Basketball Team Names

When I was in College I enjoyed playing intramural basketball. My favorite part was at the beginning of the semester when we got a team together and had to come up with a team name. Many of the teams would use unoriginal names like Phi Slamma Jamma, the Lakers, or the Fab Five. I have found that it is much more fun if you intentionally give yourself a stupid team name.

Not only is giving yourself a dumb name funny but it also messes with the minds of the opposing players. How can your opponent mentally prepare for a game throughout the week once they find out they are supposed to play "The Buddy Hacketts"? Over the years we have had some good team names, but there have been so many good choices that we could only use a handful of them. Below is a list of some of the prior candidates I have considered.

Chewbacca Delight

Gargoyle Express
The Greezy Wombats
Lava
The Sloppy Guts
Shrimp Scampi
Cyborg Jubilee
French Pastry
The Belly Misers
The Walkabouts

Galen the Freak

The Grizzly Warlocks

Pithy Maxims

Linament

The Sleestaks

The Whistling Marsupials
The Crustacean Factor
Epidermis
Gravy Train
Thorax Extravaganza

I know these sound juvenile, but if just saying some of those names out loud does not bring a smile to your face or make you laugh you have some issues. If you are ever looking for some cheap entertainment go to a local University and look up the intramural tournament brackets and read the team names. I think anyone could write the great American novel or be a literary genius if they had a whole book to do so, but it takes real talent to express yourself in 2 or 3 words and come up with the perfect team name.

PS- This post was originally written several years ago and was taken from Chaka's World.  Since I now have a blog dedicated exclusively to basketball, I thought it would be appropriate to post it here.

How to Box Out WWF Style

While I was watching the Lakers/Thunder game on Friday, I was shocked to see the technique Ibaka used to box out Pau Gasol while Kobe was shooting free throws. He actually did this same "turn and bear hug your opponent" move a couple times at the end of the game and there was no foul called either time.



Sorry about the poor quality. That was the only copy of this I could find. Side note- What's up with Gasol's "love tap" afterwards. I always thought it was awkward enough to see guys patting each other's butts, but Gasol takes it to another level.

Enes Kanter Dare

I know their season is over now, but this was one of my favorite highlights of the year for the Jazz. Several players dared Enes to make a fool out of himself and to drop the mic when he was given the chance to make an announcement for the team. They told him he would no longer be a rookie if he did so. I love the reaction of his teammates.



Unfortunately they didn't follow through with their promise and after the game, they dumped ice water on him while he was showering. I guess there is no way to get around being a rookie.

2012 Playoff Insights

I thought New York's injuries were just a coincidence after Lin, Shumpert, and Stoudemire all got hurt, but after seeing Baron Davis mess up his knee yesterday, I think it's a safe bet that the entire team must have made fun of an old gypsy lady and as a result have been cursed.  If I were Melo, I'd be wearing braces on every joint.

I'm impressed with OKC sweeping last years champions, but didn't expect The Mavs to go down in just four games. The Thunder are looking like a tough team to beat.

Speaking of going down, things do not look good for Chicago. I wasn't paying close attention to some of the Eastern teams and just assumed Chicago would be advancing, so I was shocked to see them trailing the Sixers 3-1.

I don't know what to say about my Jazz. I'm just glad they made the playoffs, but it's been painful to see the Veteran Spurs have their way with them.

Stay tuned for more insights and timely updates (usually three to four days after the action occurs) at Morning Hoop. I was going to be the official blog of the NBA, until they realized how much this blog sucks.

April 2012 Milestones

Suprisingly, I'm not going to address the Clippers huge come from behind win against the Grizzlies or Amare "hitting the glass". Instead, I'm going to give an all time stats update since the regular season is now over. Since I last updated this feature on 02/21/12, the players below have made the following accomplishments.

Kevin Garnett- passed Charles Barkely and became the #18 all time leading scorer, passed Shaq and moved up to #12 on the all time leading rebounds, and passed Gus Williams and Charles Barkley and is currently #19 in the all time steals category too.

Kobe Bryant- Passed Ron Harper and is now at #16 all time steals, just two picks behind Magic Johnson.

Dirk Nowitzki- Passed Barkley and leaped over Kevin Garnett so he is the new #18 all time scorer.

Tim Duncan- Passed Clyde Drexler for #26 in scoring, also passed Paul Silas and Dikembe Mutombo and is now #18 for all time rebounds.

Paul Pierce- Passed Tim Duncan and Clyde Drexler and is now #25 all time scoring, just behind his teammate Ray Allen.

Ben Wallace- Passed Dave Cowens and broke into the top 30 all time rebounders. He also passed Shawn Bradley and sits at #13 for all time blocks in the NBA.

Steve Nash- Passed Oscar Robertson and is now #5 on the all time assists leader board.

Andre Miller- Passed Maurice Cheeks and moved up to the #10 all time assists leader.

Some people might not think much of these milestones, but anytime you can pass a legend with your career totals, I think it deserves recognition.