On SportsHubLA Ted Green shows us that things have changed in Lakerland: "Kobe Bryant has made a lot of acrobatic shots in his Hall of Fame career. But never as spectacular a 180 as this. This was a 180 that Doctor J or Michael would be proud of. Or the Flying Wallendas. 'I think he's a terrific, terrific player,' Kobe said of Andrew Bynum. Then came a bomb Iran only wishes it could produce. 'We're a championship-caliber team when he's in the lineup.' After they pick themselves up off the floor, Laker fans should throw a party."
David Thorpe's new Rookie Watch: "Think college is the place to learn how to shoot the ball? Consider that only two rookies have made more than 15 3-point shots and shot over 33 percent from 3 thus far -- Juan Carlos Navarro from Spain and Daequan Cook, who came off the bench in his only season of college ball at Ohio State."
The Oregonian's John Canzano feeds the convictions of those Portlanders convinced they are victimized in the national media because everyone doesn't always get their names right (even though the team is nearly impossible to watch on TV thanks to a cable squabble, and these players have only mattered on the national scene for a couple dozen games). He has a good story, though, abut Travis Outlaw: "Outlaw, for one, explained that a female fan in a visiting arena walked up to him after a game this season, held out a program and a pen for his autograph and said, 'You're my favorite player, Charles.' 'Who's Charles?' Outlaw said. 'You.' 'My name's Travis.' 'Well, you're my favorite player, Travis.'"
Britt Robson on The Rake: "All things being equal, the Minnesota Timberwolves without Randy Foye and Theo Ratliff, opposing the Golden State Warriors on a sub-zero January night having already clearly established themselves as the worst team in the NBA, will lose to the Golden State Warriors. Well, all things were essentially equal tonight."
Basketbawful on the Wizards: "... how do you come off back-to-back wins over the Celtics and then lose to the Knicks?! I mean, Tough Juice was talking about winning a championship yesterday! Then his team goes out and shoots 39 percent (compared to 51 percent for the Knicks). Even more embarrassing is the fact that the Knicks, who are dead-last in the league in assists per game, had twice as many dimes as the Wizards (26 to 13). According to a complex mathematical algorithm I just made up, that makes Washington twice as selfish as the most selfish team in the league."
ESPN's J.A. Adande: "It's a matter of waiting for biopsy results to see if the tumor was cancerous. That would be the ultimate betrayal: His body's own cells turned against him. Wasn't his body supposed to be the last thing we worried about? There were plenty of questions, of course, but none had to do with anything physical. How would he adjust to NBA basketball? How would the native of Brazil adapt to living in the United States? These were the things we wondered about. Not his body, no sir. That was the reason we talked about him in the first place. Back then, he was known as Maybyner (Nene) Hilario, and back then his body made him the most intriguing prospect in the 2002 draft. He had an almost unfair combination of physical gifts. He stands 6-foot-9 with a wingspan of 7 feet, 5 inches. Great leaping ability. Plus quickness, a lightness on his feet accentuated by the many hours he spent playing soccer in Brazil."
ESPN's Chris Broussard has sources saying that Zach Randolph stood in the locker room last Friday, in front of all his teammates, and begged Isiah Thomas to trade him.
LeBron James got a speeding ticket. A speeding ticket! A speeding ticket. This is the kind of legal trouble that defines "the kind of infraction that is not a big deal and could happen to anyone." I am the first to tell you that cars kill way more people than just about anything else, and they, in my opinion, should never be used as toys. But let's be honest, this one ticket puts him a club with the vast majority of drivers young and old. Yet he's getting the full multi-day media workup on this one. (In many ways, it's his bad for not being remorseful enough. But still ... a speeding ticket.) Now you can see what is said to be police video of his stop. In this video you'll see really nothing but parked cars, with lights flashing on the tops of most of them. The only questions this video raises are: Wait, he saw the red and blues, and pulled not just over, but up to the pumps at a gas station? And a mere case of speeding warranted at least three police cars in response? UPDATE: TrueHoop reader Samuel emails: "A 100 mph speeding ticket has almost no similarity with a 75 mph speeding ticket other than that they both involve speeding. It isn't the sort of legal trouble that 'is not a big deal and could happen to anyone.' Ohio might still have lax laws regarding tickets for speeds in excess of 100 mph, but a number of other states are starting to impose much heavier penalties (including jail time) because such rates of speeding demonstrate a blatant disregard for life. Going 100 mph at night, you have almost no ability to react to obstacles that appear in the road. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, your low beams illuminate 160 feet. At 70 mph, the average person travels 154 feet before even having a chance to react, and you'll travel another 310 feet before you come to a stop. Oops. You've just hit the obstacle. Their chart doesn't go up to 100 mph or include information for high beams, so the information doesn't perfectly match up with LeBron's exact situation, but it does show why his excessive speeding is a big deal. I understand that LeBron is only 23, and no one's judgment is perfect at that age (or, in truth, at any age) and young men are notorious for traveling at high (unsafe) speeds, but that doesn't mean that this incident is about a 'mere' speeding ticket."
Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon-Journal with some insight into the current state of officiating: "Funny moment in the third quarter. Zydrunas Ilgauskas got fouled and made the shot, which the officials waved off but still gave Z two shots. Which didn't make sense. Mike Brown calls LeBron over and LeBron tells him: 'They say he doesn't get the basket because he traveled but they are still giving him the two shots. I've never heard that rule before in my life, but we're going to roll with it, coach.'"
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