Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News explains that Don Nelson was hopping mad at Matt Barnes last night: "The situation: Warriors led by two, possession starting with a little under 29 seconds in the game, they could run the shot-clock down and get the game clock under five seconds. Nelson wanted to spread the floor, give the ball to Barnes, spread Ellis and Davis, and let one of them take a long jumper at the shot-clock buzzer, which would kill even more time, possibly even end the game in a scramble for the long rebound. 'Tick the rim, it's over,' as Nelson put it in the locker room, grumbling to Barnes. But Barnes cut into the lane early in the possession and shoveled up a near air-ball -- Celtics quick rebound, timeout with 12.3 seconds left ... way, way, way earlier than Nelson wanted. Nelson made four or five simmering references to Barnes' screw up in the post-game press conference, then took a very public stroll through the locker room to square up some things with Baron (who had an explanation for not demanding the ball -- he was waiting for more clock to run) and Barnes (who didn't look up when Nelson barked in his direction)."
TrueHoop reader Markel, advocating a playoff structure in which teams are seeded without regard to conference: "If we look at how this year's bracket would set up if the NBA went to this format every series of every round would be must see TV. As it stands, the first round matchups in the West will be must see TV but every match up in the East will be wait until the second round TV."
The Hornets get a quality bench scorer -- Bonzi Wells -- from a division rival. The Rockets, on the other hand, have Carl Landry emerging to eat those minutes, and land a quality bench guard in Bobby Jackson. On first analysis, I'd call this trade a win-win. The wild card is Wells' attitude, which has been known to hurt teams.
How Sam Presti turned a trade exception and a second-round pick into three first-round picks.
David Ramsey of Slate on the life of a Hornets fan: "Since the lease agreement was revised six weeks ago, I find myself following the attendance figures as closely as the standings and the stats. This is a morbid habit. Tyson Chandler grabs 21 rebounds ... but the crowd is in four digits."
Yesterday we heard that Atlanta was the youngest team in the league, after some trades. But here it says Portland is still youngest. Most amazing of all: Utah is third-youngest.
Remember that thing I blogged about yesterday, where you could talk to Steve Nash by video on his drive home? Not too many people logged in apparently. But you can watch the deal here. It's definitely unusual. Certainly more raw than almost anything you'll see a mega-star do, and I salute Nash for being adventerous. He talks about everything from Bruce Hornsby to Barack Obama.
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