Mark Cuban is reportedly negotiating to hire super Clipper fan "Clipper Darrell" to lead cheers at Maverick games. The question for Clipper season ticker holder, and Clipperblogger, Kevin Arnovitz is: Is this a tragedy, that your best fan could be paid to change uniforms? Is it an honor, that someone is being rewarded for good performance? Kevin emails a response: "I mean, I'm a free market guy. All power to him. But it's worth noting that Darryl has become tiresome and uninteresting -- and that's the general sense among the lifers in my comments section. He's been doing the same shtick for years and has also taken the unfortunate course of initiating the wave at Staples, often late in the fourth quarter. At this point, I'd trade him for a deli spread and three cubic liters of pre-jump-ball talc. And you can quote me."
For the second year in a row, the Spurs demonstrate to Cleveland that the regular season doesn't mean all that much. Nevertheless, Cleveland -- winners of nine of 11, no longer looks like a broken team, which could change the picture in the East as the season unfolds. Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon-Journal on Cleveland's win: "Ok, Ok, this was one of those rare game affected by officiating. In the stretch run players from both teams were executing at a high level and the officials were blowing calls all over the place. You know I almost never, ever cite officials but tonight was different. In general, they let them play, which is good, but there were lots of mistakes. Here's all you need to know, after the game the TNT crew was waiting for like a half hour outside the official's locker room to get the microphone one of the refs was wearing back. The only thing I can think is they were all huddled watching the replays and probably slapping their heads. Although, after seeing it, I think they sort of evened out. Obviously LeBron barreled into Fabricio Oberto when he made the winning basket with 33 seconds left. Oberto was showing off the red mark on his chest made by LeBron's head. But I submit there were at least six other highly questionable calls/non-calls in the final minutes, including the continuation Tony Parker was given when the game was tied with three minutes to go. Both coaches and players were lining up to complain to officials."
If you're Kwame Brown, after being the weak Laker link in a key home loss to the Phoenix Suns (highights and game insight, including a note that Boris Diaw made eight jumpers, which changes things), today might not be the day to read the papers. It's not pretty. Broderick Turner of the Press-Enterprise: "Brown missed a two-handed dunk and heard the boos. He turned the ball over and heard the boos. He missed a layup and heard the boos. Bryant walked up to Brown with words of encouragement and tapped him on the chest. It did little good. Brown missed a layup on LA's next possession and was booed. Jackson said he had never heard that from a home crowd 'on a team that I've coached. I wanted to let him work himself out of it,' Jackson said. 'And his teammates wanted to help him work out of it. They gave him the ball. They gave him opportunities. But it wasn't going to happen.'" Elliott Teaford of the L.A. Daily News: "Ronny Turiaf and Jordan Farmar defended Brown. 'I've never seen anything like that,' Turiaf said of the fans' boos. "I'm sure his confidence took a hit today.' Said Farmar: "We all stand behind him. We have faith in him. We're going to need him with Andrew out. That (the booing) is just not right. As a Lakers fan, you should support your team." Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register: "The fun-loving Brown had prepared for his big night by ending practice Tuesday by interrupting the guards' 3-point shooting practice and begging to launch one of his own, finally doing so and drawing disapproval from Jackson. 'Kwame,' he chided, 'let the guards shoot on their own.' Although Bynum has been a blessing this season for the Lakers, validating General Manager Mitch Kupchak's decision not to trade him, this night served a reminder of a Kupchak mistake: Brown, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2001 draft, was acquired in '05 for Caron Butler, who blossomed into an All-Star for Washington." Michael Lee of the Washington Post: "The boos come during the same week when Sports Illustrated took a poll of 242 NBA Players who listed Brown as the player who gets the least out of the most talent."
Watch Linas Kleiza score 41. If he keeps that up, people are going to learn how to say his name. Maybe. (Say it with me: LIN-as CLAY-za.)
A newspaper prints a photo of -- gasp -- two basketball players hugging in an emotional moment on the court. Some readers freak out. Louisville Courier-Journal columnist Pam Platt reacts: "I go back to my old theory about content being something like a Rorschach test, and people bringing their own ideas and baggage to what they see and read -- or what they don't see and don't read into words and images. ... Which makes me wonder: What are you thinking? What is it about two athletes sharing a moment of physical and emotional closeness in the middle of a big game, in the middle of a basketball court, that puts some people off so much?"
