Steve Smith Takes His Talents To The Slot

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12 seasons and still counting Carolina Panthers wideout Steve Smith is still getting it done at a high level. Like most great players he continuously is trying to get better and evolve his talents for the benefit of his team. At 34 years old Smith is going to be used a lot more in the slot this season which makes sense due to the fact that he has ideal slot receiver size. Smith said the following about his new role "I'm looking forward to it, As you get older as a player, you can do a couple things. You can either adapt or not adapt and fade out. For me, what I'm trying to do is adapt."

Smith is embracing that role this season due in large part to former teammate and slot receiver Ricky Proehl becoming the receivers coach, Proehl was Smith’s teammate from 2003-2005. Proehl  when speaking about his former teammate expressed the following "I'm excited about working with him inside, between the hashes,He's got all of the tools to do that, and it's something that he wants to get better at. He's already communicated that to me”. Smith’s incendiary speed and explosiveness is going to allow him to get off the line quick and make plays in the middle of the field further adding to the Panther offense.

So 12 seasons in, 11,000 yards and still counting and Steve Smith at 34 years old is still trying to find ways to evolve himself and not stay content. Love him or hate him you have to respect the hunger and work ethic of the man who wears number 89 in the electric blue on Sundays.

I'm Ready For The Return Of The Charlotte Hornets

Several hours ago I made what seems to be an all to frequent trip to Aventura mall to go shop for some new indoor basketball shoes due to lack of padding and comfort ability of my old basketball sneakers. As I was shopping for sneakers I noticed something on the Mitchell&ness shirt rack in Champs I noticed that they had a bunch of cutoff t-shirts of many different teams suchs as the Heat,Sonics,Bulls,Knicks and Raptors. This compelled me to check for Charlotte Hornets gear and not only did they have Charlotte Hornets gear they had a Larry Johnson shirt as pictured in the middle I wasted no time in buying it along with a hat.

When shopping for some new basketball shoes I wanted something light, comfortable and stylish. This led me to purchase the Adidas Crazy quick in teal and purple also pictured above. What is it about that combination of Teal and purple? What did Alexander Julian know about those colors that we didn't? Maybe it was that something so gaudy that made such a statement was part of an NBA uniform and when that uniform spoke it always said boldly “This Is Charlotte”.

It's been a horrendous 2 season in Charlotte but I like any other Charlotte basketball fan I am looking forward to the future with a good young nucleus of players we have building with guys like Kemba Walker, Michael Kidd-gilchrist, Bizmac Biyombo and now Cody Zeller. Free agency along with the possibility has me realistically having hopes for the franchise in the CLT for the 1^st time in a while.

The 2013-2014 Season will be a season of excitement, development but the 2014-2015 season will mark the rebirth of one of the NBA's more iconic franchises and the return of Charlotte basketball's identity. Most importantly though it will mark Charlotte's return to the NBA playoffs and for people like me who play basketball daily that teal and purple being relevant to today’s NBA will be a great feeling when I wear the city on my Teal and purple Adidas sneakers.

Video Blog: Reebok Pump Omni Lite Sneaker Review (Dee Brown)

On a recent run to the mall I went shoe shopping and made one of my sneakerhead dreams come true. I picked up the Reebok Pumps Omni lites made famous by Dee Brown of the Boston Celtics who won the slam dunk contest in 1991. In this video I just basically review and give you my take on the sneaker........They are the definition of the word "Classic"

Video Blog:Baseball Cards And A Special Shoutout

Just Wanted to give a special thanks to Dustin and Kevin from http://thediamondking.blogspot.com/ and http://cootvealandthevealtones.blogspot.com/ Check their blogs out.

I got both of the cards they sent me yesterday as I came home from playing basketball. Check out what cards they sent me in the video below.

Lebron James Gets Cover on NBA 2K14 (Reaction)

So Thursday night as I firmly plopped my behind on my couch in anticipation for the NBA Finals I nonchalantly went on Facebook because you know I got a page to admin and maintain. So as I'm scrolling down my news feed I came across some disturbing news. The picture you see above this paragraph made me eat my heart out. It pictured the basketball player I hate more then anything pictured on something I love dearly. Of course I am speaking about Lebron James being featured on the cover of NBA 2K14.

