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Barring some sort of Deron Williams/Dwight Howard free agency/trade miracle, Jostens probably won’t be whipping up another batch of Dallas Mavericks Championship rings any time soon.  Still, it’s interesting to observe the creativity that went into designing the ring, and then the actual creation process itself.  You can skip to the 1:30 mark of the video embedded above (via DimeMag.com) to do just that.

Note that each ring includes 257 diamonds.  Bling Bling.  Also note that Jason Kidd pretty much called the shots.  Mark Cuban wasn’t trying to get smacked up.

The Knicks got eliminated a while ago, but Amare Stoudemire never went fishing.  He went to Paris instead, where he proposed to the mother of his three children whilst enjoying a view of the Eiffel Tower from a suite at the Le Meurice Hotel Belle Etoile Royal.  Kind of cliche if you ask me, but hey, who am I to criticize the taste of a man that books suites at French Hotels and gives away million dollar rings?  Via SportingNews.com…

Amare Stoudemire is engaged to Alexis Welch after proposing to the mother of his three children in Paris Saturday night, People magazine reports.

While overlooking the Eiffel Tower outside of their penthouse at Le Meurice Hotel Belle Etoile Royal Suite around 11 p.m. local time, Stoudemire showed Welch an 8.5-carat radiant-cut ring, worth more than $1 million, according to People. The Knicks power forward designed the ring with Los Angeles-based celebrity jeweler Shayan Afshar.

“I have been planning my proposal for a while and overlooking the entire Paris skyline seemed like a perfect place,” Stoudemire told People from Paris. “I am so happy she said ‘yes,’ and now we can continue to build our life together as husband and wife.”

The couple, who met in 2002 after Stoudemire was drafted by the Phoenix Suns, plans to get married in 2013.

I suppose an NBA player getting engaged really isn’t even news (unless it’s to a Kardashian), but I just couldn’t help but notice that this dude proposed in a straw hat.  I know, I know, who am I to criticize, but I was thinking… I only know one person who actually wears a straw hat—my aunt Janie.  Now, my aunt Janie is 60-something years old, wears a lime-green jacket in July, and drives a Subaru station wagon.  She has a wild dog named Ted, enjoys gardening, and just generally seems like your typical straw hat wearer.  While not even I would suggest proposing in a New Era 59Fifty, I’m not sure a straw hat would be my recommendation, either.

Official –Swag-O-Meter– Rating:

2/5

Leave the straw hats to old ladies, Amare.  Leave the capris, too.

***Where’d Rajon Rondo disappear to in the second half?  Yes, I’m aware that he hit that big shot with three minutes to go in regulation, but he’d attempted just one between then and halftime.  Rondo could help the Celtics avoid their signature scoring droughts by continuously looking for his own offense, both in transition and in the half court.

***Mickael Pietrus collected five fouls in 24 minutes.  I understand that he spends the majority of his time guarding LeBron James, but how many of those fouls were completely unnecessary?  I’m gonna say at least three, if not four, or maybe all five of ‘em.  I recall more than one stupid loose ball foul, and one where he needlessly whacked LeBron’s arm before James had even made himself a threat to score.  The Celtics are fortunate that Pietrus didn’t pick up a sixth when he got away with a slight hook on what ended up being the end of LeBron’s night (for the record, I didn’t think that one was a foul on anybody.  It looked like they both tripped over each other).

***The Heat took eight shots in overtime.  They missed seven—probably because six of them were jump shots.  The Celtics got similarly-poor looks (mostly because they kept waiting too long to get into their offense), but I felt that Miami’s shot selection was worse.  While a combination of strong Heat defense and poor Celtic offense forced outside shots on one end, Lebron James and Dwyane Wade needlessly settled on consecutive trips.  Udonis Haslem (of all people… not sure I’d ever seen him dribble before) was the one to buck the trend as he drove to the rack for the first points of OT.  So… if Wade or James had been more aggressive Haslem’s basket may have given Miami a multiple-possession lead.  Remember, Boston only scored four points.

***Before you go Skip Brainless on LeBron James for passing the ball on the final possession of regulation (embedded above), please consider why he did so (…because he was triple teamed).  Now, consider why he was triple teamed (…because Mario Chalmers ran right behind him as he prepared to leave the floor, allowing Keyon Dooling to guard two players at once, and ultimately break the whole sh!t up with a deflection).

I’m assuming Erik Spoelstra didn’t draw up a play where Mario Chalmers’ job was to run towards LeBron with four seconds on the clock.  That makes the whole break down mostly his fault, if you ask me.  He should’ve moved in the other direction as LeBron dribbled his way, allowing the desired shooter a little more room to work with.

