The Dribble: December 2006

Sunday, December 31, 2006

JRich breaks hand

Jason Richardson, who has been nothing like last year's player is set to go back on the disabled list after beaking his hand (kicked by Pietrus as he was jumping for block) in a loss to the Sacaramento Kings. The latest setback should sideline him for about two months and will give him ample to recuperate from the arthroscopic surgery that has hindered him since the beginning of the season.

12/31/2006 09:59:00 AM | Permalink |

Gerald Wallace crushed by flying Foster

Well Gerald Wallace must've been fearing a rematch with the Pacers, if you can remember it was a hard foul by Danny Granger that gave him a concussion early in the season from which point he never seemed to play as aggressively. Slowly coming back into form of late (28pts & 40pts in his last two games plus the G-Wall intangibles that make him such a pleasure to watch) he has been sidelined for an undetermined amount of time after diving for a loose ball only to have lumberjack Jeff Foster fall on top of him and causing bruised ribs and a separated shoulder.

A visit to the Bonnell game recap at the Charlotte Observer tells the tale:

"another injury to small forward Gerald Wallace.
He separated his right shoulder
and suffered a rib contusion
[...] when Pacers center Jeff Foster
fell on him in pursuit of a loose ball.

Wallace will miss at least
Monday's home game
against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"The main thing is the pain,''
said Wallace. "I can play once
the discomfort goes away.''

If Wallace misses considerable time,
the pressure is on Felton,
Morrison and Okafor
to carry this team."

12/31/2006 09:39:00 AM | Permalink |

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Grizz swap coaches

When u win 6 of your first 30 games u should get nervous and now at least for Fratello he can rest a little easier knowing that a decision has been made and that he has been let go becoming the first coaching casualty of the season.

The Grizzlies who just recently regained the services of their star player Pau Gasol still have major issues to deal with in struggling guards Damon Stoudamire and Eddie Jones but have loads of young potential just waiting for a shot at some playing time instead of the garbage minutes that Fratello was giving them.

Grizz press release concerning Fratello

Barone named interim head coach

McKee at the Grizz's MVN:

"It has been reported many times
in the past year or so
that Jerry West has wanted
Fratello fired for some time.
It was team owner Michael Heisley
who wanted to keep Frat.
Heisley finally came to his senses."

For Fratello however is it back to the broadcast booth or does he still feel the need to prove himself among the coaching ranks?

P.S.

Leaves me wondering what CantheCzar.blogspot is gonna do now that his wish has been granted?

12/28/2006 10:20:00 PM | Permalink |

Losing taking its toll on the Nets

To some, the Nets have what might be one of the top trios in the league. However, the combination of Kidd, Jefferson and Carter is greatly underachieving and find themselves seven games under .500 with a winning percentage of .379 (a record of 11-18 with 4 losses in a row) in one of the weakest divisions in the NBA. Add to this fact that they have the 8th highest payroll in the league and you might get some explanations for as to why they are "scouring the NBDL and CBA for big men to help ease the pain of losing Nenad Krstic" (out for the season with a torn ACL). One could justly argue however that investing time and energy in a prospect is not the way to go for the Nets because never has coach Frank even had a tendency to place his trust in unproven players. Things are so bad in Jersey that Vince's former teammate and now analyst Mark Jacskson is quoted as saying:

"he should be benched for
"going through the motions"
and "being too passive"
at Milwaukee on Saturday night,
he didn't exactly disagree."

"That's fine. That's the truth,"
said Carter, "If you can't play motivated,
you're not helping the team.
You've got to put guys
on the court that are
getting the job done."

Barring a trade of one of the Big Three one cannot expect the Nets to improve dramatically leaving them few options and an even bleaker future.

The front office is gonna have to get imaginative.

UPDATE:

Make sure to check out Si.com's Mannix and his take on the Nets and how it might be too late already.

12/28/2006 11:12:00 AM | Permalink |

Friday, December 22, 2006

3manLift lists galore

Jack Cobra at 3manlift.com has completed his list (top 5) in time for the holiday break:

coaches

12/22/2006 09:44:00 AM | Permalink |

Lakers not ready for a duo of Kwame and Bynum

A combination of Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum would surely scare their share of opposing frontcourts yet despite the injury to PF/SF Lamar Odom, head coach Phil Jackson is reluctant to play both big men at the same time under the pretext that they slow down the rest of the team.

