Caron Butler spikes Serge Ibaka's shot into the face of a NBA official.

This is the season of the NBA referees, you guys. I am telling you, in the history of NBA, there has not been so many referee related incidents. Earlier this season we had an official caught secretly working for the Miami Heat, then another one blocking free throw shots, one stalling games on national TV and one that danced Gangnam Style with a mascot. Finally, we have an innocent official getting a surprise from Caron Butler. I hope David Stern calls Derek Richardson (victim) tomorrow and give him a flop warning for that, because flinches resulting from actual hits can't put you on the floor. That is unless Caron Butler possesses an advanced, state of the art, biologically engineered arm that can send a man through the crust of the Earth and deep into the mantle. But that's probably impossible, so the only reasonable explanation is that, there must be something in the water of the LA Clippers facility that makes everyone exaggerate their body movements. In that case, I would like advise against Blake Griffin from drinking that water, he is way too hopped up on that stuff.

Charles Barkley doesn't know how to tie his own tie.

Just to clarify, Charles Barkley is a 49 year old, former NBA All Star that apparently has no idea how to put his tie together.

I guess when you are knee-deep in money, you don't need to know how to do the essential things in life, because you can always get someone to do it for you. I, myself, am not a tie tying expert either, but I do believe that was a half windsor, right? I have only done my tie once and avoided doing it again by leaving it in the knot. Please don't tell me that I am the only one that does this. It is not weird.

Via: The 700 Level

The Round Up - January 22nd, 2013.

Stats Rundown

The first half of the 2012-2013 NBA season is officially over, and if the second half resembles anything like the first, the postseason will be insane.

Masked Man: Kyrie Irving has been nothing but incredible for the Cleveland Cavaliers. For a guy stuck with a horrible cast, he has managed to repeatedly drag his team to victory. He went for a career high 19 points in the first quarter, to finish with a game-high 40 points on 16 of 24 shooting, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in the victory over the Boston Celtics. After starting the new year with a 6 game winning streak, Boston has fallen into a 4 game losing streak as of late.

Speaking of the Celtics, this Rajon Rondo assists stat padding is getting out of control. He is even going out of his way to help his opponents for assists. Someone needs to tell him, that basketball doesn't work like that.

Gunning: Ersan Illyasova is still occasionally able to fill up the stat sheet, the Turkish man had 27 points (10 of 17), 16 rebounds (7 Offensive), 2 assists and 3 steals. Brandon Jennings dropped 25 points (8 of 17), 7 dimes and 3 steals in the win against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers allowed the Bucks to shoot 52 percent from the field, no wonder they lost even after three of their players scored 20+ points. Evan Turner led the team with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Spencer Hawes had 21 and 12. Lastly, Nick Young came off the bench for 20 points and a dunk to put the NBA leader in blocks, Larry Sanders to shame.

You can't always get them all, Larry.

Automatic: In his first start of the season, J.J Redick went off for 26 points on 9 of 10 shooting, including 5 of 6 from the three in the victory over the Detroit Pistons. His teammate, Jameer Nelson added 14 points and 9 assists to pass Penny Hardaway for 6th place in the Magic all time scoring list.

Best of the West: Kevin Durant and his Oklahoma City Thunder took down the Chris Paul-less Clippers last night, with a 32 point (12 of 19), 5 of 6 three point shooting, 7 rebound and 7 assist performance from the potential MVP candidate. His spontaneous partner in crime, Russell Westbrook chipped in 26 points on 9 of 19 shooting, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. As for the Clippers, everyone except Blake Griffin, who had 31 points (11 of 19), 11 rebounds and 5 assists, failed to show up in the loss last night.

Random Notes: Serge Ibaka likes to play defense with his face and Blake Griffin should really leave the passing to Chris Paul.

Reincarnation: Just when Lamar Odom was starting to get a hang of this NBA thing, Kevin Durant flies in and just shatters every piece of Odom's confidence.

Highlights

Block to Block: Avery Bradley will not allow free dunks in transition, Dion Waiters.

OH-EM-GEE: Kevin Garnett just saw his life pass before his eyes.

Andrew Bynum's $60,000 treadmill keeps breaking down.

