Blazers Add Camby For Stretch Run

By Ross Everett

The Portland Trailblazers have needed a big inside presence ever since starting center Greg Oden and backup Joel Pryzbilla went down with season ending injuries. They finally found one on Tuesday as they acquired veteran Marcus Camby from the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers received forward Travis Outlaw and guard Steve Blake. Camby is expected to make his debut in a Blazers' uniform on Friday when Portland hosts the Boston Celtics.

The transaction also served to answer the nagging question about Portland's point guard situation. Steve Blake and Andre Miller have shared time running the offense, but Blazers' management apparently felt that Miller was a better fit with superstar shooting guard Brandon Roy.

All three players involved are in the final year of their current contract, meaning that barring anything unforeseen Camby's career in Portland will probably last only 23 games plus the playoffs. Outlaw and Blake may or may not fit into the Clippers longterm plans-assuming that one of the NBA's most consistently underachieving teams actually has 'longterm plans' in the first place.

Camby indicated that he was excited to be going to the Blazers:

"I think it's a great situation for myself. It's a first-class organization that really takes care of their own. I hope I can bring my knowledge of the game, and blend in these last 27 games. I'm really excited to be here."

He talked about the strange situation of actually being in Portland when the trade went down:

"I only brought one change of clothes. It's been a real rough, rough 24 hours for me, but real exciting at the same time."

Camby also said that he's interesting in staying in 'Rip City' longterm:

"Hopefully things work out for myself and work out for the team. Hopefully they have plans for me in the long term."

Portland GM Kevin Pritchard added:

"We are very excited to bring an experienced big man of Marcus' caliber to the team and we feel he'll help us a great deal down the stretch run. He's a fierce competitor and has been one of the league's best defensive players for quite some time."

The 35 year old Camby has long been considered one of the NBA's best defensive big men. Despite playing on a LA Clippers team well off the playoff pace in the Western Conference, he's second in the league in rebounds with 12.1 per game. - 31494

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Four Jumping Workouts to Enhance Vertical Leap Fast

By Jim Callen

Speed and strength are essential components of athletes movement. With improved energy, an athlete's general efficiency is enhanced such as an raise vertical jump.

Different Jumping workouts for instance jumping, bounding and hopping happen to be employed in numerous numerous methods to enhance overall performance, and boost vertical jump.

Not just are jumping physical exercises helpful towards athletes efficiency, it raises the fitness.

The subsequent jumping work outs happen to be used and tested by athletes and trainers to increase vertical leap, and performance.

Listed under are 4 more affordable physique jumping exercises to increase vertical leap-

1) Bounds - Commence jogging adopted by a force away with the correct leg, and with an lengthy stride bring the left leg forward (knee bent and thigh parallel to the floor).

In the exact same time, the left arm should achieve ahead for further momentum. Try to keep the lengthy stride for a brief time, after which land about the left foot and immediately leap forward once again.

To maximise this jumping work out, carry on to carry out the lengthy stride continuously on every single foot and cover as significantly distance as possible.

Recommended models are just one to three fixed over 30-40 metres.

2) Hurdle Hopping - This jumping work out involves the hip and knee for jump movements. The hurdles are specify inside a row, and spaced at an suitable distance away.

Whilst position straight on 2 feet, jump ahead above the hurdles and then right away spring or jump over the next hurdle.

Lift together with your knees collectively, tucked against the chest and land around the balls from the feet, and instantly keep on the next jump exercise sequence around the subsequent hurdles.

Use both arms to swing up for balance and boost vertical jump.

Proposed sets are a single to 3 sets over 6 to 8 hurdles(36 inches high) for this jumping exercising.

3) Single Leg Hopping - The purpose of this jumping exercise is always to stand on just one leg, and push off from the standing leg, jumping ahead and landing for the identical leg.

Use the opposite leg being a balance and for ahead movement. With just about every jump, intention to jump higher.

Encouraged jumping workout set is just one to three above 30-40 metres.

