SR – NBA Play-In Tournament Eastern Conference Preview

by Kyle Paragas | May 17, 2021 | Featured, NBA

The regular season has reached its conclusion and the stage is set for the 2021 NBA Playoffs. At least, almost set. Before things get into full swing, we’ll be witnessing the league’s Inaugural Play-In Tournament, outside of last year’s bubble. This year’s Eastern Conference match-ups will include some of the biggest names in the league, with their sights set on making it to the Playoffs. Our 7th and 8th seed match-up will include Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics versus Bradley Beal, Russell Westbrook, and the Washington Wizards. Our 9th and 10th seed match-up has Damontis Sabonis and the Indiana Pacers facing off against LaMelo Ball and the young Charlotte Hornets.

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Boston Celtics (7th) vs. Washington Wizards (8th)

The Celtics and the Wizards find themselves with the opportunity to ensure the 7th seed with only one another standing in their path. During the regular season, the Celtics won the season series 2-1 over the Wizards. However, with star SG Jaylen Brown out of the picture with a recent wrist surgery for Boston, nothing is truly ensured going into this game.

The Celtics surely didn’t see themselves participating in the Play-In Tournament this season, after being 3rd seed and making a Eastern Conference Finals appearances only a season ago. This game will either help or hinder the Celtics’ chances on making another deep Playoff run where they can set the tone for themselves early or find themselves having play extra games just to even participate in the Playoffs. Hopefully for the Celtics they won’t miss Jaylen Brown’s impact too much now with their acquisitions prior to the trade deadline in Evan Fournier and Jabari Parker. As long as the remaining Celtic roster can remain healthy, they may just be able to make the deep Playoff push they were expecting to make.

The Wizards on the other hand didn’t share a similar story going into this season. After trading John Wall for Russell Westbrook, and not starting off the season particularly well, many wrote off the Wizards for a bottom tier team this season. However what many seem to forget is that the Wizards happen to have two of the most underrated, under-appreciated individuals who thrive in defying the odds. Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal slowly worked their way to changing the narrative of the Wizards organization putting themselves into the 8th seed position. However, a big question this season has always been Bradley Beal’s health. Beal has been dealing with a hamstring injury, and reports have stated that said hamstring will not be at 100% by the time of the Play-In.

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Indiana Pacers (9th) vs. Charlotte Hornets (10th)

Although the more difficult route, both the Pacers and the Hornets find themselves with the opportunity to play for the 8th seed. The Hornets had won the regular season series going to 2-1 against the Pacers. Now that LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges are now back in the line-up, they are in a strong position to make the 8th seed. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the Indiana Pacers, who currently have 7 players on their Injury List, although 4 players are a game time decision. However with names such as Jeremy Lamb, Myles Turner, and T.J. Warren out for the season, All-Star PF Damontis Sabonis and crew have a tall task just to make it to this year’s Playoffs.

Like the Celtics, the Pacers surely didn’t believe they would find themselves participating in this year’s Play-In Tournament after taking the 4th seed last year. The team is definitely hoping to make a deeper Playoff push after having an early First-Round exit to the Miami Heat in the bubble last year. Again it needs to be said that the Pacers are suffering from quite an extensive injury list which hopefully does not hinder their chances during such a crucial time too badly.

On the other side of this match-up, it is an exciting time to be a Hornets fan. After just barely being on the outside of last year’s bubble, they have the chance to make their first Playoff appearance since the 2016 NBA Playoffs. Similarly to the Wizards, the Hornets were not necessarily expected to be in the conversation of the Playoffs now that the Eastern Conference arguably got stronger this season. It will be interesting to see how the fairly young Hornets roster will stack up in post-season basketball. Regardless of how things may unfold for the Hornets, both Hornets fans and fans across the NBA can only hope that their games are announced by Hornets’ announcer in Eric Collins.

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The 2020-2021 NBA Postseason officially begins and 20 teams will now have the opportunity to compete for this year’s NBA Championship. The Play-In Tournament begins on May 18th at 6:30 ET with coverage provided by TNT.

May 17, 2021 No Comments

Internet Money Drops Video for ‘His &Hers’ With Don Toliver, Gunna, And Lil Uzi Vert

Celebs

by Akeem Ivory | May 17, 2021 | Celebs, Featured

The production duo–Nick Mira and Taz Taylor as Internet Money is back, and follow last years successful hit “Lemonade” that went double-platinum. Thier latest single “His & Hers” features a melodic hook from Don Toliver, and Gunna and Uzi add their signature swag while trading verses just in time for summer.

“’Lemonade’ was the first one where I was like, ‘Man, this is doing like two million streams a day. This is crazy,’” Taylor told Apple Music 1’s Zane Lowe about the making of “His & Hers.” “So at that point, I was like, ‘All right, well they want me to go make the biggest records. They want me to go get the biggest artists on the songs. That’s what they want.’ So I was just searching for the biggest songs that I heard. And then ‘His & Hers,’ I heard a demo with a different guitar and it was way slow. It was like 127 BPM. And I was just like, ‘This is it. I got to do it.’ So August 15th was the first day of this song. I started working on it and I just finished it.”

