vertical jump?

Would you like an action plan that would give you access to the same resources that the pros and those that have tremendous vertical leaping ability do? Learn more about an online resource that can help you jump higher and therefore improve your sports performance? Click Here to visit the Improve Your Vertical Jump website. That's right you may have not been born like Lebron James but you can make up for it by Clicking Here http://www.verticalworkouts.com

LeBron James Dunking - How to Improve Your Vertical Jump

Would you like to learn how to improve your vertical jump to something akin to Lebron James? Have you ever been in shock and awe watching Lebron James throw down a sick one hander from the basketball throw line? chances are if you are reading this then you are ready to make your own noise and thunder. This article will focus on how to improve your vertical jump so you can maybe dunk like Lebron James one day.

Before we get started let's state some Lebron James facts for the record:

Height: 6'8
Weight: 250 lbs
Vertical: 41 inches

The real deal here is how did someone that big get a vertical like that? Let's look into it. What we have come to know is that Lebron James has been using Olympic Weightlifting. This has proved to be very effective for him in improving his vertical jump. A variety of legitimate independent studies have proven again and again the overall effectiveness of Olympic weightlifting in order to increase leg strength and conversely vertical jumping ability.

Case Study
There was a study performed that pitted two groups against each other with the idea of finding out which group with get the greatest gains in terms of vertical jumping ability. Group A used Olympic lifts which include high pulls, clean and jerk and a power clean motion. Group B performed jump increasing exercises like double and single leg hurdles hops, alternating single leg hurdle hops and other jump only related exercises.

Case Study Results
The two groups were given the task to perform there group of exercises faithfully for about two months. The results were amazing to say the least because I am sure you thought you knew who would the winners would be didn't you? Surprise you were proven wrong. Group A were the clear winners by having significantly increased their 10 meter sprint speed and standing jump distances over Group B.

Now we don't want you to think this is the only reason Lebron James has the jumping ability he has because it isn't. What you should walk away from this article knowing are three important success factors. Group A won because they were doing the right exercises, with the right number of repetitions and performing them correctly. Like in all things it comes down to having an action plan. The real question is do you have an action plan on how to improve your vertical jump?

Would you like an action plan that would give you access to the same resources that the pros and basketball that have tremendous vertical leaping ability do? Learn more about an online resource that can help you jump higher and therefore improve your sports performance? Click Here to visit the Improve Your Vertical Jump website. That's right you may have not been born like Lebron James but you can make up for it by Clicking Here http://www.verticalworkouts.com

Oklahoma City Will Host an NBA Team

After years of struggles, PBC Chairman Clay Bennett and the City of Seattle have come to an agreement which will move the Seattle Supersonic to Oklahoma City for the 2008-2009 season. Ever since Bennett has had his influence in the Seattle SuperSonic in 2006, he has wanted to move the team to there. Now, his dream is coming true. Seattle will no longer be able to host an NBA team due to failure to meet NBA regulations in the Key Arena. Thus, it is official that Seattle will lose it's NBA Franchise to Oklahoma next season.

During last season, Seattle had a horrible season. They lost a lot of games and it seems that they lost a lot of fan support as well. During the end of the season, there were many rumors that Seattle would lose their team because they were not selling enough tickets. But now, it is official that they will lose their team and must improve Key Arena if they want to get a team back within the next basketball years.

The Seattle SuperSonics franchise will be moving to Oklahoma City. This will be the first time that Oklahoma owns a NBA franchise. After hurricane Katrina, Oklahoma City offered their support by hosting the New Orleans Hornets for the 2006-2007 season, however they did not have ownership of the franchise. Apparently, basketball has a big success in there. Almost half of the games played at the Ford Center(Oklahoma) were sold out, while the rest sold almost full capacity.

Now, Oklahoma City will have ownership to a franchise that they will not have to return after one season. The Sonics franchise now belongs to investors in Oklahoma City. It has been agreed that they will, however, leave the name, logo, and team colors in Seattle. This means, that they will have their own logo, team name, and basketball At this point the team name and colors is not known, but should be announced shortly. Basketball fans of Oklahoma can now purchase season tickets for the 2008-2009 season.

Wade Boden is the Artwork Director of Robbins Sports, an online resource offering Basketball Uniforms and Basketball Standards.

Here Comes the March Madness

We all look forward to March Madness, whether its the office pool or some website's chance at a million dollars with a near perfect bracket. We doubt that we will actually achieve a near perfect bracket but it's an exciting roller coaster none the less.

There is also the drama of the Cinderellas and upset games, there is nothing like a kid hitting that buzzer beater to knock off the big school. College Football and Baseball got nothing on basketball, it is way more fast paced and a better tournament. Everyone was clamoring for a playoff in football this year, but we know that will never happen. Too much money being passed around in the BCS.

There will be a lot of new comers that haven't seen recent success like Clemson, Missouri, and Arizona State. There are also a lot of teams like Creighton and VCU who love upsetting the big dogs. Basketball is my favorite sport, and the NCAA Tournament is my favorite sporting event. It lasts longer than the SuperBowl. It plays at a much faster pace than the World Series or College World Series. Elimination tournaments are the best. You win, you keep going, you lose, bye bye. I've been doing brackets for over ten years now and you can never predict the first round, even when playing with 6 different brackets. Even if you do you have the second and sweet 16 which you couldn't make it through flawlessly. I believe I predicted North Carolina winning it all a basketball of years ago. That is one of the few years I predicted the winner from the beginning. But that was a pretty dominate team, with Felton and May. This year Uconn, UNC, Pittsburgh, and Oklahoma all look powerful, who knows who'll win it all? Maybe a Cinderella will steal the glory or maybe all the favorites will dominate like two years ago.

There is no set pattern for picking a winner, some people flip coins, some ask their little sister. Sometimes your wife could predict more right than you? We all get very superstitious around this time. We wear different shirts, avoid watching certain games. Shout stupid stuff when players attempt free throws. It's absurd but it makes the whole thing even more fun and intense. We hang on every shot of some games, and hold our breathe in the final seconds. When March Madness comes and goes we'll see who's brackets are left standing, and whose brackets are in basketball Like Forrest Gump said "you never know what your going to get" and I like it that way.

Clarke Baldwin is a journalist who has written for Dallas Morning News and other publications. You can find his site at Quick Flash News and this story at Here Comes The March Madness

Jump Higher Tips For Basketball

I'm going to share with you some jump higher tips for basketball. Obviously, the higher you can jump in this sport, the more edge you're going to have. Players that can get higher in the air are the ones that get many more baskets. As basketball they are also better at getting rebounds, far better at defensive aspects of the game and have an increased ability to run faster. When it comes to basketball, the height you jump is a big basketball of success and a lot of people don't know how to do it properly. You've probably practiced doing it and even worked out trying to accomplish it with no success. Well, I'm going to show you exactly what you're going to need to do be better.

My first tip to jump higher is to always warm up and don't over do it. These two things are probably the simplest things to do, yet are rarely ever done. If you don't warm up and get the blood flowing in the right places, you can possibly damager muscle tissue which will set you back months. Over doing it is another big problem. You can't just beat up on your body. If you overdo it, than you're going to cause long term problems.

As for exercises, my favorite is walking around on the tips of my toes for 30 minutes. It sounds simple and easy, but after 10 minutes you'll be seeing just how hard this is. If you can make it through this exercise with relative ease, than try walking around backwards on the tips of your toes.

Learn some Jump Higher Exercises.