"They’re not ready to play together,”
Jackson said. “I don’t think offensively
we’re as active and mobile
as a team as we’d like to be
with them out there together,
even though the possibility
of them playing together is imminent."

in other news:

Former Laker Slava Medvedenko impressed as he worked out for the Atlanta Hawks

12/22/2006 09:28:00 AM | Permalink |

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

After boxing day X-Mas comes early for Nugg fans

The Denver Nuggets seem to have the dates on their calendar mixed up somewhat and are treating their fans to an early Christmas present. Firstly last Saturday night they celebrated Boxing day way early in NYC and now Tuesday afternoon they opened their presents early and completed a trade that would be sending Joe Smith, Andre Miller and two first round picks to the Sixers for Allen Iverson and Ivan McFarlin

Skeets at the NBA Fanhouse:

"Billy King and the Sixers wanted
three things in return for Iverson:
talent, salary cap relief, and draft picks.
Amazingly, they got all three
-- a borderline All-Star in Miller,
Joe Smith and his $6.8 million
expiring contract,
and two first-round picks.
Unfortunately,
that's the problem right there.
What the Sixers should've done
was pick one or the other
and hone in on it.
Instead, King settled for
some half-ass combination
of the three and got burned.
Brutal."

FD's Shoals meshes the fight and the trade:

"it hinders any post-brawl attempts to hate.
And it's not just for the Nuggets.
This experiment
—believe, it is very much that—
has displaced the negativity
with a bough of fantasy."

then looks at the Nuggets' lineup:

"There is absolutely no way that,
once everyone's on hand,
this doesn't rival the Suns
for must-watchitude.
Swagger out of this world."

"this is Iverson's chance for redemption.
And part of me firmly believes
that his underdog complex
will kick in when he realizes
that this is his legacy right here."

by all means plz read the whole post but if you scroll down to the comments section salt bagel sounds off on how the Ai / Melo combo will have to work to succeed:

"I think that the only way
these Nugs will be truly great
is to have cycles of deference,
depending on who
has the hot hand.
I mean, it's impossible
for two players to dominate
the scoring at the same time.
So I picture an ideal world in
which both Melo and AI
are able to say,
he's hotter right now,
I'm gonna get the ball to him"

Cheers to hoping the West Coast beat themselves to pulp

12/19/2006 09:32:00 PM | Permalink |

Maggette wouldn't say no to a return to the Magic

According to Brain Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel, the Clippers' Corey Maggette:

"During the Magic's West Coast trip,
L.A. Clippers guard Corey Maggette
-- formerly of the Magic --
told us he'd be thrilled to return to Orlando.
Maggette has been the subject of trade rumors.
"Write a headline for me," Maggette said."

Firstly who do the Magic have to offer to the Clippers, would the Magic be willing to part with Turkoglu (+ a throw in if needed)? With Grant Hill on the downward slope of career (don't expect him to go anywhere), Maggette might fill his shoes nicely.

John at the ClippersBlog.com gets the feeling that coach Dunleavy doesn't really kno how to use Maggette:

"Only by sheer force of will
and immense physical talent
does he make something
out of nothing so consistently"

12/19/2006 12:23:00 PM | Permalink |

Penny practices for the Sonics

Penny Hardaway is still hanging around the NBA scene and practiced yesterday with the Seattle Supersonics. He remained courtside as the hometown Grizz won in double overtime.

"He was here and I have known him
since I coached him in Orlando.
We wanted to see him and we did.
It's just something for discussion."

"Hardaway has not officially retired
and worked out this past summer in Houston,
trying to pass word to NBA clubs
that he was healthier
than he had been in years."

(G. Washburn-SeattleP.I.)

With Ray Allen expected back on Saturday-home game against the Raptors (maybe), does Penny have any chance of sticking with the team or was this just a courtesy call?

The Sonics are 3-5 without the all-star guard, have an overall record of 10-16 and have lost 5 in a row.

Signing Penny would make sense if they were in the mix of things in their division or conference but his contribution to the team would be more along the lines of acting as an extension of the coaching staff on the floor and that would not necessarily be Penny's style and would be taking valuable minutes away from Seattle's young prospects (notably Gelabale who has the support of Sonics play-by-play man David Locke).

