Yahoo's Steve Kerr has some bad news for Orlando fans: "For this team to take the next step, it needs a serious playmaking perimeter player and a shooter. Oh, and it also needs Dwight Howard to develop a post game. I may be crazy, but I'm not sure Howard is going to pull it off. As talented as he is, he's not a natural born post player. I'm not sure you can teach a guy to all of a sudden become really gifted on the block. Either you've got it or you don't. With big men, there's an innate sense of how to score down low. Zach Randolph is a low-post scorer. He just has a knack for finding holes, seeing angles and putting the ball in the basket. Did he learn all that in one year at Michigan State, or did it come naturally to him? I think it came naturally. Howard? I don't see it. He's a physical specimen, a phenomenal rebounder, a good shot blocker and lightning fast for a big man. But he doesn't have touch on the ball, and his footwork is robotic. I just don't think he's ever going to develop an efficient, nasty post game." One question though: is it not possible Randolph has developed a tad as a pro? Must all development come in college?
This looks like it's a fun little Cavaliers knock-off of American Idol. But after listening to all three songs -- two current Cavaliers hastily recorded a capella, the third a throwback, lustily slathered in studio production -- I suspect the whole thing is really just an effort to get us all to hear Mark Price croon about Jesus.
Bill Bradley, hawking books, tells a funny story about that shot he missed against the Baltimore Bullets in game seven of the 1971 Eastern Conference Championships.
The international players with the highest PER rankings (Insider). Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, and Tim Duncan top the list. Fourth is, more surprisingly, Pau Gasol, who is well ahead of Steve Nash, Mehmet Okur, and several others who have gotten a lot of press.
Corey Maggette has surgery. Give him huge credit for getting the timing right. So many players time their surgery to miss the beginning or the end of the season. Now's the time to have surgery if you want to, you know, play.
The scoreboard in Cleveland is an insane, fire-breathing beast, that almost had a man stationed inside it, nestled among all the propane and electronics. If it tells you to eat dog food (which it might -- click that link and read) I'd advise you to do just that.
Clyde Drexler, never one to admit defeat, swears he is thrilled to have been voted off Dancing With the Stars.
The Rockets vs. Jazz series is real deal playoff basketball, and it's anybody's series. Both teams are playing extremely hard. Yao Ming is getting an A in the Jeff Van Gundy school of knocking heads. If Houston can figure out how to get more than four players to score even one point, they'll be golden.
Who'll pipe up for the Wizards these days? Antonio Daniels, that's who.
Rumor: Larry Brown and Princeton have talked about the university's head coaching job. Honestly, I hope he does it. That would be perfect for him. He'd really get to teach, and he's amazing at that. UPDATE: Larry Brown probably won't get that job, because somebody else already did.
UPDATE: ESPN's John Hollinger (Insider) analyzed the Nuggets in the few games everyone was healthy and together, and declared the team much better than it first appeared, and a real threat to the San Antonio Spurs. The APBRMetrics Community debates whether ignoring most of their season is cherry-picking the data, or a sensible adjustment given the circumstances. Interesting conversation.
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