GAMETIME SPORTS TODAY

Heat show there own Magic with 96-70 win; Wade scores 26pts

Celtics West and Wafer Clash in Practice

Celtics West and Wafer Clash in Practice

Boston Celtics guard Delonte West and teammate Von Wafer were involved in a physical altercation on Friday, director of basketball operations Danny Ainge confirmed to the Boston Herald.

The two players were guarding each other in a game of three-on-three when West repeatedly fouled Wafer, according to Hoopsworld.com, which first reported the incident. Wafer headed to the locker room but was followed by West, who threw the first punch and the two wrestled, according to the Web site.

The Celtics are gathering information on the situation, but sources told Hoopsworld that they are considering releasing West based on this and other incidents with teammates. Ainge said the team is not planning to cut West, however.

"There was something that happened, and we're handling it internally," Ainge said, according to the Herald. "We're happy with Delonte and Von and how they've been playing, and today was unacceptable."

Doc Rivers will address the media before Friday night's game against the Knicks.

While Wafer did not directly address the incident, he wrote on his Twitter account: "Today was a test! . . . I am a professional and will continue to conduct myself as one . . . God has a plan for me."

He later tweeted: "I love my team #we family."

This is not the first time that West and Wafer have gotten into it. During two-on-two drills a week ago, West went at Wafer aggressively and when Wafer became agitated, West yelled, "Do something about it."

Ainge, though, said Friday's incident was being overblown and even denied other altercations, despite reporters being present.

"I did read that story [from Hoopsworld] and there was a lot of lies in that story," Ainge said, according to the Boston Globe. "Things were twisted. It's not true. We're not releasing Delonte. There have not been any other of these altercations that have happened this year.

"Guys trash talk and that kind of stuff but I'm not aware of any other altercation among any players at all during the course of the year. These things happen. It's not acceptable behavior. We'll just handle it internally and that's it."

The Celtics re-signed West, their former first-round draft pick, this offseason after he had been plagued by off-court issues in recent years. He is suspended for the first 10 games of this season after being found guilty of weapons charges in Maryland.

West has averaged 10 points and 3.7 assists per game in six seasons with the Celtics, SuperSonics and Cavaliers.

No Love From NBA Teams -The Answer Allen Iverson Goes to Turkey

No Love From NBA Teams -The Answer Allen Iverson Goes to Turkey

In 1996, Allen Iverson became the number one pick of the Philadelphia 76ers and gave new hope to the city of Brotherly Love.

He won scoring titles, mvp's, all-star mvp's and took the Sixers to the NBA Finals. He did the impossible with his small frame and size. He became the one of the leagues hottest commodities and so called Answer with this play.

After years of turmoil and drama with his coaches in Philly, The Answer was shipped to the Denver Nuggets.

He was suppose to revive Denver and create an awesome duo with Carmelo Anthony to take them to the next level. However, there years together ended after one and half seasons. Iverson would be shipped to Detroit for All-Star point guard Chauncey Billups. His stay in Detroit lasted for one season with turmoil of Iverson and not wanting to come off the bench.

The 2009-2010 season was suppose to be his redemption season but he only played three games with Memphis with problems of him not wanting to be a team player. He would be later released and resigned with Philly playing only 25 games before leaving due to personal issues.

After years of giving headaches to coaches and management, The Answer can no longer get the respect of GM's due to there feeling over his declining skills and inability to accept a lesser role.

The answer for The Answer Allen Iverson is to have a reality check. That reality came today has Allen Iverson headed for Turkey.

No NBA GM invited the former League MVP and 26.7 scoring average to camp which is sad. Iverson is 17th on the NBA's career scoring list with 24,368 points, winning the MVP in 2001 when he led the Sixers to the finals. 

"My whole thing was being wanted, being accepted by a ball club. That was the most important thing," the former NBA MVP said Friday, after signing a $4 million, two-year contract with Turkish club Besiktas during a news conference at the upscale St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan.

"I had a great time playing in the NBA. Who knows if I ever will again?" Iverson said. "But I wanted to show everybody I can play at a high level, not just the NBA."

The 11-time All-Star waited all offseason for an NBA team to come calling, though none ever did. So while the Miami Heat stocked up with star power, and the Knicks added some front-line muscle, Iverson told his manager, Gary Moore, to begin looking at other leagues.

He ultimately decided the Istanbul-based club was the best fit.