Taz was inspired to make “His & Hers” after the success of “Lemonade” knowing that you could combine the crazy good verses from Gunna and add the epic hooks of Don is just like peanut butter and jelly a crazy combo but it works. Dropping“ JETSKI” featuring Lil Mosey and Lil Tecca back in March, Internet Money now gearing up to release a new album this summer, the follow-up to their 2020 debut album, B4 the Storm, which opened at No. 10 on the Billboard 200.

“I want it to be one of the moments,” he also told Lowe, when asked about what’s next. “I like having people debate, ‘Oh, so-and-so killed it.’ Or ‘so-and-so did better than this person.’ Or ‘This is way better.’ I just want to make songs that I can show my influences.”

The group is also slated to perform DJ sets at Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash Festival in Chicago on Aug. 21 and Milwaukee’s Summerfest event on Sept. 14. Check out Internet Money single “His & Hers” video presents Lyrical Lemonade and directed by Cole Bennet.

May 17, 2021 No Comments

J. Cole Drops New Music Video for ‘a m a r i’

Celebs

by Akeem Ivory | May 17, 2021 | Celebs, Featured

“Hold on to your inner child”

Following the release of his highly anticipating project in The Off-Season Jermaine…Cole, made his professional debut in the Basketball Africa League after signing a contract with the Rwandan Patriots BBC, and the gifts keep on coming for his fans after dropping a video for ‘a m a r i ‘ earlier today (May 17, 2021).

Directed by Mez for Heirs, who also helmed 2019’s ‘Middle Child.’ The video opens with Dreamville helicopter flies overhead with the city of New York as the backdrop. Over the following two and a half minutes, we see Cole dressed up in a suit and fedora and head back to his college years at St. John’s University, eating ramen noodles in his dorm room while the many platinum plaques line his walls. In the end, a young Cole is seen trying to save his older self from falling off a ledge. The video ends with the powerful message above.

“This was the 1st thing I ever directed. Bro helped me start another side of my career,” tweeted Mez.

The Off-Season is expected to debut at No. 1 on next week’s Billboard 200 with 280-310,000 equivalent album units.

Watch J. Cole’s new music video for ‘a m a r i’ below:

May 17, 2021 No Comments

Week-In Review: The Gruzinsky Family is in Disarray Over Fathers Arrest, While Coach Korn Gets Back In the Dating World; Big Shot Episode 5 Review

Celebs

by Akeem Ivory | May 14, 2021 | Celebs, Featured

Louise’s dad is Arrested. Louise and Olive get caught cheating. Marvyn dates again.

After Coach Korn (John Stamos) catches his daughter Emma (Sophia Mitri Schloss) and Lucas Gruzinsky (Dale Whibley) having a romantic evening together; which was very PG. Emma explains to her father that it is very normal for girls her age to date, however, it’s hard for Korn to wrap his head around Emma dating. The conversation continues on how Emma’s Mother encourages her to date, while Korn disagrees the next question to comes up is when is the last time he’s been on a date. His answer of not knowing how long him and Emma’s mother been divorced proves that Korn definitely loses himself in his work.

BIG SHOT - "This Is Our House" SOPHIA MITRI SCHLOSS

Emma and Lucas Gruzinsky having dinner together in the opening scene.

As a fun subplot, the theme of wondering about the adult personal dating life continues after a few of the girls happen to see Assistant Coach, Holly Barrett (Jessalyn Gilsig) is seen carpooling with younger teacher Felix (Chantz Simpson). So naturally, they’re wondering what the connection is between them too, and eventually, the rumor of the two dating spreads throughout Westbrook.

The next scene sets the stage for our main focus of the episode, Louise (Nell Verlaque) talks to Olive (Monique A. Green) and Mouse (Tisha Custodio) about how she couldn’t study for their Bio exam due to her parents arguing all night. The reality of Louise not passing the test, Olive feels the need to help her teammate by texting her a picture of the answers. But of course, the student seating behind Louise ( Kelsey played by Maddy Caddell) sees this and notifies Coach Holly. After confronting the two about having the exact same answers to an open response test, Louise admits she cheated. Westbrook has a Zero Terolance Policy for cheating which would end up in their expulsion from Westbrook, however, Coach Holly is able to convince Principal Thomas (Yvette Nicole Brown) to not take further action.

This decision has other students talking, there’s a belief that the basketball team is getting preferential treatment a common cliched in US high school and college shows about how being great at sports, means they don’t have to do anything else.