12/19/2006 11:59:00 AM | Permalink |

Sunday, December 17, 2006

ten ejections

what can you say with just over a minute to go in the game between the visiting Nuggets and the Knicks a bench clearing brawl breaks out, spills into the stands and 10 players get ejected

Photos

Nugg Dr.'s take:

Henry Abbott's take:

"This kind of stuff costs the players
and the league dignity,
trust, and respect.
Those things are essential
to a good life,
and they're hard to earn back."

Friedman's take

"This kind of melee is exactly
the kind of conduct
that Commissioner David Stern
is trying to eliminate from the game,
so expect him to swiftly issue
lengthy suspensions to the players
he deems to be most responsible
for this fiasco"

"The NBA simply cannot tolerate fighting
among players, particularly when
it spills into the stands and endangers fans"

Seth's (yournyk.blogspot.com) take

some AP quotes:

"They were having their way with us,''
Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said.
"I think J.R. Smith had just
made one dunk when
he reversed and spun in the air.
And I think Mardy didn't want
our home crowd to see that again.
So he fouled him"

"Knicks coach Isiah Thomas said
he even told Anthony that
he never should have been
in the game at the time.
"I just said to him, 'You know,

you're up 20, you're up 19
with a minute and half to go,
you and (Marcus) Camby
really shouldn't be in the game right now,
"Thomas said. "We had surrendered,
those guys shouldn't even be in the game
at that point in time."

"This isn't even a rivalry"

It is now

12/17/2006 12:11:00 AM | Permalink |

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Brown ready for a delivery

PJ Brown wants out of Chi-town?

Now that his name has been mentioned in trade rumors (see Blog-A-Bull in a three way including PJ and Ai to Denver for Camby sending Miller & co. to Philly). PJ has come out and requested to be traded. Brown has been a model of consistency throughout his career and when given solid minutes he has averaged just under a double/double. A solid player who won't necessarily make the highlight reels he is loved by his coaches but has been hobbled somewhat by plantar fasciitis (who hasn't) this season and is averaging just 16.5 minutes per game.

"I don't expect to be a Bull
too much longer,"
Brown said Friday after
the Bulls' victory over Milwaukee.
"I'm just hoping it can be
over as soon as possible"

12/16/2006 11:47:00 AM | Permalink |

Friday, December 15, 2006

add another item to the shopping list

Spending most of his time on the bench Corey Maggette is not having his best season.

So it's no surprise that the Clippers are shopping him around.

Wasn't aware of this but Chris Clarke at MVN's EOTB mentions that Corey's agent has asked for a trade

"The Clippers initially called the 76ers
to gauge their interest in Maggette,
whose agent, Rob Pelinka,
recently asked the Clippers
to trade the seven-year veteran"

Until something happens you can always keep an eye on www.coreymaggette.com

12/15/2006 11:27:00 AM | Permalink |

O'Brien on Ai at ESPN's daily dime

Jim O'Brien was Iverson's coach in 04-05.

Oddly enough he has only good things to say about him

Read it here

12/15/2006 11:15:00 AM | Permalink |

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Best coverage of Ai situation

Gotta give props to Atma and the team at GSOM for their coverage of the Ai marathon (yes we are coming up on a week of activity)

Runner-up Celticsblog

ahhhh who will get credit if any for breaking the news first

(are they waiting for the Dec 15h trade restriction deadline on trading away new contracts to expire?)

I just kno that i'm hoping there are even bigger transactions to come
(not that implausible if the balance of power shifts ever so slightly)

12/14/2006 09:51:00 PM | Permalink |

NBA salary report by Si.com

Si has a blog now

this is getting confusing (do they really need one?)

oh well welcome aboard

first post (i'm guessing) is the NBA salary report by Mike McAllister

Go here

12/14/2006 09:33:00 PM | Permalink |

the latest time waster for sports fans-PROTRADE

the latest time waster for sports fans

PROTRADE-the sports stock market

Professional athletes (MLB/NBA/NFL...NCAABcoming soon) are traded as stocks on the market and placed in a portfolio:

"PROTRADE sets a player's price
equal to the number of fantasy
points he earned in the previous season"

Points 0.025 (40pts = $1)
Rebounds 0.07
Assists 0.09
Blocks 0.28
Steals 0.33
3-pt made 0.245
FG made 0.17
FG missed -0.14
FT made 0.115
FT missed -0.34

"Traders buy players
they think will go up in price"

"The more a player is bought,
the more his price goes up.
The more he is sold,
the more his price falls.
As the season moves on,
traders are influenced
by the players' performances to date"

The best part of Protrader is that your stocks fluctuate with live stats based on the demand of those players, you make "money" based on the players movement on the market. If a player is "hot" his stock rises and its up to the buyer to anticipate market fluctuations via matchups, injuries, trades etc...