That being said… I suppose the spacing was awfully poor from the jump.  I can’t for the life of me understand why four different Heat players were on the same side of the floor with five seconds to go.  That couldn’t have been the plan, could it?  I don’t consider myself an Xs and Os guy, but even I couldn’t help but notice the lack of floor balance.

Anyway, before you criticize LeBron for passing out of a triple team, or making his move too late, or settling for a jump shot, you ought to call Mario Chalmers a knucklehead, and wonder whether or not Erik Spoelstra really scribbled such a terrible mess on his miniature whiteboard.  Sorry kids, LeBron is no better than third in line here.

***Give Keyon “Slingshot” Dooling the Marquis Daniels Award for game four.  Dooling, a not-so-good three-point shooter, came off the bench to score 10 points, including 75 percent accuracy on four long-range heaves.  Dooling hadn’t connected on three threes in a game since December 27th, when he made four… against the Heat.  Best caption wins the right to celebrate by doing air pull-ups.

***Did anyone want to see 58 fouls last night?  I didn’t think so.  It’s a shame both Pierce and LeBron fouled out.  Especially LeBron, ’cause he really only committed three (the following were called incorrectly: number six, the shoulda-been-a-block that cost him a basket, and that stupid double foul).

-Pregame: Since people seem to love predictions, I’ll go ahead and make one: Spurs by six.  I think Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are both going to bounce back strong from weak performances in game three.  Parker will be more disciplined with the ball, and Duncan will assert himself on the block.  Oklahoma City was excellent last game, but I think the Spurs will come out with a different kind of focus after the loss, leveling the emotional playing field.

-Pregame: “The help was helping.  Everybody was getting help.”  That’s Kendrick Perkins on OKC’s game-three success at the defensive end of the floor.

-Pregame: The whole same color t-shirt thing is played the hell out.  They didn’t do it in Boston last night, and I got to thinking… that was probably the first playoff game I’ve seen this year where the crowd wasn’t outfitted with some corny saying on their matching shirts.  You aren’t the We Believe Warriors, rest of the NBA!

-9:43 1st: Kendrick Perkins has taken Oklahoma City’s first three shots.  Shockingly, they aren’t losing yet.

-6:47 1st: San Antonio is hot from the outside… and they’re scoring on the inside, too.  Oklahoma City, on the other hand, has gone 2-8 with Kendrick Perkins as their number-one offensive option.  It’s very early, but none of this bodes well for the Thunder.  Danny Green is sticking step-back Js as Kevin Durant fires air balls.

-5:10 1st: Russell Westbrook sticks an exceptionally difficult three-point shot.  Tim Duncan answers with a patient, five-foot hook shot.  From a Spurs perspective, you’ve got to like how this game is developing.  San Antonio is getting exactly what they want while OKC is taking tough shots.

-3:30 1st: Oklahoma City gets their first transition opportunity of the game off of a Tim Duncan miss, resulting in a Kendrick Perkins dunk.  The Thunder will need to do a lot more of this if they want to win the game, and in order to do this they’ll need to force misses.

-0:00 1st: The Spurs remain tied at the end of one (26-26) despite a late-quarter cool down.  Oklahoma City got out and running in the latter stages of the period, and their ball movement also improved.  Quite honestly, they should probably lead by a bucket or two, but they effed up a couple of fast-break opportunities.  I still like what I see from the Spurs; they’re getting good shots, they just missed a few.

-0:00 1st: Kendrick Perkins has already produced a game’s worth of stats with 9 points and 6 boards.

-8:27 2nd: The look of the game has changed a bit as Oklahoma City is now getting offensive contributions from guys like Nick Collison, Serge Ibaka, and Thabo Sefolosha.  They’ve responded to San Antonio’s hot start and taken a 36-31 lead.  If OKC can continue to get better production out of their role players than San Antonio gets from theirs, that would be huge.  Doesn’t seem like that should happen, though.

-8:27 2nd: Thabo Sefolosha, Kendrick Perkins, Serge Ibaka, and Nick Collison are a combined 13-16 from the floor.  They’ve got 26 points between them.

-3:21 2nd: Serge Ibaka is now 6-6 with 12 points.  Kendrick Perkins is 5-7 with 11.  Boris Diaw misses a layup, Russell Westbrook hits a three.  The Thunder are simply rolling right now.