Ron Hitley of Hornets247: "... the main reason Julian Wright isn't getting much playing time is Byron Scott. He has always had a problem with young, inexperienced dudes not named Chris Paul. When Julian has gotten some PT this season, he's been a bundle of energy, but it's nervous energy that causes him to make some dumb turnovers and such. Another coach might put up with that, let the guy play through and learn from his mistakes. But not Byron. He has a very low tolerance for mistake-prone players, as Hornets fans have seen before with the likes of JR Smith, Kirk Snyder and Brandon Bass. I think Byron is a little short-sighted in this respect. Some might say he's jeopardizing the future of the team in order to win right now."
David Crockett of Knickerblogger, reacting to news of Stephon Marbury's impending surgery: "In an odd sense, should Marbury undergo season-ending surgery, it may prove a face-saving blessing in disguise for him personally. With all hope of any sort of glorious return to his hometown team pretty well dashed, perhaps the best thing for Marbury (and the team) is for him to finish his Knick career quietly. For the team, at present the Bizarro Knicks have played well. But, let's not blister our palms patting them on the back just yet. As one reader points out, even Larry Brown's Knicks managed to win six in a row."
Mike Schmidt of DraftExpress on the D-League's Devin Green: "Some have criticized the 25 year-old for not taking over games, but he will be a role player type in the NBA rather than a go-to scorer. On a team with 6 former NBA players, Green seems content doing all of the little things for the team, and generally takes most of his shots within the flow of the offense. Defensively, he uses good length and a well built frame to shut down opposing wings. After considering everything Green can bring to a team, it's baffling that no NBA squad has given him a chance this season. Numerous roster spots remain open on NBA teams, and plenty of them could potentially benefit from giving the versatile gluy guy a chance. Boston would be a great fit for Green where he could play minutes next to Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. His versatility would also fit very nicely in Miami next to Dwayne Wade. With everything he displayed in Boise in front of many NBA decision-makers, it appears that his chance will arrive very soon."
Blazer broadcaster Mike Barrett tells BlazersEdge about his TV partner, Mike Rice: "Rice can say this isn't a big deal, but his wife always tells him that he looks short, compared to me, on the broadcasts. When the wife talks, you listen. We are really about the same height. I'm mostly body, and he's all legs. Rice has even taken to sitting on a cushion at home games when we're at the table, so he'll look taller than me. When he walks off before games, I'll hide the cushion, and that gets him all out of whack."
NBA basketball ... who needs it? I'm sure David Stern loves this legal argument from the Sonics. Jim Brunner of the Seattle Times: "If the Sonics leave Seattle, the city's economy won't suffer and most people won't care. That's not the tirade of some anti-arena activist; it's the Sonics' latest legal argument to try to get out of its KeyArena lease. And it's exactly the opposite of what the Sonics have claimed when asking for taxpayer help to build a new arena. The team made the argument in papers filed in U.S. District Court this week, seeking mediation or a speedy trial to allow the team to abandon city-owned KeyArena before 2010."
Once upon a time I worked for a private investigator. It wasn't nearly as sexy as it sounds -- all the research was online or on the phone, and had way more to do with the competence of business executives than cheating spouses. However, the running joke of the place was that if you wanted to hear dirt on some executive, you had to find a disgruntled ex-employee. If anybody was going to spill the beans, they'd spill the beans. Oh look! A blog by a former employee of NBA Entertainment. (Oh look, it's reprinted here and this time the author is identified.)
Basketbawful on JamesOn Curry: "The Bulls rookie, best known for a gratuitous capital O in his first name, added a big P to his arsenal of extraneous letters last night. Curry, who's currently serving a stint with the Iowa Energy of the NBA Developmental League, was urinating in an alley near the Hampton Inn in Boise, Iowa, when he was spotted by a police officer. As the officer approached in his patrol car, Curry saw him and started to walk away. The officer turned his emergency lights on and Curry bolted. He went into the Hampton Inn and was stopped by a locked door (d'oh!). Curry was then taken into custody and charged with misdemeanor counts of urinating in public, resisting arrest, and being a damned fool."
Still injured! Tracy McGrady's first practice back is not inspiring, and his return date is now once again uncertain.
As far as I can tell, "The Wire" is a big deal in the NBA. The most interesting thing I have ever read online about that show are thesetwo blog posts for which the author watched that crime show with actual criminals and got their reactions. They love it, for what it's worth.
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