Not going to lie that caught me off guard but I had a game to watch so I didn't care for now. The Spurs took game 1 92-88 due in large part to some great execution down the stretch from the team and a big time shot by Tony Parker.

After the game ended and I had gotten over the fact that LBJ would be on the cover of 2K but it got even worse. I did some research on some of the new features in the game and I got even more pissed. Apparently they are having a new game mode this year which features Lebron called “Path to greatness”. ARE YOU SERIOUS?!! This guy is a phenomenal talent and the biggest thing in basketball from a marketing standpoint but to have all this already is premature his story is still being written. In other words he isn't Michael Jordan.

2K picked the perfect time to put him on the cover though his popularity is at an all-time high and they're are less people like myself who despise the guy so they will sell really high especially with this being his 1^st ever video game cover. They have something called the “Lebron Pack” where you can buy the game for more money and get exclusive features such as Lebron James in blacktop mode and his signature skill. So 2k is going to max out his rating most likely, make him unbeatable and basically make him immortal, well being the cocky 2K player I am fearful of nobody I responded by saying this on Twitter to Lebron Fans who play 2K and 2K Sports.

 guys are goin to give Lebron all these signature skills and max out his rating but he is still getting crossed up by Kemba Walker #TrustMe
— Brendan Taylor (@ThatboyBTaylor) June 7, 2013

Btw hit that follow button if you have a twitter and I'll follow back!

Video Blog:Charlotte Hornets Are Back

Several days ago Michael Jordan and company made the announcement that the Hornets name will be returning to the Queen city in the 2014-15 season. I recently spoke on this in a video, check it out below.

Q&A with ESPN Top 100 recruit and Virginia Tech Recruit Donte Clark

@D_Clark4

Donte Clark is a 6'4 180 pound jack of all trades can play Point guard from Hargrave Military Academy. He is committed to play his college basketball in Blacksburg at Virginia Tech next season as one of their top recruits. Clark is a 4 star recruit according to Rivals.com and ranked as high as #82 in the ESPN Top 100 and for good reason. Clark like I said is a jack of all trades, posses the ability to facilitate an offense, shoot the basketball and stuff that stat sheet like he did against in a 135-117 Hargrave win over Kiski School with 18 points 6 Rebounds 7 assists and 5 steals. I recently got a chance to sit down with the Clark and ask him a few questions. Make sure you follow him on Twitter @D_Clark4 he is a real humble dude.

  

                      1.For those who don’t know who is Donte Clark?

I'm just a young kid from Charlotte that is blessed with the ability to be able to play basketball, I'm real laid back, and I like hanging and goofing with my friends.

2.describe your game what are some things you like and some you could improve on?

My game is similar to Lorenzo Brown's because I'm a 6'4 point guard who can see the floor well, get to the basket, pull up in traffic, knock down a three but i feel like i need to work on getting stronger and my ability to guard.

3.your a 6’4 combo guard by trade but I hear your working more toward playing point do you feel more comfortable in that role as a facilitator?

Yeah i feel comfortable with that position, because what people don't know is before i got noticed that’s the position i played

4. you had offers from Miami, Memphis and N.C State, what made you choose Virginia Tech?

I chose Tech because that was the school i felt most comfortble with, I got along well with the players, coaches, and the athletic director

5.what can we expect from your freshman season at Virginia Tech?

You can expect me, someone who wants to win and will do anything to get the win

6.who are some guys you enjoy watching in the NBA Today or enjoyed watching growing up? why?

I like a few guys, Chris Paul, John Wall, Russell Westbrook. I enjoy watching Cp3 because he knows the game so well and he is a smart player, I like Russell and John because they are tall point guards and they play so explosive & hard at all times on def and off

7. I know your a Charlotte boy what do you think about the Hornets name returning to the city next season?

Hopefully they will start winning more games, that’s pretty much it

8. on game day what are you listening to on your ipod

I listen to some R&B, Wale, Chief Keef, Juelz Santana, Fabalous, and of course some J.cole

9.what are your favorite shoes to play in?