Via: CSN Philly

After being out for the entire summer and the last 3 months of the season, Andrew Bynum is finally on track to return by the All Star Break. To speed things up, the Philadelphia 76ers bought their $16 million dollar investment, a $60,000 dollar treadmill that can reduce the stress on his knees, while improving his movement.

From Bob Cooney of Philly.com:

... the organization (76ers) invested in a state-of-the-art anti-gravity treadmill that will alleviate up to 80 percent of the person’s body weight. The estimated cost of that piece of equipment has been guessed to be close to $60,000. Now as Bynum is working towards a return that he predicts could come around the All-Star break (mid-February), the new machine is breaking down.

“It’s going pretty good. I shot around at shootaround (Monday morning) with the guys so I’m getting a bit better on the court. If the treadmill would stop breaking down I would be able to do a little bit more, but I’m going well. It’s like every 3 days or so it needs service, so I don’t know. I’ve been involved a little bit in practice just shooting around with the guys and stuff like that. My knees feel good and I’m not feeling any pain so this is all good and I just want to keep it going.” 

As great as an anti-gravity treadmill sounds, maybe the stress of carrying Bynum is a lot heavier than it looks. Andrew Bynum is listed at 285 pounds, but if you add the weight he has probably gained over the summer and another 20 pounds from his hair (which by the way is incredibly versatile), the machine might need some help. He needs to come back soon, because the 76ers are not doing too well. They are sitting a 9th spot in the East with a 17-24 record and is second last in the Atlantic Division.

Brian Scalabrine torched everyone in the Scallenge.

Well, what do you know, as if you expected anything else, Brian Scalabrine annihilated anyone that dared to question his supremacy on the hardwood. The footage itself was not as appealing as it was in the trailer, but why wouldn't you want to watch your favorite garbage minute man play basketball.

From CBS Boston:

Scalabrine — who spent the last few seasons of his career seen as the “human victory cigar” — easily defeated all four of his opponents, throwing down monstrous jams and sinking smooth jumpers as he beat them all by a combined score of 44-6.

If you don't have 30 minutes to spare or would rather not watch an out of shape ex-NBA player destroy his competition, here's a short recap of the event.

First up was Matt Tomaszewski, a Syracuse alum that spent time on Jim Boeheim’s bench last season. Though his resume was impressive, he was no match for Scalabrine. ... it was as close as 7-3 after a nifty hook shot from Tomaszewski, Scal finished him off by attacking the basket, and walked away with his first victory of the day by a score of 11-3.

Scal had no problems with his next two opponents, Jake Fay of Lynn and Rich Morantus of Foxboro. Neither scored a point, as Scal posted back-to-back shutouts.

In conclusion, all you need to know is that no matter how bad an NBA player was in his career, you can not beat him even after retirement. The White Mamba did everyone a favor today, standing up for all of the NBA busts. Proving that a bench warmer can take on 4 one on one games consecutively and still crush the competition.

The World's One and Only Charlie Villanueva Tattoo.

Via: Detroit Bad Boys

You might ask who in their right minds would get a Charlie Villanueva tattoo, a player that has never found success in the NBA and once grabbed media attention for being a victim of  Kevin Garnett's trash talking (KG called him a cancer patient, due to Charlie's inability to grow hair). Sure, he once averaged 16 points per game for Milwaukee in the 08-09' season, but since then, those numbers have dramatically dropped. Personally, I don't have a fond memory of Mr. Charlie V. His days in Toronto were infuriating, because he falls into another one of the Raptors' long list of failed draft picks. With a 7th pick in the 2005 draft, Toronto could have picked up David Lee, just sayin'.

Who knows why the man above had a Charlie V. tattooed on him, maybe he is simply paying tribute to Charlie for speaking up for people with Alopecia universalis (a disease that causes rapid hair loss on every part of your body). That, or he got really drunk one day and his friends thought it was funny.

Kent Bazemore trolls another Blake Griffin airball.

After taking Robert Sacre's crown for the best NBA peer leader, Kent Bazemore has not seized to amaze us. Not to take anything away from the Troll King of the Bench, but I am honestly a little disappointed. For a guy that rarely recycles his dance moves/celebration, this could have been more creative. Sticking to the same old hold-me-back routine is going to lose you a few points.

Via: Bleacher Report