Have fun...

12/14/2006 05:58:00 PM | Permalink |

Wilbon loks at the Suns

Wilbon looks at the Suns

"a team that can remind people
just how joyful basketball can be
when it is played as creatively,
as stylishly and as freely
as the Phoenix Suns play it."

"At the moment the Suns
are on such a roll
they look like the Harlem Globetrotters
playing against the old Washington Generals"

and really doesn't say much at all at least not anything we haven't heard already but he does get some nice quotes from players

read the whole thing here

12/14/2006 03:53:00 PM | Permalink |

undercutting undercurrents

arrghh!!!

Not fast enough yet again outdone by True Hoop only this time it wasn't Henry, it's KD (no not Kraft Dinner, think less flatulent inducing version) Kelly Dwyer, subbing for Abbott he refers readers to the letter Dennis Haas at HoopsHype.com sends to the director of officials about the "undercutting" of help defense that monopolizes team strategies in attempts to get calls for either a charge / block foul.

"Today's “beat to the spot” nonsense
makes the help defender's job
considerably easier,
and it amounts to a huge subsidy
to mediocre defenders
[...] whose stock would plummet
if in help situations
they had to make a play on the ball"

" Few if any of these B/C collisions
would have occurred 20 years ago
because the help defender
would have realized he was
way too late to have any chance
of getting a gift from the ref.
Instead he would have made
a play on the ball,
engaged in some other non-collision
help defense or
simply gotten out of the way"

"You must pay absolutely no heed
to the wishes of those coaches
who've dragged our beautiful game
through the mud for 15 years.
They worship toughness,
not poetry in motion.
They are the problem.
Smart, humane rule revisions
that tick them off are the solution. "

Like KD says:

"Nobody jumps anymore.
Very few players rise up
to try and stifle a driving defender,
preferring instead to set the feet
and wait for the whistle.
It stinks horribly,
but as long as the league asks
that judgment be left out
of judgment calls, it will continue.
In the NBA’s eyes,
nearly every bit of contact must finish
with a block or charge call,
and this has to end"

Yet no one offers a solution what are the refs to do?

Calling the blocking foul more consistently might accelerate the pace of the game. Are defenders to roll out the red carpet to opponents driving the lane? Or allow more hacking on the perimeter ? There must be some kind of balance a new interpretation of the rule would incur. Could the refs be stiffer in their travelling/palming calls on outside ball handling dribble penetration or moving picks to balance out the first to the spot change needed to bring the game back to its roots?

12/14/2006 03:37:00 PM | Permalink |

Simmons on Ai

scanning Simmons highlights of his take on Ai

angles
"the" crossover
generational twinge
merciless almost stringent assault

my thoughts:

too bad he isn't playing tho it would give the fans a reason to be in the arena at least

Iverson is gonna be in a nice situation coming onto any team his very "presence" will command respect

Missing practice doesn't bother the fans, it bothers the management who just expect their employees to not cause any shit and it is the management that finally controls

12/14/2006 03:06:00 PM | Permalink |

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

accepting donations

if anyone out there wants to get rid of the mutant ball

get in touch with me ...i like their smell

best take on players' reaction to the return of the ol leatherface is over at Basketbawful

12/13/2006 11:22:00 PM | Permalink |

Finally an answer

HA!!!

bet u were expecting something else but no the question was what's wrong with Jameer

and finally it is revealed

He has groin pains:

"It’s going to take more
than two days to get this right.
I was telling the trainers
that it’s not just in my groin.
I can feel it in my hamstring too."

Fortunately for the Magic, Arroyo has been no slouch and should not miss a beat. What might be little more interesting would be to get a better look at Travis Diener or what might be a final look at Dooling.

12/13/2006 10:10:00 PM | Permalink |

Cracked's criminal athlete fantasy guide

surprisingly the team at Cracked has listed only two ex-NBAers among the top picks for their CRIMINAL FANTASY ATHLETE DRAFT GUIDE

Hint: Polynice and Kemp

12/13/2006 01:38:00 AM | Permalink |

Breaking down the trade

in the Virtual world the trade has already been consummated brought to you by 1UP:

NBA 2K7

There's a keen feature with 2K Sports stellar hoops title that allows you to slap players up on the trade block, and field offers. Here were the deals we were offered, and how likely they are to happen.

