New York Sports Fan Blog

As part of the All Star Weekend, the annual Slam Dunk event will occur in mid-February. Participants are given the opportunity to make three dunks. Following the contest, voting is opened up to fans to select the player with the best dunks. Despite big names in basketball shunning the event, it still continues to have a lot of entertainment value for basketball fans. Last year’s event was won by Jeremy Evans of the Jazz who dunked two balls simultaneously in a spectacular fashion. This will be one of several events during basketball’s weekend of the year that will be the focus of sports betting at online casinos.
Some betting options on the Slam Dunk Event of course will pertain to which player will win the bet. Voting can often be rather close which affects the odds established by the online casino site. Proposition sports bets are rather popular for this upcoming basketball event. These are types of sports bet that focus on specific player performance rather than teams winning a game. Bets on this event can be placed up to minutes before it occurs.
When All Star Weekend occurs, there is bound to be idle time between basketball events such as the Slam Dunk Contest. An idea for filling this time includes playing basketball themed slot machines at online casinos like http://www.ipadcasino.ca/. One of the most well known basketball related slot machines is Slam Dunk. All of the symbols found on the reels are different types of basketball memorabilia. For instance, a jersey emblazoned with the number 23 is found on the reels. While it omits a name, it is paying tribute to Michael Jordan, one of the best players in NBA history. This number 23 jersey serves as the wild symbol in the game. It can be used to substitute for any other symbol excluding the scatter symbol.

Once again Jim Dolan has dragged his famed New York Knicks into the doldrums of oblivion. On the surface all is great with Knicks, not only did they land their superstar that will put them on the basketball map for the first time in 15 years, they truly believe they are contenders again in a top heavy Eastern Conference. However the surface is a thin sheet of hardwood, a sheet that will collapse under the increased pressure to win now that Carmello Anthony is in town. The Knicks sold their entire core to the devil and I don’t believe they made a good deal.

The reason the Knicks were in the position they were in has nothing to do with Carmello, or the players or proven GM Donnie Walsh. The reason the Knicks have been floating around in oblivion for so long is because of Dolan! He spent the post Patrick Ewing years trading and selling draft picks for has-beens that ate up salary cap and spent more time on the injury list then on the court. It wasn’t until Walsh showed up did the Knicks become somewhat relevant again, he got rid of the dead weight, he made smart business moves and good draft choice’s he brought excitement back to Madison Square Garden. Then Dolan erased Walsh’s Knicks legacy in a matter of seconds, he took the core and traded it to Denver for Anthony, the same Anthony that refused to sign an extension with the Nuggets, the same Anthony that was never going to accept a trade to the New Jersey Nets, the same Anthony that was going to become a free-agent in June and would hit the open market for the same $65 million dollars the Knicks will be paying him.

Dolan took the Knicks from a 7th seed in the East to a 6th seed in East and traded everything he had to get there. Lets face the facts; the Knicks now have no youth, no draft picks and no way of building around Carmello and Amare Stoudemire. They aren’t going to win a NBA championship as long as the big three are in Boston, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade are in Miami and Kobe Bryant is in the league.
So I ask you Knicks fans, you got Carmello, but was it worth it?

New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said Wednesday he will retain team president Rod Thorn, but will not ask general manager Kiki Vandeweghe to return when his contract expires this summer, according to multiple media reports.

“His agreement expires this summer and I wish him well,” Prokhorov told reporters.

Vandeweghe, reached for comment on a plane as he was about to embark on a scouting trip, said “I hadn’t heard anything.” He declined additional comment, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Vandeweghe also coached the Nets this season, taking over after Lawrence Frank was fired following an 0-16 start. The team went 12-52 with Vandeweghe as coach.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPNNewYork.com

Despite not being physically fit for most of the season, Wilson Chandler quietly – he knows no other way – performed above expectations.

A painful groin injury eventually knocked him out for good in March, and now it appears that his surgically repaired left ankle also hampered the Knicks’ shooting guard/small forward. According to a team source, Chandler might need surgery to remove scar tissue from his ankle. Last June, Chandler had surgery to remove bone spurs.

No decision on Chandler will be made until after Tuesday night’s season finale against Toronto. If surgery is required, the procedure will not keep Chandler sidelined for an extended period of time.

He should be healthy well before the Knicks report back to work in late September. Chandler, a surprise first-round pick by then-team president Isiah Thomas in 2007, is a player Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni agree will be a big part of the club’s future.

Click here to read the full article – By FRANK ISOLA of Ny Daily News

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At long last, it ends.

