Basketball Shoes

Suicide lines: mcgrady makes season debut; ailing Kobe drops 42

16.12.09

How he's feeling. 'If I ask him how his finger is doing, he's going to strangle me,' Artest said. 'When he's hurt, you're not allowed to ask him how he's doing or you're not allowed to ask him, 'Are you OK?' He gets really mad. Really. You think he's playing. He's really serious.' Bryant pretty much showed everybody how he felt with a 42-point outburst Tuesday in the Lakers' 96-87 victory over the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. He made 15 of 26 shots four days after suffering an avulsion fracture in the index finger of his right hand. After going seven for 24 Saturday against Utah, Bryant pushed the tempo against the Bulls, scoring 20 points in the first quarter as he made eight shots in a row. 'It was important to come out and for me to have a good game,' Bryant said. 'I didn't want people thinking that because I have a broken finger, we were weakened or something like that, because that's not the case.'"

Tim Kawakami, Mercury News :  "Panic time in Warriorsland! Yippee. Always the most entertaining time of year, if not the most conducive to Warriors' short-term or future success ... Just checked in with an NBA source who 100% confirmed everything that Marcus Thompson II and Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski have been reporting: The Warriors have put returns to the lineup, he will be wearing new basketball sneakers. It's not like he's seeking a new look. He's just following the advice of Pistons strength and conditioning coach Arnie Kander, who called current basketball shoes glorified 'moccasins.' Bynum, who missed Tuesday night's game against the Rockets with a sprained left ankle, was having his ankles taped by Kander on Tuesday morning at the Toyota Center while he talked about the new shoes he was about to put on. Kander said most players wear shoes that emphasize speed. Players like the feeling of being able to fly up and down the floor, but the shoes lack the support necessary for quick cuts on the court. 'One shoe is like a moccasin,' Kander said, admiring the blue-and-white Nike shoe Bynum was wearing. 'You might as well have been in water aerobics, and this is a real basketball shoe.' Kander then picked up the shoe to emphasize his point. He couldn't get the sneaker to bend much at all. He said other sneakers bend easily."

Source: Yahoo! Sports (blog)