“Even Christianity has been caught up in the manis, with the Rev. John David Laida going so far as to contemplate changing his name to “Fly.” ‘I think I’ll call myself “Fly” Laida and see if I can pack the church,’ he told his Clarksville congregation.”

-Rob Sieb, The Basketball News

For more on “Fly” Williams, peep Ali’s tasty “Playground Gave Us Post” on the APSU superstud here!

Listen at 2:10 into “The mind of Stoudemire” – Playground Mentality

As the Phoenix Suns transition from a run-and-gun team to a more traditional half-court one, All-Star Amare Stoudemire is riffing about Coach Terry Porter’s system. According to Daily News columnist Mitch Lawrence, Stoudemire stated “you want to have some type of playground atmosphere where everybody is having fun.” See Stoudemire’s full comment and Pat Riley’s thoughts on NBA “Small Ball on page 3.” Amare is built to run and make moves in space and its obvious that he’s having a tough time adjusting to Porter’s ideas of making Phoenix play-off ready.

More playground? Is that good or bad for the NBA? Amare wants it and the New York Knicks are improving by it. They have already won 18 games this season after winning only 23 last year. They have 2 wins against Boston and have defeated Detroit, Utah, New Orleans and played L.A. on the road tough losing by only two points. Read More »

“The game came from here and lives here. A place where every crossover, head fake, three-sixty and new move is perfected. If BASKETBALL has a heart, this is where it beats the strongest.”

- Holcombe Rucker, Founder of Rucker Tournament

The playground isn’t the problem, it’s the solution!