4) Tuck Jumps - Standing straight, jump up grabbing both knees to the chest.

Since the feet return towards beginning situation, land about the balls of the feet and right away spring up inside a quick upward motion.

Once more with this jumping physical exercise, goal to jump higher with each and every spring.

Advised vertical jumps for this jumping exercising is a single to 3 models of 10 repetitions.

Note that if this is your very first attempt at these jumping workout routines, it truly is usually recommended to consult having a individual trainer for highest overall performance and keep injuries.

The jumping physical exercises above are just only several, and aimed to to increase vertical leap.

Additionally, these suggested jumping work outs plays portion in your continual exercise of vertical leap efficiency.

As often, the quality of each jumping physical exercise is far more significant than quantity.

Consequently focus around the method of each jumping work out for exceptional results.

The improved the quality, the much better the form of every single jumping work out, which will have an impact on enhanced power, and an improve vertical jump.

Begin the exercise routine tiny and progressively boost the workout throughout a time frame. That means it's not important to do jumping work outs 7 nights 1 week. Appear at Three to 4 days a week, allowing the muscle tissue to rest.

Also, performing the jumping workout routines as well frequently will frequently lead to boredom, and consequently lack of motivation. The idea with these jumping workouts is to exercise routine much less for exceptional outcomes.

Importantly keep monitor of every single jumping work out. Note the repetitions, distance and height of just about every jumping exercising.

As soon as you've grasped the 4 jumping work outs, appear at varying the regimen with more special jumping physical exercises that will add a lot more strength for a increasing vertical jump and health and fitness.

Some other suggested jumping exercises are split jumps, position jump from height, depth jump from the box. Should you want additional exclusive jumping exercises (or plyometric exercises) that will absolutely unleash your vertical jump, check out the hyperlink beneath.

Lastly, prior to any workout, it is vital that you warm up and stretch the muscle groups just before and right after any jumping exercise.

During this century, jumping workout routines have been used efficiently by a lot of athletes as being a method of education to raise vertical jump. - 31494

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The Truth About The Steve Nash Rookie Card

By Karl Merigue

Steve Nash rookie card, went from times of difficulty to joining a list of those who had made history. He became one of the 11 men that are the only one's in the history of the NBA to win Most Valuable player, multiple times. He weighs less than 200 pounds and is 6 feet and three inches tall.

When he first started, everything was a different story for him. Jason Kidd in 1996 was the main star on the team he joined. Only 11 games that he started in, on the first two seasons that he played. This was when he first arrived on the Phoenix Suns from Santa Clara. At this time he was only averaging about 10 points a game and three assists.

Now it is much different. The Phoenix Suns could not imagine playing without him. Although he was traded in 1998 to Dallas, it seems that it made a big difference on the way he played. He went from nobody to having all-star status within a short amount of time. In 2004, as a free agent he returned to the Suns.

In 2004-05 and 2005-06, Steve Nash grabbed hold of the MVP title. A lot of this accounted to the improvement in his game. He became much better at layups and three pointers, which seemed to have a lot to do with Mike D'Antoni.

His game was now averaging 11 assists and 19 points, which helped to earn his team recognition as one of the top NBA teams. For some reason his steve nash rookie card remains undervalued. The question remains as to whether this has become overlooked or just has been some bad judgment call.

The value of his basketball card remains way undervalued for the accomplishments he has made. When his card will increase in value remains a mystery. Presently, people can enjoy purchasing his card for much less than it really is worth, until at least they realize that he deserves a much higher price value for his card. - 31494

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The Famous Vince Carter Slam Dunk Contest

By Kim Tuborg

Vince Carter is a professional American basketball player, often known for his role in the Vince Carter Slam Dunk Contest of 2000. This was one of the most well known and exciting contests in the world of NBA basketball.