     I would have to say Kobe s, because i like low tops

10. out of all the places you have had the chance to play at where do you enjoy playing the most? which courts do you look forward to playing at in the future?  

I really enjoy playing in Florida at the WorldWide of Sports Complex, and i would say I'm looking forward to playing at Duke and Unc because i know it's going to be crazy

11.last but not least what are you majoring in? 

I haven't made my mind up yet, I have three things in mind though

a pictures worth a thousand....

This Picture perfectly describes how i and pretty much every fan of the Bobcats feels............

Throwback Thursday: Sam Mills

As Thursday nights prime time match up rapidly approaches between the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers I can’t help but  get excited for the game. As a long time Panther fan I have always loved when we are at home for night games in Charlotte. I can’t stop thinking about how our defense will perform vs. Eli Manning but I would love them to play with the same intensity and spirit of the late great Sam Mills.

Anybody who has a solid knowledge on the history of the Carolina Panthers knows how important Sam Mills was to our team. He was an important piece in the teams early years. Helping the Panthers reach the playoffs in 96 for the 1st time and defeating Troy Aikman and the Dallas Cowboys. When his career was finished he ended up with 5 Pro Bowls for his career and became a coach with the Panthers and was still making an impact. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2003 an assistant coach and the night before the Panthers would take on the Dallas Cowboys in Charlotte for a home playoff game he made a statement that would become the Panthers identity forever. In his speech Mills said “ When I found out I had cancer there were 2 things I could do- Quit or Keep Pounding”   .“I’m a fighter I kept pounding. You’re fighters too. Keep pounding!“ Following the awe inspiring speech the Panthers would dominate the Cowboys 29-10 en route to a Super Bowl run which saw them fall short to the New England Patriots 32-29. Despite that though Sam Mills remains an example of what Carolina Panther Football is and what every player who puts that black and Electric Blue should strive to be on and off the field. In 2005 He lost his battle to cancer and passed away. Although he is no longer with us in the flesh he remains a luminous presence in the Panther  Organization. On the inner collar of the players jerseys the phrase “Keep on Pounding” is embedded in there as well as the the weight room. If you really want that visual of Sam Mills then Look no further then his statue outside of Bank of America Stadium. Whether your winning or losing in the game on the gridiron or in the game of life all you can do is “Keep on Pounding”………R.I.P Sam Mills

LETS GO PANTHERS!!!!

Top 5 NBA Snapbacks #1 (Charlotte Hornets)

Call me biased for this one being a queen city native but honestly nothing goes better than teal and purple in my book. I remember my earliest memories of dribbling a basketball of when i was 4 years of age i had that hornets logo on. There are so many special things about this logo let alone the hat. Now if you look at the logo you wlll notice the hornets sporting white basketball shoes with the hornet skin on the bottom.Look at the hands with the Michael Jackson like white gloves dribbling a basketball.The logo lets you know that North carolinas team as about buisnesss,especially if you look at the hornets chest it reads "Charlotte". The logo itself is genius but that teal/purple color way meshes like peanut butter&jelly or cereal&milk. Lets not also forget that while in Charlotte the hornets were among the best teams in the league led by Muggsy bouges,Larry Johnson,Alonzo Mourning,Kendall Gill. All of the aformentioned players gave all 24,042 Charlotte colisiuem reasons to cheer a reason to cheer on a nightly basis in the nba jam era.Although the team never won a championship there outstanding play left its mark on the city and you still see teal and purple roaming the streets of the (704). I have this hat in my closet and rock it on a regular basis although im still a Charlotte bobcats fan my heart still bleads teal and purple. Even rapper kendrick lamar has an affinity for teal and purple when he said "buzzin like charlotte hornets,when that tape dropped" in his hip hop masterpiece "wanna be heard".