Press release from a group called Sonics Fans United: "We Seattle Supersonics fans have united to keep our team in the Seattle area. We will be flying an airplane banner around the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center during All Star weekend on Saturday, February 16, between 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm. This effort was funded 100% by fan donations. The banner will say "Stop Clay -- Sonics Must Stay!" The reference is to Clay Bennett, who has filed a relocation request to move the Supersonics to Oklahoma City. We are sending a message that Seattle Supersonics fans are willing to do what it takes to keep our team in Seattle! TV camera people: Get out there and get some footage! We think this will be a great talking piece for sports media during the All Star Weekend. Enjoy the All Star Weekend, everyone!" And now there's organized opposition to the ballot measure that would use taxpayer money to remodel the stadium in Oklahoma City.
Newsday's Ken Berger: "[Isiah] Thomas was asked a simple question that every other G.M. in the league has been asked over the past two days -- did he have any interest in Shaquille O'Neal before he was traded to Phoenix? Thomas wouldn't answer. When informed that Nets president Rod Thorn had talked openly about it, Thomas said the following: 'I don't know if Rod would say that if he was with the Knicks. I don't know if he'd be that free to comment like that.'"
The blog Bright Side of the Sun: "I am not yet ready to jump on the Shaq bandwagon and drink the Diesel-flavored Koolaid. I am 'very, very selfish' myself when it comes to letting players into my inner sanctum of fan-hood. Shaq will have to earn it like anyone else. But I'm done criticizing and spewing venom over this thing. For the sake of the other guys on the team, I truly hope it works out, even if it means eating crow over everything I've said the past 48 hours."
Houston got a great win last night against Cleveland, but did anybody else notice how lackluster the home crowd was? There were empty seats here and there near the court ... and LeBron freaking James was in town.
If Kobe Bryant's finger keeps him from the All-Star game, who should be his replacement? I'm thinking Baron Davis and Deron Williams are the prime candidates.
Jason Friedman of the Houston Press asked Daryl Morey if the Rockets have what it takes to win the title this year: "I think, objectively, we're short. The teams that have won [in the past] have generally performed better than we have up to this point. That said, we've got a lot of factors working in our favor to say, 'We don't know how good we can be with the current group.' You know, rationally, we're short, but there's always an adjustment period with a new coaching staff. There's an adjustment period with new players. A lot of our players are in their first, second, third years in the league and should improve. We haven't had health, especially with Tracy. So I think it's an open question if we're good enough. And frankly the question isn't, 'Is this group good enough to win?' the question is 'What gives us the best chance to win?' And those sound the same, but they're actually very different. And even if you know you don't have the group to win, it still may be the best of all available options."
Doug Smith of the Toronto Star: "'Wayne Embry taught me,' [Sam] Mitchell said yesterday. 'He said, `Your job is to coach the players that you have. You don't need to be in the general manager's office every day bitching and complaining about players, because if you start doing that, the next thing they're going to do is start looking at you.' I don't ever go upstairs and bitch and complain about our players. My job is to coach the players we have, get them better and win as many games as we can.'"
John Denton of Florida Today:"J.J. Redick has received the dreaded DNP-CD (Did Not Play-Coach's Decision) 25 times this season and his current streak of seven games without playing is his longest of the season. And because he's mostly used to close out routs now, he's played double-digit minutes just seven times all season. Redick has tried to relieve his frustrations by starting written and audio blogs on his Web site (www.redicklive.com) and he's even gotten more serious about his golf game on off days. But mostly, he's just hoping that his chance to play will soon come. 'For the average person or most in my situation, their attitude would sour and their work would decrease, so that's a battle that I have to fight every day,' he said. 'I make sure I get extra work in and continue to be a good teammate.'"
Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News on Chris Webber's "re-debut" in Golden State: "Gee, wouldn't it have been historic if Chris Webber was the first NBA star who raised his hand to be substituted out during the pre-game introductions? Historic and hilarious. I was worried about the poor guy as he went through the ritual raucous chest-slams and hip-checks and whatever else the Warriors do while the starters are announced. Thankfully, Webber got through itlaughed about the physical pyrotechnics of Pietrus, Barnes and Davis laterwithout twisting his knee or otherwise disqualifying himself for his re-debut as a Warrior tonight. Bad news: Webber didn't play so great (not terribly, but certainly not revelatory) in 12 sparse minutes of action, and his new teammates played worse. Webber looked tenative, tired and very much like an old guy with sore knees who hasn't played in seven months." Highlights of that game, including young Bulls like Tyrus Thomas making the most of their chances with the big-name Bulls out.
Hornets247 interviews blogger Chip Crain of the Grizzlies blog 3 Shades of Blue about whether or not the Grizzlies will be sold: "When Heisley stops pricing the team among the best in the league then I will believe we are truly for sale. Right now Heisley is just looking for idiots or trying to scare the local minority owners into overpaying for the team. Either way it hasn't worked yet and at $400 million with a restrictive lease and a poor fan base it isn't likely to be sold anytime soon. The lease should keep them in Memphis for a while but if attendance remains low then there is an out clause. That's what makes the next two years so important. If the city doesn't start to rally behind the team they could be gone before they are sold. It would really hurt our blog if that happened."
UPDATE: Mike Barrett of Blazers.com: "Following the win over Chicago on Wednesday night, Brandon [Roy] travelled to Seattle to be with an ill family member. It's something he's been dealing with for some time, and out of respect for his privacy, we're not going into any more detail than that. He's got his priorities in order and is doing what any of us would do in this situation. There's an outside chance he could get to Detroit in time for tonight's game, but right now other things are more important."
Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
H