The All-Star weekend is widely known as one can find information, movies and pictures of it all over the Internet. Indeed, it still has a great deal of interest from fans of the game and of Vince Carter's amazing basketball achievements. During the match, Vince Carter was playing for the Toronto Raptors, the team which ultimately won. In the game was also his cousin, Tracy McGrady and Steve Francis of the Houston Rockets.

The Internet is full of images and movies of this epic contest, showing and detailing Vince's winning moves. At the time he was playing with the team known as the Toronto Rappers with Tracy McGrady, also his cousin. Also in the game were a number of other especially famous basketball players including Steve Francis of Houston Rockets Fame.

The Vince Carter Slam Dunk Contest continues to be revered and widely talked about to this day. A search on Google Images or Youtube will certainly reveal a large number of interesting and highly rated results of media from the game.

In addition to his performance in the Slam Dunk Contest, Vince Carter's career in basketball is also well known and respected for a number of other key events and rewards. Having won the NBA All-Star eight times in total, that is just the beginning of his impressive portfolio of awards. He has also accomplished the All-NBA award and earned an Olympic gold medal in 2009.

Today, Vince Carter plays for Orlando Magic and continues to develop his career, raking in a salary of more than sixteen million. His career only began in 1998 but continues to skyrocket in terms of significance and impressiveness. Until recently being traded with the Orlando Magic team, he played for the New Jersey Nets. - 31494

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Free Online Music Videos For Anyone With A Connected Computer

By Paul Angel

advancement in computer technology has made many things come true. Now you can watch free online music videos or share our own videos with other people. With a computer connected to the Internet, you can surf the net and access the whole world. Now the need for watching free music videos has risen dramatically and we have come to expect this need as a must in a civilised society.

There are many sites that allow you to watch music videos for free. YouTube is one of them. I bet you have heard of You tube if you are a member of the Internet community. YouTube is a great place to share videos about anything except sex, violence and other detrimental things.

You can watch videos about anything on YouTube. Every genre, every artist, every song is available for free. Most videos are uploaded by user from around the world. No matter what type of music you prefer, you will be able to find that at YouTube.

There is another great function that you should use at YouTube: the ability to share your own video with the world. The videos you create can be about anything that you have in mind. They can be about you yourself, your friends, your things, your pets, etc. The only limit is that the videos can not contain offensive content.

When people watch your video and think that the video is great, they will highly rate it. There are many videos that attract as much as millions of views just a few hours after they were uploaded. YouTube also enable users to comment on the videos. And there is also a feature that allow others to create videos in respond to the video you created. The thing happens exactly as what happens in a real society.

You can also do a research on the Internet to find other sites that offer free online videos. The number of sites offering music videos for free is very large and you will be amazed at what you can find. Just type in the phrase "free music videos" and you will find the result very impressive.

Another site for free video viewing is Yahoo Music. This site is actually the competitor with YouTube. The site is also quite famous and has a nice interface. Their database is also very huge so you can find anything you want. When you need to search for a specific song, you can type in the search box and click enter. Or if you forget the name of the song, you can search the name of the artist or the song writer in stead. There are many options available for you at Yahoo Music.

Free online music videos are in indispensable part of the life of a civilised citizen. With the fast pace of technology advancement, we can definitely expect more growth in the number of free online music sites and many more functions associated with free online music will be available in the near future. - 31494

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Jason Williams To Return To NBA Action With Orlando

By Ross Everett

Veteran point guard Jason Williams"nicknamed White Chocolate earlier in his career for his flamboyant play"is returning to the NBA after a season away from basketball. Williams announced that hes re-entering the league this season, and will do so in an Orlando Magic uniform.

Williams signed a one year NBA contract to play for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2008, but walked away from it without playing a game wanting to spend time with his wife and family. His attempt to be reinstated late in the season was rebuffed by the NBA, and he ended up sitting out the entire campaign.

When the Clippers relinquished their rights to Williams earlier this summer, he became an unrestricted free agent. Ultimately, he settled on Orlando due to its proximity to his home in nearby Isleworth, Florida and the role the Magic wanted him to play on a championship contender. Magic General Manager Otis Smith provided these comments on the signing:

"Jason provides depth and leadership to our backcourt. He is a veteran point guard that knows what it takes to help us reach our ultimate goal."