NBA Live 07

While EA Sports' basketball effort doesn't feature a trading block, it does gauge each team's interest in acquiring a player. These teams had full interest in Iverson.

12/13/2006 01:15:00 AM | Permalink |

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

the beef in Houston

the latest out of Houston besides T-Mac's bad back which is now becoming old news is that Bonzi and Van Gundy are at least talking again and he was allowed to come back to practice.

"I don't think it's any secret
that Bonzi and I have struggled
to find common ground,"
Van Gundy said.
"I didn't think it had a chance
of working for the last two to three weeks.

"He called me about a week ago,
and we talked and he wanted
to give it another opportunity.
I thought about it.
We talked again on Friday
and again (Sunday),
and we're going to give it a final go."

"Because I'd asked him to not be
around starting about 10 days ago,
to do conditioning on his own,
I don't really have any idea
what he did in that time."

"Wells admitted he was winded
at Monday's practice
and not in game shape."

12/12/2006 02:09:00 PM | Permalink |

drama in Philly

It seems every year a player holds their team ransom (Artest / VC etc..) because of their malcontent egoes. What is happening to the stars in the league is the off-season not long enough to work out their personal issues?

Charlotte is not the destination of choice for the Ai show

Only one team has a worse record to date than the 5-15 Bobcats and that's the Grizz at 5-16 so it's really no surprise that Iverson "nixed" a deal that would send him to Charlotte

"At least one team believed
the Bobcats were in
the driver's seat earlier Monday.
"It's Michael [Jordan]'s
deal to turn down,"
said an executive of [another] team
that is involved in
the trade discussions"

"The Sixers, according to a source,
were close to sending Iverson
to the Charlotte Bobcats
for a package of players
yesterday afternoon.
But Iverson indicated
his displeasure with
being sent to the Bobcats
- and the deal died"

Aldridge, of the Philadelphia Inquirer, reminds the fans that:

"[Iverson] didn't care
where he was sent.
But that apparently did not
extend to the Bobcats,
who are struggling
to draw fans,
and who would have difficulty
bringing someone to Charlotte
who didn't want to be there,
and who would likely make
that unhappiness known to the public"

In a sidebar to the trade story Webber shows concern for his soon to be ex-teammate:

"Chris Webber, who was fined
for being absent from yesterday's
shoot-around after missing
a flight back to Philadelphia
from an undisclosed location,
said he spoke with Iverson on Sunday."

"It was just friends talking,"
Webber said.
"I was just joking with him
and making sure he's OK.
He hasn't been through
this situation,
has never been traded.
He's hurting."

In the meantime the Sixers need an All-Star in return for Iverson

need proof?

"Usually, a weeknight game
against a last-place team
such as Portland would not
draw well, but this was worse
than anything seen here
in recent years,
with or without Iverson"

Billy King, the Sixers GM has at least done the smart thing by placing Iverson on the inactive list while sniffing out the best possible scenario. It might hurt the team but it won't hurt Ai's value and will allow the team to get better look at the players in place.

12/12/2006 01:27:00 PM | Permalink |

Does Stern look better in leather?

Well what has become now a category in and of itself for the blogging community is this whole Ball-Gate issue.

Would you change your balls if they hurt your hands? Not necessarily, but you would definitely change the way you handle your balls.

Anyways, sorry about that but as of Jan 1st the commish has decided to bring back the old classic leather ball.

is it because of the class-action charges of the union (see last week's attire),

or because of the comments on the ball of some of the vets, who wouldn't normally say anything to necessarily "offend" the league?

could it be the fact that some of the players are suffering stickyballitis [stik-ee-BAWL-eye'tis (***see bleeding fingertips) i mean if its cutting your fingertips as it spins to a stop/start in and out of your hands that's some pretty agressive grip and gripe.

How many think the commish comes out of this looking like the Emperor saying to his "disciples":

YOU...ARE NOT READY.

but wait remember there's the Sixers...

"Don't count most of the Sixers as fans
of the NBA's decision to bring back
the old leather ball on Jan. 1 and scrap
its new microfiber composite ball.

"Why are they changing the ball?"
Korver said in the locker room
to nearby teammate Steven Hunter.
"How stupid," Hunter said,
shaking his head. "The ball is fine."

