If You See Something, Say Something: Twins, Canadian Footy and Bald Kings

IYSSSS is our semi-regular internet intelligence report, a liberal arts approach to following the NBA on the Web. E-mail us at jewsforjesusshuttlesworth@gmail.com if you've got any suggestions.

Gasols Everywhere!: I won't lie and suggest that I've been avidly following the European Championships or whatever they're called. However, I was seriously tickled when I saw that the Gasol brothers were up to some serious twin shenanigans the other night and combined for 43 points in the second half to take down the Dirk-led German side. Rumor has it that next game they might switch jerseys!

Nash on the Pitch: Steve Nash recently practiced with the MLS' Vancouver Whitecaps, of which he is a part owner. The Canadian stated afterwards that he is by no means ready to become an MLSer. Terrible attitude from Nash, but at least he's getting out there and working at it. One day, maybe... A guy can dream, right?

Labor Talks Increase: I guess I am slightly encouraged by the recent surge in negotiations between the players and owners, but I'm equally angered by the fact that they haven't simply locked themselves in a room with no food and minimal water until this mess is resolved.

Brandon Jennings Disses the King: Does it get any better than Twitter? No, it does not. After LBJ commented on the Maryland University football uniforms (brought to you by Under Armour), Brandon Jennings responded by taking a jab at LeBron's forever-receding hairline. See, Jennings is taking his gig as Under Armour's “Curator of Cool” seriously.

If You See Something, Say Something: Double Standard

IYSSSS is our semi-regular Internet intelligence report, a liberal arts approach to following the NBA on the Web. E-mail us at jewsforjesusshuttlesworth@gmail.com if you've got any suggestions.

Brain on Funk Tumblr: So, I have just been made aware that Doc Funk is back captioning for the playoffs. This is honestly the only way I can think of for these playoffs to get even better.

@JohnCTownsend: I would imagine Gilbert finds it a little frustrating that everyone else is allowed is allowed to do finger gunz. Poor Gilbert.

Bethlehem Shoals at GQ's Balls Out Blog: Shoals' work at his GQ-housed playoff blog has been great all the way around, and is the current URL at which to find his best work and visit daily, but this conversation with David Roth (contributor to The Wall Street Journal and The Awl) is particularly strong. From their digression about Chris Webber's color commentary:

Shoals: He always takes risks. In the studio, it's being vulnerable. On the call, it's cutting loose in weird, creative ways that have as much to do with confidence and intelligence as they do with a lack of experience. It's like watch Walt Frazier find himself, but the floor's on fire and nobody has any idea how they got here in the first place.

Roth: His malaprops are basically psychedelic, but he makes some good calls—Indiana and Denver as mirror images of each other was an on-the-fly gem he just tossed off between weird syntactic decisions—and I think he's doing great. He leverages his credibility in a really interesting way.

Bill Simmons: Despite the monstrous word count and tired references to "The Real World" that have come to define Simmons' writing, this new joint on small market teams—specifically the Kings—is a pretty fair and restrained look at the borderline crisis the NBA is facing. Worth a skim. He also makes a Thelma & Louise reference, which was shocking, because I always thought the only movies Simmons had ever seen were Rounders, Boogie Nights, Shawshank Redemption, Top Gun and Cocktail (the last of which he does reference here). The over/under on how many movies he's seen has to be 12. (I love using Simmons gimmicks when writing about him.)

If You See Something, Say Something: Crying, Cakes, and Crossovers

IYSSSS is our semi-regular internet intelligence report, a liberal arts approach to following the NBA on the Web. E-mail us at jewsforjesusshuttlesworth@gmail.com if you've got any suggestions.

Greg Payne ESPN: Shaq turned 39 a few days ago, so someone gave him a cake the size of the galaxy. Then he cut it and shared it with friends. Sometimes I forget if Shaq still plays basketball, but that really doesn't matter at all.

New York Times: So many great scraps of useless info in here about NBA players' napping habits. "Kobe Bryant checks into a hotel before home games for his pregame nap." Let's be honest, more likely he checks into a hotel before home games to set up his kill room. (But seriously, no "Dexter" spoilers in the comments, my girlfriend and I are behind.)

Rod Benson's Blog: As much as I loved Adam's post about crying, I think Rod Benson gets the trophy here for his take on this very silly explosion about the Heatles' desire to win.

Shaky Ankles: Last time a Net point guard went to London, this happened. This past weekend, the new Net point guard traveled across the pond and they actually let him inside the arena this time. Then he almost killed Sonny Weems.

Negative Dunkalectics: A great piece on the revelation that is the wonderfully puckish new Nuggets squad. We're getting to excited to watch this team in the playoffs.

IYSSSS: Race and Gender

If You See Something, Say Something (IYSSSS) is our semi-regular Internet intelligence report, a liberal arts approach to following the NBA on the Web. E-mail us at jewsforjesusshuttlesworth@gmail.com if you've got any suggestions.