When asked to reflect on his NBA and college career"marked by several suspensions and countless other controversies"Williams sounded a philosophical tone:

"Let me tell you this: If I could go all the way back [to the beginning], I wouldn't do a damn thing different. I know I messed up here and there along the way, but those things I didn't do right helped me become the person I am now."

Williams played a crucial backup role during the Miami Heats 2005-2006 NBA championship run, and will be expected to play a similar function as the Magic try to get over the hump and unseat the reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers. Theyre expected to face a tough test in their own conference, with Cleveland, Miami and Boston all having upgraded their lineups during the offseason. - 31494

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LA Clippers Relieve Mike Dunleavy Of Coaching Duties

By Ross Everett

In one of the stranger front office shakeups in recent NBA history, the Los Angeles Clippers have 'relieved' Mike Dunleavy of his head coaching duties effective immediately. He'll remain on board as the Clippers' general manager, and both he and the team cited the demands of the forthcoming trade deadline and free agent market as a catalyst for the change. Dunleavy leaves as the most successful head coach in the team's less than distinguished history.

Not surprisingly, there is much speculation as to the back story behind the move. Some with knowledge of the situation suggest that Clippers' owner Donald Sterling wanted to fire Dunleavy altogether, but relented due to the $5 million the team will owe him in the final year of his contract next year. More recently, a bizarre rumor has been circulating that Sterling has approached Isiah Thomas about taking over Dunleavy's coaching position and becoming team president. While Isiah would bring a level of fabulousness never before seen on the Clippers' sidelines, he hasn't had much success either as a coach or executive in the NBA.

Dunleavy issued this statement, playing along with the team's insistence that the decision to give up coaching was 'mutual':

"I've come to the conclusion that this is the ideal time for me to direct my efforts toward the many personnel opportunities that lie before us, such as the trade market, the draft and the free-agent process. We fully expect to be active and productive on all those fronts."

Team President Andy Roeser sounded a similar tone:

"We fully agree with Mike that this is the right time to make this change. It just seems clear that the team needs a fresh voice and we hope that our players will respond in a positive way.As we approach the trade deadline, the NBA draft and the upcoming free-agent period, our team is very well positioned from a salary-cap standpoint. Mike's experienced input will be vitally important as we continue to develop our young talented nucleus and shape our team's future."

Dunleavy's agent Warren LeGarie didn't deviate from the script:

"This is something we've been contemplating for some time. There's a shelf life to coaching sometimes. So you constantly have to keep measuring whether [the team's inconsistency] is because of injuries, because of you, or something else. And at some point you have to make a judgment call about what's best for the team, and that's what Mike did."

The Clippers have lost 7 of their last 10 games to fall to 21-29 on the year. They're 17 games behind the Western Conference leading Los Angeles Lakers and 8 games out of the final playoff spot. The schedule won't get any easier for the Clippers after the break as they head to Portland's Rose Garden Arena to take on the Blazers. - 31494

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The Top NBA Rookies

By Aaron Harden

The NBA rookies who began this season have been quite outstanding in their performance. Usually, lots of seasons come and go before a rookie becomes really good and they appear jittery at first as well as need to do a lot of learning with regard to the league.

However, some pretty spectacular rookies are playing this season and they have already proved that they possess the qualities that veteran players have. That will go a long way in guaranteeing that they will have a super long basketball career.

Let's take a look at a few of the top NBA candidates for rookie of the year this season. Here are a few of the most likely possibilities.

If you asked anyone a month or two ago, Brandon Jennings might have been the consensus answer. He came out with a bang this year, highlighting his impact with an incredible 55 point performance in November.

Unfortunately, Jennings has shot around the 30% mark during the course of the last month so he's fallen out of contention for the moment.