One of the five worst seasons in NBA history — if you judge them by such trifling matters as wins and losses — comes to a merciful end tonight at AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami, where the Nets will also split up for an offseason that might result in three-quarters of their roster being turned over.

Regrets? They’ve had a few.

“People wonder how the season went this way, and I wish I can explain it,” said four-year veteran Josh Boone. “We have a lot of talent, to be honest with you — a lot of guys who can do a lot of things. It’s unfortunate the season went the way it did, but we’re obviously not a 12-win-talent team. There were other circumstances that led to this.

“But unfortunately, the only thing that matters at the end of the day is your record. And that’s probably why they’re going to make” wholesale changes.

Click here to read the full article – By Dave D’Alessandro of The Star-Ledger

Would-be starters Kobe Bryant and Allen Iverson are out of the NBA All-Star Game.

Jason Kidd of the hometown Dallas Mavericks has been chosen to replace Bryant. New York’s David Lee is replacing Iverson.

An ankle injury has prevented Bryant from playing in the Los Angeles Lakers’ past three games. Iverson has missed Philadelphia’s last five games because one of his young children is ill.

Both informed the league on Thursday that they needed to withdraw from Sunday’s game, sources said.

NBA commissioner David Stern, who makes all selections on All-Star injury replacements, then chose Kidd to make his 10th All-Star appearance. Kidd — who ranks fifth in the league in assists (9.3 per game) — had already left Dallas to begin an All-Star break vacation in the Phoenix area and is expected to fly back to Dallas on Friday.

Click here to read the full article – By Marc Stein of ESPN.com

Nate Robinson says he’ll be defending his slam dunk title at All-Star Weekend because he’s required to do so under NBA rules.

LeBron James won’t be trying to unseat the champion, and it’s not clear why he changed his mind.

Less than a month before the NBA holds its signature event, Robinson threw a potential monkey wrench into the All-Star festivities when he declared Monday he’ll be participating in the dunk contest because “the champion has to go back.”

“The NBA, they asked me: ‘Do you want to do it?’ And at first I wasn’t sure. This is my fourth time doing it, so I know people probably get sick of seeing me dunk, but like I said, the champion’s got to go back,” Robinson said after scoring 27 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 99-91 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday.

“And I guess, hopefully, I mean if I don’t win it, it’ll be good because I don’t want to go back no more. But if I do [win], and they want me to go back again, I guess so. Keep going until I lose,” Robinson said.


Click here to read the full article – By Chris Sheridan of ESPN.com

Benched New York Knicks guard Nate Robinson was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Monday after his agent made a trade request.


Robinson has not played in the Knicks’ last 12 games. A two-time winner of the All-Star slam dunk contest, he has played in only 12 games this season and is averaging 11 points.

Agent Aaron Goodwin recently told reporters he’d asked the Knicks to move Robinson to another team. Robinson was fined for statements detrimental to the NBA.

“Players are not permitted to make trade requests publicly and are responsible for public statements relating to them made by their representatives,” NBA spokesman Tim Frank said.

Goodwin said the benching was personal, not basketball related. A day after Goodwin’s comments on Dec. 19, Knicks president Donnie Walsh said he would probably begin talks with the agent about a trade.


Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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The winless New Jersey Nets have fired coach Lawrence Frank with immediate effect.

The Nets announced the move Sunday shortly after ESPN.com’s report that Frank would not coach the Nets in Sunday night’s road game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Despite playing hard for assistant coach Tom Barrise, the Nets matched the worst start to an NBA season with their 17th straight loss as the Lakers overwhelmed New Jersey 106-87.

The Nets’ announcement said that Frank’s permanent replacement has not yet been chosen.

Click here to read the full article – By Marc Stein of ESPN.com

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Starters became reserves, veterans were dusted off and everything was new again. The Knicks, in search of another fresh start, tried one more new look Monday night: winners.

It took four games to find a combination that worked, or at least one that would not spot the opponent a 20-point lead before exerting some effort. The Knicks found it at last, deploying Larry Hughes as a starter, then watching him lead the way to their first victory of the season, 117-111 over the New Orleans Hornets at Madison Square Garden.

Hughes, who had been wrapped in mothballs a week ago, started at shooting guard and set the tone with his assertive play at both ends of the court. He finished with 20 points and 6 rebounds and figures to stick for a while, now that the Knicks (1-3) have discovered a winning formula.

Click here to read the full article – By HOWARD BECK of New York Times