After being away at the cottage for a couple days earlier this week, I was stoked to come back and find an email from Andy Lutzky of Press Row telling me that Hoops Addict has been nominated for the Press Row Access Awards.

To use Beijing as a springboard towards future triumphs and not a singular rally, the program will have to change and grow. The Redeem Team dominated, but it clearly had weaknesses and imperfections (i.e. outside shooting, half-court offensive execution). Their gold medal finish brought much rejoicing, but it also raises a number of questions regarding the future of the program.

The Olympics provided Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade with the stage and opportunity to prove they were still the caliber of players they were when they won NBA titles.

It doesn’t quite sound like the details of this reality show have been hammered out yet, but if it does and if Gilbert Arenas’ show is anywhere as entertaining his blog, then the world is in for an entertaining and honest reality show ride.

Trying to determine what qualifies a player as underrated in the NBA can be pretty tricky business. Like the awarding of the M.V.P. trophy, you won’t find any shortage of opinions on what basis the player should be judged upon. With no clear cut answer, I decided to try and simplify things, breaking everything down to one statement: Who doesn’t get enough credit for their play?

By the end of the third quarter, the United States lead had ballooned to 27 points, and the fourth quarter resembled garbage time of an NBA game.

Earlier this this summer as it became clear that Roko-Leni Ukic would be Jose Calderon’s backup next season an uncomfortable level of doubt and concern crept into Raptors Nation. If Ukic’s play in Beijing is any indication, those concerns will be short lived.

Have you ever wondered how a first overall draft pick spends a Saturday afternoon in August? If you’re first overall draft pick Derrick Rose you hang out at the new adidas Sport Performance Store in Chicago.

This afternoon I was sent this comical clip of New England Patriots tight end Ben Watson joking around with Yao Ming. Just two pro athletes joking around, right? Wrong.

A big thank you goes out to Kristen Wise for sending a bunch of pictures from the adidas Nations camp which recently wrapped up in Dallas.