Just a day of fascinating NBA news. I thought about saying something snappy like "YOU edit these down." But then I thought, wow, that really would be cool. Be cool to have a tech solution whereby I could publish bullets, and you could vote them up, down, or off the list entirely. Something to think about ... Until we have that, get reading:
The Hornets are back on top of the West after beating the Rockets handily. Ron Hitley of Hornets247: "Much credit goes to Peja Stojakovic and Tyson Chandler in this one. They had just 13 points between them, but I figure they were the keys on defense tonight. Byron Scott opted to have Peja guard Tracy McGrady one-on-one for most of the game, which sounds a bit like a death wish when you say it out loud. The Serb more than held his own though. He played right up on T-Mac, not allowing him the room to catch, ponder and shoot like he did a couple of weeks ago when he dropped 41 on us. Of course, playing so tight meant McGrady blew by Peja every so often, but the rest of our guys did a much better job of clogging the lane, then rotating to cover the shooters. When the Rockets did end up with deep open looks, they mostly misfired. As a team they finished 2-of-19 from downtown."
DeShawn Stevenson is still going after LeBron James, and it's personal. Also, Cleveland and Washington could well be facing each other in the playoffs. Dan Steinberg of the DC Sports Bog has the skinny and adds: "Here are some people you don't repeatedly call out: Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Kimbo Slice, LeBron James. But DeShawn never got that memo."
NBA.com's Dave McMenamin on Allen Iverson's return to Philadelphia: "... But none of those numbers, no matter how staggering or mind-bending they may have been, did any justice to Iverson. Well, maybe one number did, actually: 65 seconds. As in how long the cacophony of raucous cheering poured down on Iverson lasted after he was the first player introduced on the visiting team on Wednesday -- a full one minute and five seconds. As the Philadelphia P.A. announcer started to bellow, 'From Georgetown University...' Iverson bounced off of the Nuggets bench, threw two kisses, pounded his chest and then moved his cupped hand to his ear, causing the pitch of the crowd to reach the loudest level it's been in the building since playoff runs of yesteryear. The signature hand-to-ear move not only brought the crowd to hysterics, but gave Iverson's ovation the extra push it needed to max out at 65 seconds and eclipse the 42 second love fest that Charles Barkley's first return as a Phoenix Sun inspired. 'Don't feel like nothing's changed, honestly,' Iverson said. Well, not exactly nothing. What about being in the visitor's locker room? 'That's different. That's a locker room that I never wanted to end up in. But it is what it is.'"
Jeff Caplan of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "After the Mavericks' grueling 102-100 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, coach Avery Johnson took longer than usual to make his way to the interview room for his postgame media session. Turns out there was a good reason. The tenseness of the game and the tightness of the playoff race apparently boiled over behind closed doors. Johnson and Mavs owner Mark Cuban, who watched the game from his usual baseline seat, engaged in a heated argument." Cuban is quoted acknowleding there was such an "exchange." Possibly related: a fan who was sitting near Cuban at that game tells me that Cuban was unusually engaged, even for him -- shouting direction to the players during plays and timeouts. For instance, making sure they didn't leave Jordan Farmar open from three-point land. The kind of stuff that a coach might think was his job.
I'll tell you what, I had the idea I might like to blog about an article that was in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. It was an interview with Nathan Tublitz, a University of Oregon microbiologist who is also co-chair of the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics. Turns out that it would be easier for me to interview Dr. Tublitz again myself than to find that article online. (Anyone have a link?) UPDATE: Bingo. In any case, he had a lot of smart things to say about the many ways big-time college sports fall down entirely in their role to prepare young athletes for life without sports. My thought is this: in any setting, in any country, in any sport, when you select young people for athletic prowess above all else, a high percentage of those you select will not be equipped to succeed in college academics. That's OK. Most people, period, don't go to college. Sure, elite academics and elite athletics overlap once in a while (hats off to you, Shane Battier!). I revere the best efforts of both crowds. To me the only oddity is that we see the need to run both systems through our same universities.