At this juncture, Tyreke Evans, the guard on the Sacramento Kings who changed the worst team in the NBA last year into a great team this year, is being called the #1 choice. His astounding averages of more than 20 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds do indeed show that he will be quite a star in the NBA.

Omri Casspi, one of his teammates, who came from Israel, is also in the running with a great chance. He has looked really fabulous with his ability to shoot just about 50% on field shots, and the way he plays defense and makes so many three pointers is quite impressive.

Now Stephen Curry, a point guard for Golden State, has been playing the game quite well thus far in that position. Regarding the franchise's future, this is a good thing, but if he is going to be considered, he needs to really up his performance in the second halves of the games.

Lastly, there's one more point guard in the mix, and this is Johnny Flynn in Minnesota. The point guard from Syracuse looks nothing like a rookie this year, and he looks destined to have a great career. - 31494

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Basketball : Advice On How To Jump Higher

By Mark Walters

Basketball is a game where height is might. In a game where the hoop that must be scored in is ten feet above the ground, the reason for this is obvious. However, the tallest players are not necessarily the best players.

You also need to have strength, speed, and the ability to jump higher to be able to win on rebounds or to dunk the basketball. How to jump higher in basketball is therefore something all basketball players would like to know.

There are many exercises and drills that coaches force their players to undergo. These range in their level of intensity and duration. Most are require the assistance of a trainer and teammates to complete. However, you can definitely train yourself to jump higher without the assistance of anyone else.

To give you a hint of what will be required to be able to jump higher off the ground, here are some of the basic exercises that you will need to do...

The most basic one is jumping rope. You will no doubt have heard of the benefits of this before, but have, none done it since you were a child. This is no problem as it is easy enough to pick it up again.

You need a good jumping rope if you will be doing this exercise regularly. It is important that you jump off your toes as you are doing the exercise. Doing so will build up your calf muscles, which mainly power your jumps.

A further exercise recommended by some manuals on how to jump higher in basketball is to walk on tiptoe for at least twenty minutes a day. Add another five minutes to your exercise by also walking backwards on tiptoes.

You should also do some long jump exercises. This will allow you to start your jump farther away from the hoop and still be able to put the ball through it. That is the basics covered; these simple exercises improve your leaping ability, which will allow you to reach up higher. Keep in mind though that training yourself to jump higher will not bring overnight results, so be patient. - 31494

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Kobe, Iverson Miss NBA All Star Game

By Ross Everett

The NBA All Star game was played without a couple of high profile participants this year as the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant and Philadelphia 76ers' Allen Iverson would not play due to injury. Kobe and 'AI' were the latest in a string of injuries to All Star players that also claimed Portland's Brandon Roy and New Orleans' Chris Paul.

Kobe Bryant has been plagued with minor injuries all year, but missed the Lakers' last three games prior to the All Star contest due to an ankle sprain. Los Angeles is hopeful that by not playing in the game that Kobe will be able to return to action immediately after play resumes following the All Star break. Bryant did travel to Dallas to participate in All Star game festivities. Kobe is always the center of attention wherever he goes and presided over the annual slam dunk contest as well as a benefit appearance for retired racing wombats.

Iverson has missed Philadelphia's past five games due to an illness suffered by one of his young children. Unlike Kobe, Iverson wasn't expected to be in Dallas this weekend due to the nature of his situation. It's debatable that Iverson deserved an All Star game nod in the first place. He quickly wore out his welcome in Memphis to start the year, and eventually landed back in Philadelphia where he's averaged 14.4 points per game since his return. He was voted in to the starting lineup by NBA fans, and this renewed calls from the media to revise the procedure for selecting All Star game participants. Unfortunately, many of the All Star voters are dimwits and pick players based on their 'name recognition' rather than their in-season performance.

Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks was chosen to replace Bryant in the Western Conference lineup, while New York's David Lee was the East's fill in for Iverson. The West already had two 'fill ins' named to their roster as Denver's Chauncy Billups and the LA Clippers' Chris Kaman took the place of Chris Paul and Brandon Roy respectively.

