Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune: "It's hard to imagine what Fisher is feeling right now. He's playing some of the best basketball of his 11-year career at a time of family crisis with his baby daughter Tatum's battle with eye cancer. At the same time, Fisher is aware he is making an impact that's so far beyond basketball. He mentioned in the locker room that his work to publicize retinoblastoma has led to six children having undergone the same form of chemosurgery treatment as his daughter, with the hope that they don't need to have an eye removed. Even Fisher's teammates quietly marveled at that number. Six kids since last Wednesday. The longer the Jazz play, the greater a platform Fisher has to tell his family's story and raise awareness. It's just amazing."
Matt Watson from Detroit Bad Boys: "How could things get so bad, so quickly? For one, the defense never tightened up. Although they fell off their scorching pace from the first half, the Bulls still shot an unacceptable 57% in the third quarter. But just as importantly, the Pistons proved once again that they dont have an adequate backup for Chauncey Billups on the roster. Billups picked up three quick fouls early in the third (thanks in part to Kirk Hinrich, who unbeknownst to most NBA fans actually suffers from an acute balance disorder which results in him falling helplessly to the ground at the slightest touch by an opposing player), and in his absence Detroit's offense grew stagnant. It wasnt a surprise, really. The same thing happened earlier in the game when Billups sat out for a breather in the second quarter: his absence more or less coincided with an 12-3 run by the Bulls. Its good news for him, I guess, since Joe Dumars will have a hard time not giving him as much money as he wants this summer, but its just killing the Pistons in the meantime."
Remember Derek Fisher's heroic arrival halfway through Game 2? TrueHoop reader Ted points out that he was wearing a t-shirt on his way into the stadium, which is a violation of the league's dress code. Does anybody care? Probably just people who want more reasons to be mad at the NBA for how they enforce rules.
P. Nussbaum of SuperSonicSoul: "Stu Jackson was, in all reasonable analysis, the worst general manager in the history of the NBA, if not the worst GM in the history of professional sports. In fact, if you studied the case long enough, you could make the argument that Jackson might have failed more successfully at his job than anyone in the history of anything. Foisted upon the good people of Vancouver by David Stern in a case of affirmative action gone bad, Jackson wasted first-round picks on Bryant Reeves, Antonio Daniels (#4 overall!), Steve Francis (who had already indicated he wanted to play in Vancouver about as much as David Stern wanted to be commissioner of the Palestine Liberation League), and Stromile Swift (#2!). Oh, and he also refused to select Steve Nash in the draft, even though Nash would have been an immediate hit in Vancouver due to his Canadian heritage. Not satisfied with that unprecedented level of crapitude, or perhaps sensing that he was hopelessly inept at finding quality college players despite possessing high level picks, Jackson punted, and dealt a #1 pick to the Detroit Pistons ... for Otis Thorpe. And this wasn't prime-time O.T., either, this was 35-year-old Otis Thorpe, the Otis Thorpe that Jackson peddled to the Sacramento Kings for Michael Smith and Bobby Hurley. Um, yeah."
A PG-13 suggestion from a Spurs blogger that San Antonio should, out of respect, bench Tim Duncan tonight.
Shaquille O'Neal, who once boasted about not stretching, has reportedly started doing yoga. Young players who think you will never be susceptible to injury or aging, take note.
Remember when Keon Clark was amazing, and then kind of disappeared? He's back in the news, and it's not pretty.
A chess match in Toronto, where Sam Mitchell has reportedly been offered less than he wanted. Some have speculated that the team wants another coach, but are determined not to look like they're firing the coach of the year.
FOX Sports' Charley Rosen: "The Jazz just might be the worst passing team ever to advance into the NBA's final four."
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