P.S.
cArNival #38 is up at MVN's Cavalier Attitude

12/12/2006 01:06:00 AM | Permalink |

Legends for sale

for a legend you get...

i) headaches
ii) insta-scoring (25-30points per night)

good point about Ai here:

"...[a]fter all, Iverson never clicked
with Jerry Stackhouse, Larry Hughes,
Keith Van Horn or Glenn Robinson
and couldn't win with Chris Webber"

OUCH!!!

"No one in Philly can forget the Sixers
only getting Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang
and Tim Perry for Charles Barkley in 1992. "

Speaking of Sir Charles well ...he saw this coming:

"They didn't make the playoffs last year,
and they were just going to be a year older,"
Barkley said. "What did they think was
going to happen?... This is not rocket science."

"They've got to start over.
They stink anyway, so would you
rather tell the public you're going
to start over and be young,
or that you're going to be old and not very good?"

Those that will stick around (like Webber) are prepared for the worst:

"I just know you're not going
to get equal value
for a little monster that good"

12/12/2006 12:46:00 AM | Permalink |

Saturday, December 09, 2006

hide your razors here comes Gasol

The latest out of Memphis (besides the attempted sale of the team to Laettner and co.) has been highlighted by Rudy the rook and the continued strong play of soph (but defintely not "soft") Lawrence Roberts.

Things look even better when on Thursday the team had Gasol participating in some 3v3 and the medical staff cleared him to resume full contact practice. Which means you can expect him to stop shaving any day now.

12/09/2006 10:44:00 AM | Permalink |

gut check for Minny

two impressive gut check wins at home for the T-Wolves against two western conference powers. Wednesday they victoriously hosted Houston (where according to KG they played T-Mac and Yao "[l]ike a bunch of hyenas on two lions'', tonight they faced Utah and the key to the win was shutting Boozer down, holding him to almost 15 points off his season average limiting him to 4-17 shooting.

The season bests for Mike James (who is averaging 21 ppg in the month of december) and KG didn't hurt either.

On to Chicago they go hoping the strong backcourt play keeps it up.

IheartKG---teases with AI in Minnesota rumors

12/09/2006 12:12:00 AM | Permalink |

Thursday, December 07, 2006

a lesson

lousy day out and reading Si.com cause everyone is ragging on ESPN and i start to compose a post on how now that the coaching (firing season... coming soon) discussion is no longer "en vogue" the next step is player movement(s)

so they look at the list of candidates:

Marty Burns over at Si.com has his Market Watch the usual suspects get listed (the ones that were generating all the talk in the last off-season):

# KG (Chicago could probably give the most)
# A.I.
# Jerm
# Pau??? (don't see him going anywhere)
# Magloire (besides covering for an injured player who'd want him?)
# Earl
# Haywood
# Francis ($$$)
# Ben Gordon
# Maggette
# Damon

and lo' n behold... two days later Mannix looks a little deeper at the KG scenario
But here i am thinking that the Bulls don't want or need a ticket what they really want is an answer.

It works here at the machine anyways this would be tricky because nobody would ever trade within the conference, would they?

in the meantime Nels at GMTR has kinda figured out why the Spurs are "back in business" but not because of the usual headliners who has become faithful (.500) from 3pt land) and to think last year he was worried when NVE was in the picture. But let's face it he's 35 years old it would be more than ceremonious if he could keep it up

Ian at DBB gives props to Zach and mentions that Ben is showing "tha" bling to the Bulls all the while getting quizzed over at the LP (which might be becoming the ET of the NBA Blogosphere)

stories of FD's (Rocco, this time) encounter with Mo Cheeks got me thinking that Stern is probably looking to pull some kind of "insider" charge to the stats or most material over at their NBA.com empire charging bloggers for info a la ESPN like a miser in a candy store.

and now everyone is talking about "him" and the lottery the other race for the pick and when is it going to begin but BV at FantasyBlog makes a case for the Cats

Chris talks about what might be the beginning of the end, what might be the death of NBA blogging as it has just doubled in the last 18 months (actually he's all for it and i don't blame him)

Marcel is still wondering if he should alter the shrine

P.S. the moral of the story
is if you hesitate to post
(u kno start something and then draft it
hoping to get back to it later)
it is lost

12/07/2006 12:27:00 AM | Permalink |

Sunday, December 03, 2006

the fit

the fit

Finding one's place in the world sounds like it means something. What can the game of basketball tell you about yourself? Where do you fit in? Do you ever really know?