-Halftime: Kawhi Leonard’s three-pointer didn’t beat the halftime buzzer, so San Antonio remains down 12 (43-55).  Although the Spurs have been unable to shoot since the early going and the Thunder have looked like a machine for the last quarter and a half, OKC fans better hope KD and Russ have better second halves in store.  Ibaka, Perkins, Collison, and Sefolosha probably won’t contribute 39 points in the rest of the series, let alone the next two quarters (unless the Spurs defense continues to be absolutely awful, that is).

-9:21 3rd: Maybe Ibaka and company will replicate their first-half offensive effort.  I mean, come on, San Antonio… can’t be letting these dudes throw down so easily.

-6:08 3rd: Boris Diaw has just been called for the phantom foul of all phantom fouls.  Spurs can’t worry about that, though.  They need to find a way to stop all of these easy shots at the rim.

-1:15 3rd: A Manu Ginobili three has brought the Spurs to with a bucket, 71-73.  San Antonio is on a 10-0/18-5 run.

-0:00 3rd: OKC lucks out as Nick Collison draws a BS charge on Manu Ginobili just before the buzzer.  Gino should’ve been at the line for two… Collison moved underneath him after he left the floor.  As it is, OKC leads 75-71.  Durant, Harden, and Westbrook are a combined 9-28 going into the 4th.  Ginobili, Duncan, and Parker are 14-30.  These are likely the players who will have to step up and win this game.  Who will get the job done?

-9:10 4th: James Harden nails a three to put OKC up 84-76.  He was 1-7 coming into the 4th, but he’s 2 for his last 3.  If he can continue to score it would be a big boost for the Thunder, obviously.

-8:14 4th: Serge Ibaka makes it 11-11 from the floor on a tip shot.  The sequence kind of summed up the game, I though—Harden dribbled out the clock and took an awful shot, but the Spurs failed to collect the rebound.  They’ve been unable to capitalize on all different kinds of opportunities throughout the evening.

-7:00 4th: Tim Duncan makes it a four-point game again with a sweeping left hook.  If the Spurs want to win this game they need to box the f@ck out, be quick to loose balls, and hit open shots.  They’ve done none of this since the first quarter.

-4:45 4th: With a chance to bring his Spurs within a bucket Tony Parker shoots a fairly-routine layup off the bottom of the backboard.  This surprises me, but the Spurs continue to not look right.

-2:48 4th: This thing is as good as 2-2.  Following a Tim Duncan air ball, Kevin Durant scores an alley-oop and a chance to make it a three-point play.  It’s now a nine-point game with the Thunder having all the momentum.

-1:20 4th: Kawhi Leonard hits his second three in two possessions.  Too little too late, but he was one of the few Spurs who came to play today—17 points and 8 boards on 7-8 for the rookie.

-Thunder 109, Spurs 103: The role payers got it done early and Kevin Durant took over in the end.  The Spurs looked great for about six minutes, then… I have no idea what happened.  That’s three of four games in this series that San Antonio has looked off, at least for the most part.  Credit Oklahoma City; they played a much better game tonight.

You know you’re an NBA fan when an iconic structure built in the 1800s has its name changed and the first thing that pops into your head is the image of said structure tattooed on a player’s arm.

I’m an NBA fan, the player is Ben Wallace, and the structure is Big Ben.  As for the tattoo pictured above, it has always made sense because Mr. Wallace and England’s most famous clock happen to be namesakes.  They won’t be for much longer, though, as the English government plans to formally change Big Ben (the clock)’s name to The Elizabeth Tower in order to honor their Queen’s 60th year of doing whatever it is that she does.  Via Yahoo…

Britain’s famed parliament clock tower Big Ben is set to be renamed the Elizabeth Tower in honor of the queen’s diamond jubilee, a report said Friday.

Prime Minister David Cameron is among 331 lawmakers who have signed up to a campaign to bestow the tribute to Queen Elizabeth to mark her 60th year on the throne, the Daily Mail reported.

The Guardian also reported the majority backing for the proposal.

It mirrors an honor bestowed on Queen Victoria — the first British monarch to celebrate a diamond jubilee, back in 1897 — after whom the square tower at the other end of the Houses of Parliament was renamed.

“It is great news that so many MPs from across the House are backing what would be a fitting tribute to the queen. I hope it will now move ahead,” the Mail quoted Cameron as saying.

The 316-foot tower is formally known as the Clock Tower, but it is commonly called Big Ben after the huge bell that it holds, whose distinctive “bongs” sound out the hours in central London.

Lawmakers accepted that the iconic tower, which looms over the 19-century Gothic revival parliament, would continue to be known colloquially as Big Ben, but said that its formal name should honor Queen Elizabeth.

The House of Commons Commission, the governing body of the British parliament, will meet by the end of June and is expected to agree on the renaming of Big Ben, the Daily Mail said.

