TrueHoop reader Volker saw China play Germany in person, and writes: "Yi Jianlian (23 points) impressed me: He drew Nowitzki's third foul in the first quarter, goes strong to the basket and has no trouble hitting open shots from outside. Good free throw shooter, too. At one occasion, he made a nice spin move, elevated to the basket, drew hard contact from two players and still managed to finish with a dunk. Defense was solid even when defending Nowitzki. Didn't commit more turnovers than expected from such a young player. Still, his passing is nowhere near Yao Ming's level." UPDATE: Video of that dunk.
Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus says Wily Mo Pena is the Shareef Abdur-Rahim of baseball: "He needs a lot of shots to be effective, but if he's your best scorer, you probably aren't going to the playoffs. Thus, he's pretty much always going to wind up on a lottery club."
A TrueHoop reader in basketball-averse England is desperate for some pickup basketball in London. Anyone know where such a thing might exist?
High school point guard Isaiah Thomas (no relation to the Knick bigwig) tells NBADraft.net about the pickup games he has been playing in at the University of Washington: "The competition up there is unbelievable. I play with a lot of the current Washington players that are on campus and a bunch of pros that live in the area. Nate Robinson, Brandon Roy, Rashard Lewis, and Martell Webster are some of the regulars that come down and play. Competing against these guys makes me a lot better as an individual and when I play with them, I have the opportunity to pick their brains and learn some things that will help me succeed in college."
As Bobby Gerould points out, if you are a team in need of a guard, the Rockets have 11 (counting guard/forward Tracy McGrady). They also have 19 players on the roster -- including two unsigned draft picks. Cuts will be coming.
No matter how this Donaghy scandal shakes out, one thing that's clear to me is that the NBA must have an extremely competent system to manage, recruit, and develop good referees. Seems that not a lot of people trust the current one.
What's going to happen with Jermaine O'Neal? The Indianapolis Star's Mark Monteith explains various options, including he could play well and opt out of his contract next summer, leaving the Pacers with cap room. He could play well and stay in Indiana. He could get traded. Or, in what has to be a worst-case scenario for the Pacers, he could have a mediocre season and stick around for the end of his contract.
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