As an athlete, sports gives you wins and losses (a measure of the team's worth) but at the same time it gives you stats (yes a team's record is after all, a statistic) for rating individual performance.

So i was a little surprised when i read Chris Bosh at InsideHoops.com:

"Question: Do you check the standings,
this early in the season?

Chris bosh: I know what our record is.
I know the standings because
people can't help but tell us.
It's looking decent for us right now.
We know we got to get over .500.
We got to keep working and just
try to win every game.
The attitude is changing around here."

Might be taking it out of context but he shouldn't have to be told the standings it should be an obsession. Why does he make it sound like that?

never mind me feeling pissy.

12/03/2006 10:29:00 PM | Permalink |

Costas is clueless

Did anyone catch the Sunday night football half time show? Costas quizzed a "serious" Chad Johnson and ridiculed him with a barrage of retarded questions.

I wish he could just stay in the A.M. and hope he stays far far away from the Association

12/03/2006 10:18:00 PM | Permalink |

if Miami were smart they would head for the lottery

Let's face it, they just barely got by Memphis on a Saturday night thanks to Posey's three. If the touring current NBA champion Heat could just take a step back for a second, the situation they're in doesn't look too promising, sure when the big man (who is starting to get pushed around more these days) gets back it'll get a little better and change their game making everyone's job much easier but the ride doesn't get smoother from here on out.

Right now the Heat are thanking the stars that Dorrell Wright is actually having somewhat of a nice run which is probably why he had such a strong pre-season. With Wade and Haslem, the workhorse, you have the potential to have a nice core.

But that's about it, not a championship. If they could find solace in simply savoring their "defending tour" let Wade sit out for some well deserved time off, pick up a high pick in a very promising draft they could be set for a long time. But they won't they are going to try to make another run for glory and they will all be worse for wear after the whole ordeal. If they're serious about this they are gonna have to pull off one hell of a magic trick.

12/03/2006 01:26:00 AM | Permalink |

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Suits vs. Suits over 2 suits

Well it has come to this... the suits (no not the players, the real suits, the union reps) have presented a grievance to the suits at the NBA. AP writer Brian Mahoney is reporting that the player's union is charging the NBA with unfair labor practice on two counts:

i) the changing of the ball from leather to a synthetic composite
ii) the zero tolerance rule / crackdown on strong reactions after whistles

The ball, (I dare not refer to it as the Orange Roundie) is a non-issue as it wins over new players with each passing day, the players are just diappointed at their non-involvement on an issue as significant but it is the new "T" policy that has changed the overall intensity that players are now permitted to express on the court. Added to the increase in technical fouls and the ease in which they are handed out is the fact that the players are fined for each "T" they receive. The $$$ start to add up

"175 unsportsmanlike technicals called
through 225 games this season.
There were 120 through the same number
of games last season, though the number is
on par with the amount from two years ago"

"If it's a technical foul, all right,
penalize the team.
But don't take guys' money
for natural reactions
toward heat of the moment things"

"The players feel they were entitled
to have input on both changes before
they were put into play.
In its release, the union said
the "zero-tolerance policy" was implemented
without any consultation or advanced notice"

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news
AP: B. Mahoney

PS: Maybe Nate wouldn't have tackled the same issues on his blog if he knew this was coming

12/02/2006 03:33:00 PM | Permalink |

NBA.com hands out the hardware for November

Awards for the players of the month (East-Howard, West-Yao) have been posted here, they also break it down into weeks (1, 2, 3, 4). You can also find the replays of the month and top buzzer beaters of November.

Rookies of the month are up too (East-Stache [aka] Adam Morrison, West-Gay). Other nominees were Minnesota’s Craig Smith, New Jersey’s Marcus Williams, Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani and Jorge Garbajosa and Utah’s Paul Millsap.

Coaches of the month (East-Orlando's Brain Hill, West-Utah's Jerry Sloan)

One down.

12/02/2006 12:43:00 PM | Permalink |

Friday, December 01, 2006

Kobe starts his Harley

MUAHAHAHA!!!

KOBE CRANKS 'ER UP HERE (expect headlines)

FOR THE DOUBTERS

thought of this after my dose of FD

12/01/2006 01:20:00 AM | Permalink |

The Dribble