"I feel like it's a fresh start for me, and I just thank all these guys for giving me the opportunity," Iverson said, "a chance to get back on track with my basketball career."

"If those situations weren't better at this point in time, there's no way I would have made this decision," he said. "It was hard the last couple years to concentrate on basketball."

Iverson mostly blamed himself that no NBA teams were willing to give him a shot.

"A lot of not being on an NBA roster is my fault," Iverson said. "I made a lot of mistakes in my life that I'm not proud of, but I have to move on."

Wearing a black New York Yankees cap and decked out in diamonds Thursday, Iverson almost seemed to be forcing a smile as he held up a Besiktas jersey along with team owner Yildirim Demiroren and executive board member Seref Yalcin. Dozens of members of the Turkish media took photographs while Turkish music pounded inside the small hotel ballroom.

Just about the only thing familiar was the No. 3 on the jersey.

Iverson will begin play with his new team the week of Nov. 8, in a home arena that seats about 4,500 fans for a club that hasn't won the Turkish league since 1975.

The only other American on the roster is Mire Chatman, who played in college for Texas Pan-American, though Australian center A.J. Ogilvy recently finished his career at Vanderbilt. The rest of the team is made up of players from Turkey, Russia and other Eastern European nations.

Iverson said he still believes he can play in the NBA and hopes his performance in Europe will entice a franchise -- any franchise -- to give him another chance next season.

"The NBA has been great for me, I made a ton of money, I can take care of my family for the rest of my life and the rest of their life. The NBA has been great," he said. "I don't even know what my role is going to be, and that's the part that's exciting as much as anything, having the chance to go in with a bunch of guys and help out and win some basketball games."

I hope this experience becomes an eye opener to Iverson and other players that your not bigger than the game. Also, you can't consistently have issues with coaches and management or you will be black balled from the league.

Now, we can only sit and check youtube and other websites to see how one of the greatest players of all-time and future hall of famer can restore his career.

Hopefully, we will see him back in the NBA next season to get The Answer to the questions about his game.

Charlotte 49ers Schedule First Football Series -Home & Home with Morehead State

Charlotte, N.C. --The Charlotte 49ers, who received final approval earlier this month to move forward with adding a football program, have announced their first scheduled football series. The 49ers football program, which will begin play in 2013, has scheduled a home-and-home series with Morehead State. The 49ers will play at Morehead State, Nov. 23, 2013 and the Eagles will visit Charlotte, Nov. 22, 2014.

            “The formal announcement that we are starting football in 2013 with no uncertainty was very exciting,” said 49ers Director of Athletics Judy Rose. “We quickly moved forward to begin scheduling and we are off and running. We are pleased to announce that we have scheduled the Charlotte 49ers first home and home series against Morehead State. 

There are many more games to schedule, including our inaugural game, but it’s exciting to report that we have our first contract in hand.”

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

USA BASKETBALL Update - Inside with Stephen Curry

ESPN reports - Golden State sold for record $450 million

ESPN reports - Golden State Warriors sold for record $450 million to Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. The sale is still subject to NBA owners approval but that is expected to be a unanimous decision.

With this expected sale, change is expected from the president down to the coach.

The NBA's all-time winningest coach Don Nelson has one year remaining on his contract with $6 million to be paid during the upcoming 2010-2011 season.

Speculation is brewing of a coach change by the start of the NBA training camp but who could be the coach to guide this young team back to respectably. The finalized of the sale will be 60-90 days so, a coach change can't happen until then.

 I would say to ride out Nelson for the final year of his deal and then get a new coach.

The Warriors have a lot of talent with the sophomore season for Stephen Curry and the dynamic scoring of Monta Ellis headlining a young team that just added David Lee in a sign and trade with New York. The core of this team can be bright if Curry, Ellis and Lee can all play together.

Trade rumors have been going for months about Monta Ellis but nothing has finalized yet. He has four years left on deal at $11 million a season. An owner like Mark Cuban and Dallas could use his scoring and this would provide cap relief.

However, after paying $450 million for this team, I would trade Monta Ellis since the Warriors are already under the cap and he can fill up people in the seats with Curry.

So now, we just wait and see on what the direction the new owners will take to get this young team and fans energized.

You be the JUDGE!

A WITNESS of THE DECISION-Lebron James to Miami Heat!

A WITNESS of THE DECISION-Lebron James to Miami Heat!