An important new (to me, at least) argument against the current playoff system: it would help competitive balance if those weak East teams were in the lottery. TrueHoop reader Mike emails: "Since the lottery is only for non-playoff teams, teams like the Wizards, the 76ers, the Hawks and the Bulls pick two or three picks later than they should by record. The 76ers, for example, would be the last team out of the playoffs if there were no conferences. As such, they would be picking 14th. By making the playoffs in the real world, they'll be picking 16th. Meanwhile, Denver will not make the playoffs in the West and pick 14th (assuming they don't win the lottery). In last year's draft, that's the difference between Al Thornton and Nick Young. In the year before, it's the difference between Ronnie Brewer and Rodney Carney. In the year before, it's Rashad McCants and Joey Graham." UPDATE: Dwight Jaynes of the Portland Tribune addressed this a while ago, and pointed out that there will be an international freak out if a good West team like Portland or Denver moves up in the lottery.
Another email, this one from TrueHoop reader Joey: "I attended David Stern's talk last night at the New York Court of Appeals. It was well organized and very interesting. Stern spoke for about an hour on a number of topics, even doing a quite Mutombo impersonation (although not quite as good as the impersonations done by Deke's teamates a couple of weeks ago). Stern opened with this remark in regards to working as a lawyer both outside of and part of the NBA, 'I not only know where the bodies are buried, I helped bury some of them.' Throughout the speech, he emphazied the role that law and lawyers have in being the backbone for major sports, especially as the league grows internationally (although he did mention that the 'NBA' does not stand for "Nothing But Attorneys"). In brief, the topics ranged from the NBA's growth financially (a fifteen-fold increase in revenues since Stern took over) and internationally (sports, and specifically the NBA's role as a 'canary in a coal mine' for helping to plot future developments in the global political sphere -- see NBA going to the Soviet Union or a communist China playing with Taiwain). Nationally, Stern said that he thought sports should be judged harshly by the public if they do not use their influences in a positive way. This was used as his emphasis on the NBA Cares in New Orleans, and the work they've done there. (I wrote in a question to ask him how this would apply to the Sonics leaving Seattle, but my question did not get read.) Lastly, during this short question and answer period, discussion revolved around the WNBA, ref scandals, NBA in Europe, salary caps, and how the NBA works to not price out the 'common man.' He did say that, in particular regards to the NBA in Europe, new facilities will be built in Barcelona, Berlin, Paris, and London that will be able to house (financially) NBA games, so perhaps in the future we may see games there."
Sure sounds like Kevin Pritchard is ready to trade away some of his four draft picks. he doesn't have roster spots for young players. But, as a protection against low-ball offers, he would like to remind you that Europe has been good to the Blazers. (Via BlazersEdge)
The Sun-Sentinel's Ira Winderman, after Miami's short-handed squad gets killed by Toronto: "Question: When Pat Riley leaves Thursday to scout the NCAA Tournament, is there a guarantee he returns? Seriously, why would he want to subject himself to another year of this on the bench?"
They're just going to call it "the Garden" no matter what, right? Can you believe that, thanks to a name change for TD Banknorth Inc., the place the Celtics play will soon have another new name. Ross Kerber of the Boston Globe: "Built adjacent to the site of the storied old Boston Garden, the new arena was originally to be known as the Shawmut Center. Before it even opened in 1995 it was renamed the FleetCenter, after Shawmut Corp. was acquired by the bank later known as FleetBoston Financial Corp. When Fleet in turn was acquired by Bank of America Corp. in 2004 it gave up naming rights, and TD Banknorth stepped in to pay $6 million a year -- triple the rate Fleet was paying."
The fancy website dedicated to teaching you why Chris Paul should be MVP.
TrueHoop reader Trieu emails: "I just wanted to note that there is right now a bigger spread in the standings between one and two in the East than there is between one and eight (!) in the West. And 'two' in the East is Detroit, which has a better record than any team in the West. This is crazy."
Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail on Andrea Bargnani's honking big face mask: "I just got word that Bargnani's nose is not broken. It's just general facial soreness, so he asked for a mask this morning, which is why it's a generic model and more funny looking would normally be expected. What can you say about that? General facial soreness."