NBA betting enthusiasts had several options on the menu beginning with the annual 'rookies vs. sophomores' game on Saturday. The Sophomores were a -12 point favorite with the total set at 245' but were crushed by the rookie team. - 31494

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Ben Wallace Pictures On The Internet

By Roger McBridge

If you're looking for pictures of Ben Wallace and the games that he has participated in, then there are many fans sites all over the Internet which specialise in Ben Wallace pictures. In fact, there is certainly no shortage of them and a quick search on Google images will show you that.

Ben Wallace is a world renowned American basketball player, currently playing in the National Basketball Association. He has won many awards over the years and is one of the most widely respected basketball players in the United States. In fact, he won the NBA championship in 2004 or just to add to his impressive track record.

If you are into the world of basketball, then Ben Wallace pictures was certainly be of interest to you. With a long and extensive career and having played in a variety of teams, he certainly has achieved some impressive things.

He began his career in 1996, joining a team called the Washington Bullets and then went on to play in Italy. His career soon started to skyrocket and in 2000, he joined the team the Detroit Pistons. Eventually, he ended up joining a highly expensive sixty million dollar deal on a four year contract with the world famous Chicago Bulls.

You will be able to find more pictures of him on the Chicago Bulls official website since he was with his team for four years having signed up a contract which cost the team sixty million dollars. He then went on to win a number of awards including the NBA championship.

You will be able to find more information about him including pictures and other multimedia on the various websites which are dedicated to him and the sport of basketball. You will also be able to find a good article about him on the free encyclopeadia website. - 31494

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3 Scams To Beware Of In Choosing The Best Vertical Program

By Mat Hultquist

When searching for the best vertical program, it can be extremely frustrating because every one of them claims to be the best.

Take a look at the websites of The Jump Manual, Vertical Mastery, the Vertical Bible, and the Vertical Project and I assure you they will claim to be the best vertical program.

If you are ready to buy one of these programs, how do you choose? Our research has shown that there are typically 3 scams to watch out for:

1. Coaching charges - is there coaching with the program that charges you on a monthly basis? Some of the best vertical programs do have monthly coaching that is legitimate. And they typically only cost $10-$12 per month. Nevertheless, be aware of programs that 1) cost an arm and a leg (ones that are upwards of $150 per month) and 2) hide the fact that they have ongoing monthly fees.

It's disgusting, but the fact is that some of the not so best vertical programs charge a monthly fee for coaching and only tell you this in very small print when you buy their product.

2. One size fits all - although not intentionally a scam, you still have to be aware of the "one size fits all" approach to these vertical jumping programs. Would it really make sense that the best vertical program would work the same for someone who is 5'6" vs. someone who is 6'3"?

Most of the vertical jumping programs are designed for mass distribution, so it only makes sense that they would take a one size fits all approach. While convenient for them, it is not an ideal situation for you.

Some vertical jumping programs on the market are software based that design training regimens based on your current skill level, body type, etc. The price of these is the same, if not less than, the programs that are one size fits all. So, wouldn't it make sense to get a program custom designed to you and only you vs. a cookie cutter plan?

3. Outlandish claims - the best vertical programs do not make outlandish claims. How do you tell the outlandish claims from the legitimate ones? You can tell if they make claims like:

- achieve a vertical leap of 50 inches in 1 week (I'm exaggerating, but you get the point)

- you won't have to workout your legs - this is a lie. Any program that says you will not have to squats, calf raises, etc., is just trying to get you to buy their product. A solid vertical jump programs will have you workout your legs.

- Don't follow good eating habits - I have actually seen this before! The truth is that you have to not only eat the right foods, but also eat the right combination of foods to get a sky-high vertical leap.

Follow these guidelines and be wary of the seductive sales pages online trying to sell you the best vertical program. There are some fantastic choices out there that will help you learn how to dunk pretty quickly, you just have to sort through the junk. - 31494

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