Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel: "The similarities should not be understated. The Heat trailed 0-2 against the overwhelming Western Conference favorite in last season's NBA Finals, just as the Cavaliers find themselves 0-2 heading into Tuesday's Game 3 against the Spurs. The Heat went down by 27 in its Game 2 loss in last year's Finals against Dallas, with Cleveland on Sunday experiencing a 29-point deficit in its Game 2 loss in San Antonio. The Heat's Dwyane Wade shot an uneven 6-of-19 for 23 points in that Game 2 loss last year, with LeBron James 9 of 21 for 25 points in the Cavaliers' Game 2 loss Sunday. The Heat scored 34 points in the first half of its Game 2 loss to Dallas; the Cavaliers scored 33 in their first half Sunday. So where does that leave the Cavaliers? Where the Heat stood in its homecoming in last season's Finals, when Wade stepped up with 42 points and 13 rebounds in Game 3. The Legend of LeBron is about to be measured against Dwyane's Destiny."
One of the best players in the game's history, Chamique Holdsclaw, shocks everyone by announcing she's retiring at age 29. No real reason was given. She has battled depression in the past.
Abe Pollin is about to spend a whole bunch of money. Not only will Gilbert Arenas be wanting a new contract, but one of the things that would make him want to come back, you'd think, would be a whiz-bang, win-now Wizard roster.
There are oodles of teams trying to copy what the Spurs do. There are also oodles of articles about oodles of teams trying to copy what the Spurs do. Here's one of the most recent and best.
ESPN Insider Chad Ford in Italy: "The most interesting take I got on Oden and Durant was from Danny Ainge's 'brain doctor' Jon Niednagel, who is in Treviso 'brain-typing' the various prospects. Niednagel observes the players and assigns each player to one of 16 different brain types. According to Niednagel, some brain types are more prone to success in the NBA than others. Ainge uses brain-typing as a tool to narrow down the pool of prospects. Niednagel said both Oden and Durant are excellent and will have bright futures in the NBA, but that the players they are often compared to, Bill Russell and Michael Jordan, respectively, aren't good matches in terms of brain-typing. According to Niednagel, Oden does not have Russell's brain type, and Durant doesn't have Jordan's. Niednagel refused to say what brain types he believes they have, but neither, he said, has Jordan's coveted ISTP type." (By the way, I'll be sitting in for Chad Ford on his Daily Dish Podcast the rest of this week. Should be fun.)
Sad news from Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon Journal: "The Cavs have been forced to cancel the outdoor watch parties for Games 3, 4, and 5 on the plaza in between Quicken Loans Arena and Jacobs Field. The plaza is needed for staging areas for the national television trucks that will be used to broadcast the game. The plaza will continue to host pregame fan fests." Can't we set that up somewhere else? Windhorst also points out that Coach Mike Brown is hot on the idea that his team needs more focus.
UPDATE: Profile of Cleveland assistant Michael Malone (Brendan's son) who was hired in Cleveland, reportedly, strictly on the basis of a Gregg Popovich recommendation. He's like the Godfather. Seriously. There are so many people around the league beholden to him. When he tires of coaching, he should mount an insurgent campaign for David Stern's job. (Or not. The Spurs are ratings killers.)
UPDATE: Mike Nizza in the Lede blog of the New York Times: "For the price of one official N.B.A. jersey, you can buy three Starbury jerseys, or an entire outfit: jersey ($12.98), shorts ($9.98) and sneakers ($14.98)."
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