A very interesting check-in about the legal situation in Seattle, which paints an interesting picture about how some kind of settlement between the city and the team may be the best way to ensure Seattle gets another team one day. SonicsCentral is all over everything to do with this case, and adds: "I'm still boycotting the playoffs. I can't do it. I really want to root for Delonte but then I realize that we traded him for a pile of crap and some extra money to cover Clays legal bills. That gets me worked up."
It says here that people watch 200 billion hours of TV in the US every year. I think I have been responsible for about half of that during these playoffs.
Big wrap-up of Hornets news, with lots of quotes from the Spurs, talking about how they will handle Chris Paul. In my imagination, that preparation includes Kurt Thomas and Robert Horry applying these lessons to their own elbows.
Speaking of elbows the Wizards' Darius Songaila is suspended for that elbow to LeBron James' face. Wizard fans are outraged, especially as that was one of many cheap shots in that game. TrueHoop reader and DC fan Unsilent Majority writes: "I'm going to be needing Stu Jackson's home phone number." (Related, a little video catalog of playoff conflagrations.) UPDATE: Smart thoughts from Brian Windhorst of the Akron Beacon-Journal: "Of all the hits in this series, it is surprising that the one Darius Songaila gave to LeBron James in Game 5 was the one that earned a suspension. Eddie Jordan maintained that not only was the hit accidental, but that LeBron embellished the contact. As Jordan said yesterday: 'I thought he got tangled up with LeBron and LeBron tried to get untangled and in his method of getting untangled, Darius's arm flew up and at his chest. And LeBron's a terrific actor. We've all seen his commercials.' But here is the thing, it was obvious that Songaila hit James in the face and it happened after a play, there was no ball to go after. Secondly, and this is most important, it seems pretty clear that the NBA warned the Wizards, and maybe the Cavs, that it wanted no more funny business after Game 4. A couple people told me the NBA thought long and hard about whether to suspend DeShawn Stevenson after his flagrant foul because of all the hard hitting in the series. Songaila's hit was apparently the final straw, even if it wasn't as severe as the others."
Talk about Mike D'Antoni in Phoenix has been hampered by the common thought that the Bulls -- built for defense, sans a Steve Nash figure -- aren't his kind of team. But I agree with BlogaBull, how do we know what a D'Antoni team looks like? He has had Steve Nash, and has coached a certain way that suits Nash. Without Nash, we don't know squat about what he'd do. Alos, as I have written before, I think a new approach in Chicago could be powerful, and D'Antoni would sure be a new approach.
The Sun-Sentinel's Ira Winderman: "After selecting Dwyane Wade at the top of the 2003 draft, the Heat made repeated efforts to acquire a pick later in the first round to select [Josh] Howard. It is a gambit Pat Riley has confirmed on numerous occasions. Now, Howard is expected to be dangled as distressed property. If nothing else, Riley, over the years, has emerged as a king of foreclosures (Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O'Neal and, yes, Mashburn)."
Al Horford's agent would like you to read this, explaining with numbers that Horford is the best rookie. Except ... Horford's agent is Kevin Durant's agent! Good recruiting class, Aaron Goodwin.
Classy Antawn Jamison talking to the DC Sports Bog about Gilbert Arenas: "I've said it before, I'll say it again: we're a better team with him out on the court. ... I'm the captain. I'm telling you. He's the best player on this team. How could you be better without him? That's it."
A moment from last night: Maurice Cheeks' young Sixer team was humiliated at home by the Detroit Pistons. Season over. Sadness abounds. A proud Maurice Cheeks trudges to the podium to put the whole thing in perspective for the media, and by extension, the fans. As he enters the room, a dozen or so reporters dart forward to deposit their various voice recorders on the table before the coach. The devices are haphazard -- like so many tiny silver sea lions, scattered in a messy array on the beach. Cheeks can't help himself. As he talks, his left hand reaches out, fiddles with them a little. He rotates one, nudges another. Then, shame, or something, gets the better of him. The left hand retreats. He's talking about serious things. He was talking about a lifetime of never quitting, no matter how far down you get. And it seemed nobody had noticed his left hand's little foray onto the beach. But then, the conversation rolled on. Tick tock, tick tock. Cheeks' need to fiddle with those recorders was mounting. They were just too ... random. Not on this night. He'd have loved to have changed the things that happened on the court, but he couldn't clean up that mes. But this? This could be fixed ... The hand came out again, bolder this time. Who gives a crap, anyway? He started shamelessly organizing. Tilt this one, push that one, slide this one all the way over there. Still talking the whole time, about the punishing loss, the lessons learned ... and before long: Perfection. All the little recorders, evenly spaced and lined up in two tidy rows. Cheeks was still down, still not happy after the loss. But he did have, at least, one small measure of relief.
More fallout from the Will Leitch vs. Buzz Bissinger smackdown, from Joe Posnanski (via Hardwood Paroxysm): "'I think blogs are dedicated to cruelty,' Buzz said just before he started screaming and swearing at Will, and this is so weird because I was actually thinking for a long time about calling this blog 'Dedicated To Cruelty' or DTC (you know, for the kids). Come on. Is journalism dedicated to lies because a couple of pretty famous writers made up stories? Are books dedicated to murderous anti-semitism because Hitler wrote 'Mein Kampf?' Is music dedicated to demeaning women because Flo-Rida sang 'Low?' How are you going to judge blogs and the Internet because some anonymous jerk on a message board or in a comment section decides to tell poo-poo jokes about Tony LaRussa? Anyway, it was emotional, and I get that. Sure, there are a lot of objectionable things happening in sports journalism today. There are a lot of strange things happening. This causes a lot of anger and fear and disgust, and absolutely I get that. Still, because of the emotion I think the whole point was missed, and the point is this: What are we even ARGUING about? Blogs aren't going anywhere. Comments aren't going anywhere. The Internet isn't going anywhere. Stupid people aren't going anywhere. Angry people aren't going anywhere. And, for that matter, funny people, talented people, brilliant people, they're not GOING AWAY just because some people don't like technology ..."
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