Tag Archives: Ohio State

Greg Oden to sign with Miami Heat

Greg-Oden-Miami-HeatFormer Ohio State standout and #1 overall NBA Draft pick, Greg Oden decided which NBA team he chose to sign a contact. He’s going to the back-to-back NBA Champion Miami Heat.

Even though Oden has only played 82 NBA games and had three microfracture on his knees, teams were still drooling over him. The San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans and Miami Heat were the three front-runners to sign him.

Time will tell how much Oden can contribute to a team, but his two-year minimum contract is a no-risk deal for any NBA team. If he can play a few minutes a game, he can help bolster Miami’s weak front court.

Brandon Roy, Oden’s teammate in Portland, tried to come back last season from similar knee surgeries, but only played a handful of games with Minnesota after signing with them last offseason. His knees couldn’t hold up to the daily grind of the NBA season. He was released by Minnesota and it doesn’t look likely that he will play in the NBA again.

We wish Oden the best and want him to succeed, but the smart money is Oden wears a suit on the sideline for most of the season.

(My MS Paint skills are still on point. Expect many more photos edited in MS Paint in the near future…they make me laugh.)

Could Columbus, Ohio Support an NBA Team?

The mayor of Columbus, Ohio, Michael B. Coleman, thinks that his city is ready for an NBA team. He sent a letter to the NBA Commissioner, David Stern, and wanted him to know that “Columbus should be on the league’s radar.” The city just finalized the public purchase of Nationwide Arena, which is the home of Columbus Blue Jackets, an NHL team. The Columbus Dispatch reported the letter today and adds some strong reasons why the city could support three professional teams, if you count the Columbus Crew, an MLS team.

Do you think Columbus could support an NBA team? Is it even the best option in its own state? We’ll dive deeper and look at teams that are in financial trouble and need to move. Continue reading →

What If: NBA Team In Columbus, OH

The rumors of many NBA teams having financial problems have been floating around for the last few months. The NBA borrowed tons of money to try and keep the league afloat during the economic depression that we are facing. I personally think that they could rid themselves of the WNBA and get companies to sponsor NBA jerseys and the league would be as stable as the NFL. Many of the teams that could be moving look towards cities with a new NHL stadium as an easy fix. Columbus, Ohio has a great NHL stadium and was even in the conversation when the Sonics were moved to Oklahoma City (sorry Bill Simmons). What would happen if a team would move to Columbus, Ohio?

First I wonder what they would name the team. I think when the city of Columbus was given an NHL team, they had to scrape the bottom of the barrel to get “Blue Jackets.” I can’t think of a logical team name right away. I would think that the term “Buckeyes” would work, but The Ohio State would like that very much. Here are a few names that I would like, but probably never get past the first brainstorming meeting.

– Columbus Hop (named after the Gallery Hop)
– Columbus Not Buckeyes
– Columbus Construction (see High Street)
– Columbus Twitter (first ever NBA team named after a company)
– Columbus Capitols

There are really no great names for a team here, but I do think that they should have a company buy the team’s name. Unfortunately for Columbus, Nationwide Insurance, Ohio Health, and Huntington Bank are three major players in town and none of them sound like a good team name.

I can’t see an NBA team flourishing here in Columbus. It has taken the city 10 years to really get behind the Blue Jackets. It took one season of making the playoffs for it to happen, but this city loves a winner. They kind of turn their backs on teams that don’t win, the people here are used to Ohio State winning football games.

Columbus is too close to Cleveland and with Lebron still there, I don’t see the Cleveland fanbase in Columbus jumping ship. Columbus would have to get a phenom in the first 2 or 3 drafts in order to stay here.

I do agree that Columbus is a great short-term fix for an NBA team that is struggling (New Orleans, Memphis, Milwaukee), but Kansas City would be more of a longer-term city to maintain an NBA franchise. I went to KC last month and walked by the new Sprint Center. It looks like a mix between a UFO and a diamond. I would like to throw out a name for a Kansas City….The KC Masterpieces. You like?

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