Smush Parker Spits Venom At The Mamba.

I don't really know how to call this one. First of all, I'm not sure when this interview went down, (likely after his time in Los Angeles), but Smush Parker calls out Kobe Bryant as the reason behind the Lakers problems. Now Smush definitely has been putting it down in NYC and has the rep and respect on the asphalt, but he doesn't come close to what he's accomplished on the hardwood.

As an NBA player, he has played on 6 teams in 5 seasons, and ironically his best career stats are in LA playing with the guy who he is dissing. I don't know where you are right now, (truthfully, it's not worth my energy to look), but as a player who is trying to find his place in the league you may want to think twice before shitting on one of the league's best. I'm just saying.

Thanks to SportsbyBrooks for the tip.

Ball Control.

When it comes to basketball, I'm somewhat of a traditionalist. I was a fan of the AND 1 Mix-Tape in it's heyday, I love the flash, and it's definitely entertaining. But if you can accomplish the same result without the extra sauce, personally I feel, just get the job done. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about Hoosier style hoops, I can still appreciate the skill and showmanship of the freestyler or streetballer.

Check out A2W from Streetball Extreme out of the UK, doing some things with a basketball that I have never even conceived, dreamt or knew was possible.

Bounce Magazine, is the source, and as always, still has the playground on lock.

If a tree falls in the woods... Will someone videotape it?

It's 2008, and believe that if you're an NBA player, if you do something... anything, someone will capture it on cell phone, digital camera or a Flip. So when London Streetball legend Stuart Tanner challenged Devin Harris to one-on-one in London, anyone hip to the scenario was well aware they would be getting over a million hits on You Tube if they just held the camera steady.

Devin Harris on the other hand, just got got.

Have Ball - Will Travel.

If you've ever wished that GPS could find a basketball court with a decent run, your dreams have now been realized. Seemingly the times you've trekked down to the local blacktop only to find no one there, have passed us by. Based out of Philadelphia, the folks at No Fouls.com have created an online community/interface to network basketball courts and the players that play on them. In their own words "No Fouls is a communication tool intended to accomplish one thing: Get other ballers to the court when you wanna play."

With an easy to use Google mapping system, you just type in your zip code (yes, it blows for everyone else internationally), populating the map with all nearby courts. If a court you know of isn't listed, you can easily add it to the database. What's more, you can get/give feedback on the quality of the court, competition, etc. and challenge other users to games.

Really a great idea, and it would appear an effective one, but using the Google Earth satellite system, it would only make sense for their database to be more inclusive. No Fouls is exciting, however the network will only be as good as how active people are updating and maintaining information, which of course remains to be seen. It makes the entire streetball experience easier, but it eliminates the excitement of discovering a court for the first time, and taking the locals to school on their home turf.

Thanks to Safari, for having a nose for the action.