Big Ben was in the news in January this year when the commission discussed how to manage a tilt affecting the tower.

The tilt is 0.26 degrees to the northwest and has increased very slightly since 2003, although an expert study found it was unlikely to be a problem for 10,000 years.

Britain is holding four days of celebrations beginning on Saturday to mark Elizabeth II’s jubilee, including a 1,000-boat river pageant and a star-studded concert.

Uh oh!  Maybe Ben Wallace should simply change his name to Elizabeth.  Wait, no, that’s not gonna work… the tattoo will still say “Big Ben.”  Looks like he’s stuck with a queen’s clock on his arm.  Oh well, I suppose there are worse things to be stuck with.  Isn’t that right, Richard Jefferson?

There are thousands of incredible highlight compilations on Youtube, but not many as spectacular and well put together as this one.  I suppose you could say this two-minute T-Mac reel is a bit short, but goddamn is it sweet!  I love the inclusion of the original audio, and the “rare” clips are in fact rare.  I’d never gawked at that monstrous two-handed slam on the Sixers at the 26-second mark, nor had I been blown away by the dunk-attempt-turned-finger-roll at 1:06 (holy mother of basketball god, that was insane!).  There are a few commonly-seen plays thrown in there, such as the opening dunk and the off-glass alley, but I don’t think anyone’s complaining about seeing those again.

I can’t get over that finger roll against LeBron’s Cavaliers.  He f@cking two-foot lept from near the dotted line with intentions of throwing down, got hit outside of the restricted area, and was actually able to change his agenda and flip the ball into the hole.  That’s ridiculous, folks.  I was going to say something along the lines of “imagine if he’d actually dunked it?”, but I’m not sure it was any less amazing as a layup.

Curse you, father time.

The basketball world has fallen in love with Rajon Rondo, and it’s easy to understand why.  He goes about playing the game in a one-of-a-kind way, and while his one-of-a-kind way can be frustrating at times, it tends to be equally entertaining.  Yesterday night Rondo led the Celtics to a game three victory over the Heat, and made every highlight show in America as he did it.  Late in the third quarter, with Boston well into the process of building their eventual 24-point lead, Rondo fooled Udonis Haslem with his signature ball fake, then finished at the rim.  A nifty play indeed, but… well, you see where I’m going with this.

Rondo does this same damn move over and over and over again.  It’s a cool trick, and he’s turned it into an effective way of creating space in the lane, but a little variety wouldn’t hurt!

I’m not saying Rondo needs to retire his favorite move.  Like I said, it’s quite effective.  However, he could fit a few more tricks up the sleeves of that goofy f@ckin’ jacket, don’t you think?  Here are five moves I think Rondo ought to practice this summer…

#5: Killer Crossover

Rajon Rondo is a fantastic ball handler, but you won’t often see him snap an ankle with a traditional crossover.  I think it would behoove him to add one to his arsenal.  Although those who use the killer cross proficiently make it look simple, it’s a difficult move to learn.  The head, shoulders, hands, and feet must work in unison to execute it properly.  Still, I’m confident that Rondo could master the crossover with one offseason of steady practice.

#4: Hesitation

I don’t know how familiar you all are with the world of streetball, but I was all about it before I got into NBA basketball. One of my favorite ball handlers was Larry Williams, aka “The Bone Collector.” Williams employs an interesting, methodical approach to basketball where he sort of hypnotizes defenders before he blows by them with a sudden burst of quickness. Check the 30-second mark of the video embedded above and you’ll notice that he’s got this one hesitation move where he sort of pops up from his crouched position, staggers his feet, then goes (see it used in this video, too, against Jamaal Tinsley). It’s a rather subtle trick, but I’ve never seen anyone else do it quite like Bone Collector. It would be fun to see someone bring this Rucker Park classic to the hardwood, and Rajon Rondo would be a prime candidate.

#3: Crazy Legs

This one doesn’t serve much of a purpose beyond blowing the mind of every spectator in the building, but I think Rondo ought to learn it and bust it out as he dribbles up the floor.  Why not?  It’s perfectly legal, and it’s a lot cooler than a football snap.

#2: Variant Ball Fake

Repetitive ball faking is what got me started on this discussion, so I figured I’d better recommend an alternative method of fake passing. If Rondo were to learn to use this move as effortlessly as Chris Paul has he’d have another option when looking to clown someone with an artificial dish. This one is particularly handy because it can be used in any situation where it appears as though the ball could be dropped to a trailing player.