Dave D'Alessandro of The Star-Ledger: "It is beginning to look as though Lawrence Frank and Marcus Williams could use some quiet time together. The Nets coach gave a surprisingly candid appraisal of his backup point guard's play before the game against Atlanta last night at Izod Center, and though it wasn't anything he hasn't told Williams every day for the past 18 months, it was -- for this coach, anyway -- a fairly sharp rebuke. And the 22-year-old Williams, who is beginning to find his voice if not his defensive game, suggested that he could be used more often than this coach is using him. Which wasn't at all in the first half... "
Brian Windhorst of The Akron Beacon-Journal: "There are two more meetings between these teams this season and I am just waiting for an Anderson Varejao-Rasheed Wallace throw down. They were on each other tonight and in each other's faces. It was the first meeting for them since the playoffs, Andy was holding out in the previous matchup. They are throwing elbows and talking trash. Totally fun to watch. But once again it seemed like it was Rasheed who got out of his game, he just tossed up 3-pointers in the fourth. Which is what you want him to do."
Britt Robson of The Rake: "I am on record as admiring the amount of money Taylor has put into trying to build a winner here, and it would be hypocritical of me to discourage the owner from speaking his mind. Give me the free-wheeling guy who believes honesty (even if it is only his version of it) is the best policy over some dissembling, secretive groupthink spinmeisters. But this is a food fight Glen Taylor cannot win. Frankly, I'm surprised he doesn't realize that. He and his organization would do well to drop this quixotic KG fixation and tend to the business at hand. Because contrary to all the wonderful spin we've heard locally about this great Garnett trade, the Celtics have the best record in the NBA and Glen Taylor is answering questions about whether or not his current ballclub will go into the tank for a third straight year."
Basketbawful: "You know, a couple weeks ago there were a couple hundred articles and blog posts about how, due to the Shaq trade, Phoenix might not even make the playoffs. Suddenly, thanks to a six-game winning streak, they're only a half game behind the Hornets and Lakers for the top spot in the West. Oh, and remember how The Big Slowpoke was going to reduce the Suns fast break to a crawl. Let's take a look at how their offense has performed over the last five games (I'm tossing out the Spurs game because nobody puts up points against them): 132, 123, 127, 111, and 110 points on 59, 55, 60, 55, and 57 percent shooting. Oh, and the Suns have rediscovered the three-ball too: They were 15-for-21 from The Land of Three last night. And they're regularly out-rebounding their opponents now. Now, I'm not saying that Phoenix is going to win the championship this season, only that the reports of their collective death have been greatly exaggerated."
Hanging around strippers is known to cause PR harm to players, teams, and the league. Stephen Chang would add that that they can cause opthalmic harm, too. (Via Freakonomics)
Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "The disconnect between Bucks owner Herb Kohl and general manager Larry Harris came to the surface at the trade deadline last month, when Kohl effectively vetoed a deal that would have sent Bobby Simmons, Dan Gadzuric and Charlie Bell to the New York Knicks for Zach Randolph and guard Fred Jones."
Chris Tomasson of the Rocky Mountain News: "On his first Nuggets trip since being diagnosed with testicular cancer, there have been welcoming committees at the first two stops for Nene. 'All the players in Detroit (on Tuesday) came up to me and said, 'Get well,' ' said Nene, traveling for the first time since being granted a leave of absence Jan. 11. 'Now, all of the players from (Philadelphia on Wednesday) do that. That's so great how they welcome me.' Nene, who won't put a time-table on when he might practice or play, said he has received more than 100 get-well cards at last look and more continue to arrive."
NBA's Finest: "Is there a more influential, iconic athlete in our generation than Charles Barkley? ... I'd rank Charles ahead of MJ, Tiger Woods, and Brett Favre on a scale of influence because while the latter 3 are icons in their respective fields, Charles's influence reaches well beyond the scope of his sport, due in part to his willingness (and the reticence of the other three) to state opinions on divisive matters. Charles has taken on the Church, homophobia, Democrats, Republicans, racists, feminists, Warriors fans, Suns fans. What a breath of fresh air (sometimes hot air) in a "No comment" era. At the end of the day, we know where he stands and I think people respect that more, even if they don't necessarily agree with his stance. Who knows. I may be wrong, but I doubt it."
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