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too hot to go outside
NBA goes outdoors in historic event
Leighton Ginn • The Desert Sun •
Former NBA MVP winners Steve Nash, Shaquille O'Neal and Allen Iverson are the big names, but not the main attraction tonight when the Phoenix Suns face the Denver Nuggets.
For one night, the NBA's biggest stars will be upstaged by the setting. The NBA will host its first outdoor basketball game in more than 35 years and first in the continental United States at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
The NBA stars will share a stage, or court, usually reserved for tennis stars Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi.
“It's an incredible idea. It's going to be an amazing spectacle,” Suns general manager Steve Kerr said. “Preseason basketball generally is not overly exciting. So this adds some e to an otherwise mundane process. It's going to be an amazing scene, basketball under the stars in a beautiful arena. It will be really cool.”
The Suns have spent more than $400,000 to stage the game, from renting a total of four video boards to the 230-panel portable NBA floor that will be reused in February for the NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix
too hot to go outside
It's the middle of October; this is perfect weather for outdoor basketball. I hear the game's being played on TNT tonight, so don't miss it.
It is on TNT, 10pm EST.
Yup, I'll be watching it, should be very cool. Kind of like a grassroots streetball game played in New York.
Of course, it's gonna be played out here in Palm Springs, but , at least the ideas cool. I'd love to go if I didn't have to work tonight.
A.I's not playing...how lame
Any word on whether Melo is playing or not?
Stoudemire (eye injury) is still out, and Barbosa is in Brazil, I think, tending to his mother who has cancer.
Outdoor basketball never looked like this
By Dave McMenamin, NBA.com
LOS ANGELES -- The phrase "outdoor basketball in California" brings to mind heat emanating from the blacktop courts of Venice Beach, the jingle-jangle of chain-link nets bunching against a rubber ball and the jibber-jabber of Woody and Wesley's verbal spars as they attempt their next hustle in White Men Can't Jump.
This Saturday just outside Palm Springs, Calif. the phrase will take on an entirely different meaning as two teams from out of state -- the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets -- go head to head on a wooden court with a leather ball at the 16,000 seat, open-air Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Dubbed the Autotrader.com Open, this isn't your typical preseason game. For starters, it will be aired live on TNT at 10 p.m. ET and the network's top broadcasting team -- play-by-play from Marv Albert with analysis by Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller -- will be on hand.
A preseason game doesn't normally draw a national broadcast team to come out. Heck, a preseason game doesn't always draw a team's head coach to show up on the sidelines -- the Lakers' Phil Jackson and the Celtics' Doc Rivers didn't bother making it to their teams' first preseason games this week.
Add in the caveat of Melo and STAT doing their thing in the same place that tennis great Roger Federer played in a tournament in March and you realize the game is truly a spectacle in the same way that everybody and their mother would tune in to see if Tiger Woods ever teed off from the 50-yard line at Lambeau Field.
The main draw for the game for me is the off chance I'll see a player throw down a dunk on one end and come back down the court throwing up the "raise the roof" celebration when there's only open sky above him. That would be an ironic gesture worthy of an Alanis Morissette lyric.
Plus, it will be entertaining to see towel boys holding a cup of Gatorade in one hand and a tube of Coppertone in the other to pass out when players come out of the game and head to the bench.
Having a game outdoors seems like a no-brainer marketing ploy, but there were some hoops to jump through before it could happen.
In 2003, NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik told ESPN.com's Marc Stein, "I don't really think that we would look at [playing an NBA game outdoors] seriously," and cited weather conditions having an impact on the game as being a major concern.
A lot can change in five years.
The WNBA's New York Liberty and Indiana Fever played an outdoor game at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York this past July and put 19,393 fans in the seats.
Not only was the Liberty Outdoor Classic a rousing success and a landmark event in bringing exposure to the league, but it also served as a dry run for NBA event operation officials to prepare for the Suns-Nuggets contest in October.
The Suns will serve as the host team, which is appropriate because Phoenix participated in the last NBA game played outdoors. On Sept. 24, 1972, Connie Hawkins, Van Arsdale and the Suns downed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson and the Bucks, 116-103, in a preseason game tipped off at a baseball stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Saturday will feature Steve Nash taking the clutch off fifth gear for the first time in years as he indoctrinates himself to new head coach Terry Porter's more controlled offense that is sure to involve more touches for the two-headed monster of Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal.
O'Neal, entering his 17th season as a pro, recently caught up with NBA.com's John Hareas and talked about the upcoming game against the Nuggets.
"I've been playing outdoors all summer," O'Neal said. "The only difference is we're going to be playing on a real floor. I've been playing outside with the kids. I would go down to the park. Matter of fact, I was in Weequahic Park in Newark this summer. I just rolled by, had my shoes and shorts on, so I just went out there."
Shaq said that the only challenge of playing outside could be the weather.
"It's not like playing in a vented air conditioned building," O'Neal said.
The forecast is 80 degrees and windy on Saturday, so Shaq can blame the elements if he happens to airball a free throw.
The game will also give fans an opportunity to see rookie Robin Lopez in action, the talented twin out of Stanford, who will be playing in just his second game.
On the other side of the ball is the Nuggets, who were second in the league in scoring with a 110.65 team average last season, slightly edging out the Suns who came in third with a 110.07 per game average.
It will be interesting to see how Denver's rotation looks like without Marcus Camby in the middle. Camby was traded to the Clippers in the offseason for a second-round draft pick so the Nuggets could avoid paying a luxury tax. Nene is likely to start, but don't be surprised if the Nuggets play a lot of small ball with starters Allen Iverson, Anthony and Kenyon Martin along with Linas Kleiza and recently re-signed J.R. Smith off the bench.
Martin has already expressed the importance of his team all starting off on the right foot, or feet actually.
"Top to bottom, everyone's got to be in line, a straight line -- like a Riverdance," Martin told the Denver Post. "You've seen Riverdance -- somebody's out of line, it messes everything up."
They'll get the chance to try their dance moves outside in the twilight with the Suns on Saturday.
Damn, that looks bad-ass.
I actually can't wait to watch this game tonight, should be really fun with the outdoor crowd, etc. I hope there's a big crowd that shows up, wish I was there.
Wow
Why is Porter comparing this to a playground?
bag...
I'm without cable tonight.
Anyone know where I can catch the game online?
Thanks for the pic Xylus. It does look really cool.
I hope someone has a link for you.
It ain't showing up yet, but try this link when the game starts.
http://stoogetv.com/player.html
And then what? I've never used this site before.
http://www.justin.tv/sh00t
^^try that, Xylus.
Good to see the TNT crew.
Thanks guys!
Marv Albert said it sold out.
It looks pretty full.
, Carmella's out.
Frawsome
Salvatore's officiating... this should be an interesting game then.
Barkley's been drinking tonight; he just said the Nuggets were the most talented team in the league.
I don't like TNT's new layout
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