#1: The Shammgod

When done correctly, God Shammgod’s signature move is equal parts spectacular and effective. However, it’s rarely seen in the NBA… or anywhere, for that matter. Manu Ginobili has been known to do it from time to time, but he doesn’t pull it off with quite as much flair as the originator. Rajon Rondo ought to enlist Shammgod himself to teach him how to execute the move with all of its intended style. Then Mike Breen’s uneducated ass can go and call it a “one-handed crossover.”

Fifty days it had been since San Antonio last tasted defeat… back when the since-eliminated Lakers got 30 rebounds from Andrew Bynum and 26 points from Metta World Peace.  That almost seems like a season ago, and I think the fact that the Spurs promptly bounced back and took care of the Lakers by a 24-point margin makes it feel as though the streak lasted even longer.

If you don’t recall, the Spurs looked so incredibly mechanical (in a good way) and dominant in that April 20th revenge game that, although it was just another regular-season contest, it put to rest any doubt in my mind that this team wasn’t/isn’t as real a deal as any championship Spurs squad from the past.  Up until last night, all they’d done since then is win 14 consecutive games, and most of them by double figures.

So, how were the Oklahoma City Thunder able to solve the NBA’s Rubik’s Cube?  And how were they able to do it so quickly, figuratively speaking?   Well, I feel like it all started with the defense of Thabo Sefolosha.

I don’t want to be one of those knee-jerk-reacting sensationalists, so before this begins to look like an article from the front page of Yahoo! let me just say that I honestly believe this defeat had a lot to do with the San Antonio Spurs.  I thought Kenny Smith made a solid point on Inside The NBA when he said something along the lines of “true desperation can’t be duplicated.”

It’s true.  Oklahoma City absolutely needed to win game three—their season was riding on it, really—while San Antonio required only two of the next five, if the series is to go that long (doubtful).  As down to earth a team as the veteran Spurs are, not even they can unlearn how damn dominant they’ve been over the past couple of months.  I’m not even saying they weren’t focused… it’s just that they weren’t able to capture that gutsy, defiant attitude which comes with returning home for a must-win contest.  Remember, no team has ever come back from 0-3.  It truly was a must-win situation for Oklahoma City.

Attitudinally-disadvantaged or not, the Spurs are still an awfully good basketball team (one hell of an understatement indeed).  The determined young guns from Brick Town had to do more than a few things quite well to spark a series of events that resulted in 21 San Antonio turnovers and 44 points in the paint.  Like I said, I feel that it all started with Thabo Sefolosha; the defense he played on Tony Parker, particularly.

Excluding Chris Paul, who is of otherworldly descent, Tony Parker led all point guards of his caliber in ball security for the ’11/12 season.  While Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, and Kyrie Irving (see how I threw him in there?) all turned the ball over better than three times per game, Parker coughed it up only 2.6 times.  Like the aforementioned Paul, Parker has always been a master of the ability to go wherever it is he pleases.  He’s been a leader in paint points for the past… however many years, and at 6’2″ that speaks volumes about his agility and control.

Last night, however, Parker turned the ball over five times whilst attempting just two field goals in that obnoxiously-blue rectangle.  OKC’s decision to switch a lot of pick and rolls helped to keep him from turning the corner, but Sefolosha’s combination of length and lateral movement was definitely the key to a stellar defensive effort.  Thanks in large part to his individual doggedness, Parker was kept outside of the lane and forced to attempt some awkward passes out of pressure situations.  For these new-fangled, outside-in Spurs, Parker’s individual struggles brought about a sort of trickle-down effect.

Due to Parker’s befuddlement, the Spurs drifted away from their game.  The post, aka Tim Duncan, Boris Diaw, and Tiago Splitter, did not respond to the sudden change of plans and combined to finish 5-17 from the floor.  As a team, San Antonio shot just 39.5%.  Thanks to the surprising abundance of San Antonio bricks (along with those 21 giveaways) the enthusiastic Thunder didn’t have to begin all their possessions by taking the ball out of the peach basket.  That resulted in plays like this, and then this.

The dominoes didn’t stop falling there.  Electrifying plays such as those build confidence, and a little confidence can go a long way for a young team like the Thunder.  On this particular evening they turned it into a 22-point victory over a team that hadn’t lost since you filed your tax return.  Individually, Sefolosha flipped it into the biggest offensive night of his playoff career.  When he wasn’t busy racking up six steals he was working on his 19 points.  It took him 16 shots, but hey, the shots will be there when you force all those turnovers.  Hell, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant failed to connect on more than half of their opportunities, but they got so many (88-66 FGAs in favor of OKC) it didn’t even matter.

And that, my friends, is how Thabo Sefolosha’s name ends up headlining a Western Conference Finals victory.