Louise’s day gets worst after returning home to police officers take belongings from the house, apparently, the reason is that her father Larry Gruzinsky (Michael Trucco) is being investigated for embezzlement. This could explain the reason Louise’s parents were arguing the night she was trying to study for her exam, the stress of carrying this information and not talking to anyone with a fear of embarrassment is weight heavy on Louise. She isn’t able to play her game in the matchup against Solana Beach, that frustration leads to an ejection when she pushes an opposing player following a foul. This lead to a heated exchange between Louise and Coach Holly.

The Lady Sirens are able to win by 2 but Coach Korn is worried about how the praise from La Jolla Preps about their winning steak is going to their head. As the team is looking to go up a division Korn knows that the noise that came with winning can be detrimental to a team.

As far as Korn’s dating life that was mentioned earlier, Emma’s Theatre instructor Miss Goodwyn (Kathleen Rose Perkins) takes a liking to Korn. It was apparent after a mention in his eye color in conversation with Emma, as a proudly single woman she doesn’t take any problem with taking charge asking Korn out on a date. Korn denied it was a date until he was on the date, the two made a genuine connection but Emma does feel uneasy about this development because she feels her father is impeding on something that was her own.

BIG SHOT - "This Is Our House" MONIQUE GREEN, TISHA CUSTODIO, CRICKET WAMPLER, TIANA LE

Olive, Destiny, Mouse, and Samantha spotting Coach Holly and her carpool buddy.

In the case of Coach Holly, it turns out her carpooling buddy Felix was her godson. This is revealed to three that started the dating rumor when Destiny (Tiana Le), Mouse, and Samantha (Cricket Wampler) is called into Principal Thomas’s office, and the old trick of harshly punishing the guilty party effect by the rumor, to help those who started the rumor realize that their words can create situation is used so hopefully the girls have learned their lesson.

The News of Larry Gruzinsky’s arrest breaks online, now that the entire school knows this. Those closest to Louise can understand what she was going through. No one is more than Coach Korn who was judged in the public eye for his mistake. This situation allows the two to connect on a deeper level which I feel will only strengthen their bond and improve the team as a whole.

While Coach Korn and Holly have a big impact on these girls’ lives, let us not forget to mention Sherilyn Thomas. This character has been constantly there to help in the development of all the young ladies at Westbrook, putting Emma into the play giving her a more enlightening experience at Westbrook, Eventually giving Olive a scholarship to alleviating the burden put on her parents paying tuition, handling that her legal situation, and giving Olive the idea to film the journey to division II to put on her college resume. Whatever problem has fallen in Westbrook Principal Thomas has been there with a swift solution and I can’t wait to see what she does next episode.

May 14, 2021 No Comments

Detroit Pistons Release Limited Edition Collection Inspired by Martin Television Show

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by Akeem Ivory | May 13, 2021 | Featured

Talk to me Detroit, WAZZUP!!!

The Detroit Pistons & Martin Lawrence have teamed up for a limited edition collection, this collaboration pay homage to the pioneer of black sitcom. A partnership perfect sense as the ’90’s sitcom is synonymous with Detroit from it’s deep-rooted connection of using Detroit as the backdrop city. Martin’s appreciation for the city derives from its sitcom run, however, he did create a genuine love for Detroit–so much so, that he owns a championship ring from the 2004 team.

The limited-run items, which include jerseys, hats, shorts, sweatshirts, T-shirts and more will blended the aesthetic of the intro text to Martin with the Detroit Pistons name. In addition, the collaboration also includes quotes and iconic scenes superimposed onto the respective merchandise.

“Detroit has always shown me so much love and always shows up for me,” Lawrence said in a release announcing the partnership. “From stand-up tours to fans on the street Detroit has felt like home. It’s an honor to be part of something that means so much to me to this many years later.”

The Pistons are similarly happy to have an official collab with Lawrence.

“With the city of Detroit as the show’s backdrop, ‘Martin’ became must-watch TV in the 90s,” said Mike Zavodsky, chief business officer of the Pistons. “Martin’s love for the Pistons in the show translated into passion for the team – the fact that he has a ring from the 2004 team is proof of that. We’re thrilled to partner with Martin to introduce a merchandise line that pays homage to both Martin and the show’s Detroit roots.”

Look out for the Martin Lawrence x Detroit Pistons collaboration dropping this Friday May 14th, 2021 exclusively on Piston313shop.com.

May 13, 2021 No Comments

Kicks Through the Lens (Week 20)

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by Brendon Schunck | May 12, 2021 | Featured, NBA, Sneakers

We have reached week 20 of the 2020-21 NBA regular season. The playoffs start in a little over a week. Players are leaving all they have left out on the court. This past week we saw P.J. Tucker yet again come with the heat. Ja Morant opted for a non-Kobe shoe for the first time in awhile. Luka Dončić sported two head-turning colorways of some Jordan XXXV low P.E.’s. One of the most popular KD models saw a return to the hardwood. Tobias Harris rocked a new P.E. Kobe Protro. Rajon Rondo continues to keep us guessing with his on-court sneaker selections. Scroll below to see what the last week of the regular season had to offer for this week’s Kicks Through the Lens.