happy with back-to-back home losses that has Perths finals hopes on the rack. B | Forum

Editors note: ESPN. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping .com is counting down the best basketball shoes of all time.?But before we reveal our list, our writers are sharing their favorite sneaker tales.For all of the Space Jam nostalgia -- be it the movie re-release, the new shoes geared toward taking on Monstars or the retro-themed Air Jordan XIs -- there is one thing that cant be recaptured. Its the epic pickup games that emerged during the filming of the movie in the summer of 1995.Michael Jordan was fresh off the sting of what would turn out to be the last playoff series loss of his career, to the Orlando Magic in the second round. Movie or no movie, he was determined to return to his place atop the NBA. So he ordered the construction of a tented hardwood basketball court on the Warner Bros. studio lot and laced up his Concords. Word got out, and an array of NBA players came through.Besides the movie co-stars such as Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson, there were the likes of Grant Hill, Rod Strickland, Glen Rice, Dennis Rodman, Juwan Howard, Steve Smith and Cedric Ceballos. Shaquille ONeal came by. Magic Johnson, less than a year shy of his return to the NBA, made an appearance. Reggie Miller showed up for what turned into a clear-out-and-let-em-go-at-it game, with the trash talk flying.It was like an NBA all-star game every day, said Tracy Murray, who was coming off the third season of his 11-year pro career that summer.Except it had regular-season intensity. So many players showed up that losing meant a two- or three-game wait to get back on the court. Veteran center Olden Polynice came by and made the mistake of thinking, Its the summertime, theyre going to be bulls----ing.Come to find out, they werent bulls----ing, Polynice said.Murray credits the cutthroat competition with priming him for a breakout season -- he made 116 more 3-pointers and his scoring average jumped by 11 points, setting him up for a nice free-agent contract that provided the bulk of the $22 million he made in his career.For Jordan, it was the launchpad to the Bulls record-setting 72-10 season, capped by a championship.Maybe we should credit the singer DAngelo as well. His first album dropped that summer, and his seductive songs wound up providing the soundtrack to the pickup games on the Warner Bros. lot.Michael loved that CD, Murray said.Therefore, Everybody hooped to DAngelo, Murray said. Driving up the floor ... Brown Sugar.Dont think for a second that the neo-soul or even the low stakes of the summer diminished Jordans ultra-competitive fires. Don MacLean learned that the hard way.It started when Jordan was loosely guarding MacLean, and MacLean (the all-time leading scorer in the old Pac-10 conference) got hot and scored about two-thirds of his teams buckets to send Jordan off a loser on the final game of the night.As MacLean changed clothes and iced his knees, Jordan came by and asked if hed be back. MacLean had an overseas trip to conduct basketball clinics in Japan, so he couldnt return the following week.Jordan told him, Thanks for coming, make sure you come back.Im thinking: That was cool for him to say that, MacLean said. Not thinking ...Jordan was plotting his revenge. When MacLean did show up a couple of weeks later, he played in the first game of the night.[Jordan] walks on the court, says, I got MacLean, and did not let me touch the ball for the entire game, MacLean said. And I was trying. And he was not letting me touch the ball.Right then and there, I was like, My God. For a pickup game in the summer that means nothing, two weeks later, he remembers that. I couldnt believe it.Said Polynice: Thats the true nature of Michael Jordan. It can be two weeks, it can be two years.And thats why, two decades later, no one who was there can forget those summer nights of hooping. Stitched Jerseys . In what the team had called a retirement, Ryan said Thursday that he is resigning as chief executive of the Rangers in a move effective at the end of this month. Jerseys Cheap . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. http://www.nfljerseyschina.net/ .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. A snapshot of round 11 in the A-League.THEY SAID IT - I smashed chairs. The bin. The rubbish bin. Maybe some doors. I really smashed everything to relax a little bit. I wanted it too much. I wanted to score too early. I had to smash some stuff inside and then I was fine. It was relieving, Melbourne Victory striker Besart Berisha revealed how he changed his outlook in the half-time break of the Melbourne derby before scoring the winner.STAT THAT MATTERS - As they showed with a 4-1 smashing of Perth Glory, theres just no stopping Sydney FC. They boast a winning record (8 wins, three draws) that no A-League team has ever matched at this stage of the season. In fact, only two teams in Australian football history - Marconi in 1978 and Adelaide City in 1994/95 - have matched that record. Worth noting though that neither of those sides won their leagues.MAN OF THE ROUND - Lets celebrate Berisha when he beats - not ties - Archie Thompsons all-time goalscoring record and instead praise Brandon Santalab. The Wanderers strikers piece of invention to open the scoring against Wellington was remarkable and if it wasnt for a certain Tim Cahill special earlier this season, would contennd for goal of the year. Jerseys NFL Wholesale. Shame the Wanderers would blow their 2-0 lead for a 2-2 draw in Auckland.SAFEST HANDS - Sydney FC goalkeeper Danny Vukovic was best afield in the Sky Blues 4-1 win on Saturday night. The best of his efforts was a one-handed save to deny Rostyn Griffiths in the second half when the match was in the balance.CONTROVERSY CORNER - No one at Melbourne City had any complaints with Besart Berishas marginal winner, so its Morten Nordstrands last-gasp goal in focus. The Jets were 2-1 winners thanks to the late strike, which the Dane said he thought hed be flagged for. It was play on and therefore game on for Mark Jones men, who have now won two on the trot.UNDER PRESSURE - Two wins in the opening 11 rounds isnt good news for Wanderers boss Tony Popovic. And Kenny Lowe cant be happy with back-to-back home losses that has Perths finals hopes on the rack. But Adelaide coach Guillermo Amor is again feeling the most strain of A-League coaches after a last-gasp defeat. They host league leaders Sydney next Saturday night. ' ' '