A couple interesting reads on important topics:

TrueHoop: Henry Abbott gives us the lowdown on the publishing of a study that examines the possibility of unintentional racial biases in NBA referees.

Fanhouse: Lisa Leslie thinks the WNBA's lack of popularity is the fault of the media, and the media alone. New sports journalism catchphrase: If it bleeds, it doesn't lead. (Sorry.)

If You See Something, Say Something

[Photo credit: Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images]

IYSSSS is our semi-regular Internet intelligence report, a liberal arts approach to following the NBA on the Web. E-mail us at jewsforjesusshuttlesworth@gmail.com if you've got any suggestions.

NBA.com: This year's rookie photo shoot. Always the best.

NBA TwitVid: I certainly don't believe this dunk contest at the rookie photo shoot was impromptu, as the title claims, but do take note of the "Terrico White!" part. In the video's slow parts, look for Demarcus Cousins; the kid just likes to dance.

TrueHoop: An interview with the man who's constructed the each NBA schedule for the last 25 years (and who will probably keep doing it forever, because no one else really knows how to do it).

Ball Don't Lie: Kelly Dwyer ranks the league's top 30 point guards, in three separate posts. Best part is that he made sure Ty Lawson was in every picture posted. Related: Ty Lawson should be ranked higher than 25. If he had his own team he'd be better than Jarrett Jack, Aaron Brooks, Lou Williams. And Goran Dragic deserves a spot in the top 30, even if only for last year's playoff heroics.

If You See Something, Say Something

IYSSSS is our semi-regular Internet intelligence report, a liberal arts approach to following the NBA on the Web. E-mail us at jewsforjesusshuttlesworth@gmail.com if you've got any suggestions.

Andy Gray Twitter: If you're not following @si_vault on Twitter, you're missing out on photos like the one above showing brazen New York Red Bull Thierry Henry. That empty seat Longoria is clearly holding belongs to her husband, San Antonio Spur Tony Parker. We know because we saw them on The Kiss Cam. Henry, you've got to calm it down buddy.

AdonalFoyle.com [via TrueHoop]: The veteran center calls it a career, and does so by stomping his mind grapes into a decedent goodbye poem. New best quote by an NBA player ever: "Don't be fooled by the magicians' nibble fingers." Truth.

NBA Fanhouse: Bethlehem Shoals and Tom Ziller have been writing The Works, their daily views of the NBA's biggest stories, for a week now. I said they are the new Red and Meth, Ziller prefers Raekwon and RZA. Today's talks Bosh as villain, the Melo "report," and James Dolan's communication problems.

If You See Something, Say Something

IYSSSS is our semi-regular internet intelligence report, a liberal arts approach to following the NBA on the Web. E-mail us at jewsforjesusshuttlesworth@gmail.com if you've got any suggestions.

Yahoo Sports: It's a full time job keeping track of Dwight Howard this off-season. Here is a delightful photo gallery of his recent escapades at an EA Sports press event in Taiwan.

Fuck Yeah Lakers: Ron Artest plays dodgeball. With Hipsters.  To sum it up: He plays defense, giggles, gets thrown out, giggles some more.

Justin Bieber Zone (Yeah, What Up?): Biebs goes bowling with Shaq. 'Nuff said.

Hooped Up Online: Carlos Arroyo does his best Three Stooges impression.

Brain On Funk: Doc Funk puts the boondoggle that was free agency into perspective for us.

NBA Fanhouse: Team USA serenades Gerald Wallace. Odom demonstrates why his new nickname is "Giggles." Then, back to stretching.

If You See Something, Say Something

IYSSSS is our semi-regular internet intelligence report, a liberal arts approach to following the NBA on the Web. E-mail us atjewsforjesusshuttlesworth@gmail.com if you've got any suggestions.

The Basketball Jones: We like Tyreke Evans. We like him a lot.  Frankly we're not sure if his bling (above) is a prank or a cry for help.  Either way, we're happy to join the speculation surrounding this misguided nick name.

True Hoop: Summer League always ends much faster than we ever expect it to. If you blinked anytime in the past two weeks, you probably missed a major stories from Orlando or Vegas.  Lucky for us, Kevin Arnovitz breaks it all down, giving us the Summer League that was.

FreeDarko:  At their best when attempting to explain what makes a player tick, FreeDarko takes on this year's Draft Bad Boy and Summer League Monster DeMarcus Cousins. 

Dime Mag:  People love lists and analogies, right? And people like baseball? Dime Mag attempts to compare some of our biggest NBA stars with guys who play baseball.  The results are hilarious and often batshit crazy.  Just go see who they think best compares to Derek Fisher.

Truth About It:  If you skipped over the True Hoop link because it involved the words Summer League, and that's not how you roll, check out this one highlight.  Remember the name  JaVale McGee come November, he's likely to make more than a few statement dunks this season.

Basketbawful: We've all seen this video before, but it just doesn't matter.