Since 2003 when Lebron James signed his $90 million deal with Nike, there promotion campaign was centered on being a WITNESS to Lebron's talented abilities that would catapult him into one the top five players in the league.

Well, seven years later, viewers across the country made sure they would be WITNESS to one of the most publicized decisions in free agent history, as Lebron James chose the Miami Heat to be his next team. The audience viewing his DECISION on ESPN was the third highest in 2010 for cable viewing.

The drama around Lebron's decision was expected to change the balance of power in the league. For me, it was like watching Stars Wars when little Annakin Skywalker was thought to bring balance to the FORCE.

Lebron 's choice of the Miami Heat has certainly brought excitement to the city as he will team up with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade. There alliance will provide a tough challenge for teams in the upcoming season and high expectations of winning a championship in the near future, if not in the 2010-2011 season.
  
As teams prepared to position themselves for this big free agency off season, on four key players chose to leave there teams which was Amare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Chris Bosh and Lebron James. The other key free agents decided to stay home.

As a result, this left pain to New Jersey, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Cleveland as they couldn't get the prime time player like Dwayne Wade or Lebron James to help generate the needed energy to drive tickets sales and hope of winning a championship.

Speculation had been made for months that James would want to join his buddies and play together. However, a lot of people felt that James would want to stay in Cleveland to finish what he started. 
With James' decision, he toughness and heart are now in question and not just from fans but executives in the NBA as well as his previous owner. Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert went as far as to say that Lebron James "quit" on his team. Those are harsh words for a guy that made you millions. I think Dan Gilbert will regret those remarks later as he just has to move forward with bringing Cleveland a championship without Lebron James.

I don't think we will every really know but what we do know is that all ball players want to position themselves to have the best talent possible on a team, and that is what Lebron did.

Not to discount, Mo Williams, Delonte West, Antwan Jamison or J.J. Hickson but they just can't and didn't take over the game like needed during the playoffs to help bring balance and help to Lebron.

Originally, I felt Lebron should've stayed in Cleveland but I understand now that he only did what I would've done if I was playing recreation ball at the Y, which is to get this best players on my team.

Given that you have the opportunity put playmakers, all-stars and superstars on your team, What really is wrong with that? Most recently, Pau Gasol came to the Lakers for virtually nothing and helped Kobe and the Lakers win two championships.

As we all know, a lot of good and great teams have been assembled over the years but they don't always yield a championship. So now, we wait to see how Pat Riley can add some low cost talent to the Miami Heat since adding all of three of this superstar talents on one team will strap your cap space but each took a couple of million less to help add some reserves.

I still think everything has to go through Boston in the East with virtually everyone coming back but Miami will be right in the thick of things as everyone on this super team learns to play with each other. It will be an interesting season and circus around Miami.

We will all be a WITNESS as the new Big 3 states there claim on the league. Then, we can make our DECISION as to if it was the right choice.

You be the JUDGE!

Post your comments.

Email us at [email protected]. 

2010 COPYRIGHT BY GAMETIME SPORTS

Charlotte 49ers Football - Secure Your Seat Today!

Call It A Comeback - Tiger Woods Sets Returns At Masters

Call It A Comeback - Tiger Woods Sets Returns At Masters

Well, contrary to previous reports, Tiger Woods will make his comeback to golf at Augusta National for the Masters.

It was previously reported by New York Post that Woods would make his comeback at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in his hometown which seemed logical to play before a major.

However, Tiger will do it his way.

In his official statement to media, he stated "The major championships have always been a special focus in my career and, as a professional, I think Augusta is where I need to be, even though it's been a while since I last played."

Some have to wonder regardless of Woods' thoughts, it can comeback and perform with all of the pressure of the majors.

The Masters will provide a way for media to have some distance from Woods which is what his needs to regain focus.

I think like we have all learned about Tiger Woods over the years, which is he going to do it his way and compete and perform at a high level. His performance and present will drive sales, audience and make his competitors on edge.

It will be an exciting time for Woods to be back in the game of golf. You can only hope that as his golf game resurrects itself, you pray his personal life will too with this wife and kids.

At the end of the day, he must do what's best for him and do it his way.

Welcome back Tiger Woods!

Tiger Woods Comeback Set for Arnold Palmer Invitational

New York Post is reporting that Tiger Woods is scheduled to make his comeback March 25th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, FL. No further details disclosed or press conference set by Woods.