Steph Curry at The Garden

I got an e-mail from my best friend asking me to look in to some accommodation in San Fransisco for his 40th birthday next year. He mentioned a few of the things that we might get up to around the area and I said surely we'll be seeing a Golden State Warriors game. My friend isn't a basketball fan as such but knows a bit about the NBA as he loves sports and we used to have epic NBA Jam battles back in the day. I'm sure he wouldn't know that Aussie Andrew Bogut is now playing for the Warriors but I thought I should introduce him to Steph Curry ...

Stephen Curry - coming out party

I mentioned it at the start of the season that I really liked the look of rookie Stephen Curry. Sure, he has the NBA pedigree from his dad Del but he proved he could flat out shoot leading the NCAA in scoring last year.

Drafted by the Golden State Warriors, he got off to a slow start in his rookie season and there was tension with Monta Ellis before game 1 even began. Over the last month or two Curry has really come in to his own but with no Ellis today, Stephen held a coming out party of sorts.

In the first quarter alone, Curry had 17 points against the LA Clippers and finished the game with a career high 36 points. It wasn't just a scoring performance from Stephen as he also recorded his first triple-double with 10 boards and 13 assists.

Here's his line:

Starters

Min

FG

3Pt

FT

+/-

Off

Reb

Ast

TO

Stl

BS

BA

PF

Pts

S. Curry

G

45:47

11-22

7-11

7-8

+35

0

10

13

6

3

0

1

4

36

An impressive showing from the rookie and even more surprising was that he led his team to a rare win. On the back of his 7 triples, look out for Stephen in the NBA All-Star three-point contest.

Tim Hardaway honoured by the Heat

It may have been the second night of the new NBA season but for me the night was about one thing only ... Tim Hardaway getting his jersey retired by the Miami Heat. He may have got in trouble over recent years for "those comments" but he has been and always will be one of my favourite players.

I was heart broken when I was first in the US (almost 15 years ago) and saw a couple of Golden State Warriors' games and Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin were coming off the bench under Rick Adelman. When he was traded to Miami I hoped it would give his career a second win and indeed it. Timmy was back to his best and teaming up with Alonzo Mourning they wreaked havoc in the east, especially the New York Knicks. Fittingly his jersey was retired tonight before the Heat played the Knicks.

Here's the official report about the ceremony from NBA.com. Click on the title to read the whole story and see an interview with Tim himself from after the event (for some reason it wouldn't embed on the blog).

NBA.com: Hardaway's No. 10 retired by Heat
MIAMI (AP) -- Saying he was 'overwhelmed,' Tim Hardaway beamed Wednesday night as he watched his No. 10 jersey raised to the rafters by the Miami Heat, never to be worn again. With about 50 family and friends looking on, including the other two parts of the famed 'Run TMC' trio -- Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin -- that he first captured NBA acclaim with, Hardaway's oversized jersey was hoisted skyward before Miami opened its season against the New York Knicks. 'Tonight, I stand before you truly humble and grateful,' Hardaway said. Hardaway had hugs for everybody -- players, coaches, even referee Joe Crawford, no small feat considering how much the player loved to clash with officials during his playing days. Before he came to Miami, only three other players had worn No. 10: Kelvin Upshaw, Clinton Wheeler and Manute Bol. No one had since Hardaway left the Heat in 2001.


Here's a good story about Tim from the Miami Herald. Click on the title below to read the full story.

Former Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway's honor arrives - Miami Heat - MiamiHerald.com

Tim Hardaway's career wasn't defined here, but it was completed here. His signature move wasn't developed here, but it was shown off a few times here. His courage wasn't discovered here, but he was at his most courageous here. The legacy of Tim Hardaway was a cross-country creation that started on the South Side of Chicago, continued south in Texas, moved west to California and settled here in Miami. This wasn't Hardaway's last stop, just his most significant. So it's here that the legacy was fortunate enough to be celebrated with Wednesday's jersey retirement ceremony. Fortunate because Hardaway is simply one of the most unique, special players in the history of basketball.

Summer league action and the NBA's top 10 plays of the year

Four or five days without posting, yes it is the off-season and things were quiet but I was also away this weekend and the laptop wasn't taken. It was my birthday yesterday so I spent the weekend down in Melbourne and Geelong catching up with friends. One of my friends got us President's Club tickets to Geelong vs Melbourne in the AFL so we stayed in Geelong for the night and went out on the town after the game. Hurting yesterday so other than buffet breakfast at the hotel in the morning and flying back to Brisbane in the afternoon, it was a very quiet day.

Anyway, catching up on some of the basketball "action" from the past few days, the most relevant was a basketball shooting display in the summer league. Anthony Morrow from the Golden State Warriors went off against the New Orleans Hornets for 47 points, 18 of 26 from the field, 7 of 9 from deep. Here are the highlights:



Also for your viewing pleasure, here are the NBA's top 10 plays of the year: