This is really quite interesting. It's the job of an NBA GM to take all the available data, interpret it, and make tough personnel decisions. But some of the available data these days is extremely intense. I suspect some of the best research is really not properly understood by the people at the top on some teams. And today I learn that same thing happens in the U.S. Supreme Court.
If Darrell Arthur slipped in the draft because teams thought he had kidney problems, while in fact Arthur's kidneys had proven healthy in tests, who's to blame for that widespread miscommunication? The case that his agent has some explaining to do.
As you consider Kevin Love in Minnesota, remember that the numbers show Al Jefferson is much more effective as a power forward than as a center. And if Love gets big minutes, surely he'll have to be playing power forward. That said, good teams have at least four quality bigs, so you add them when you can. Also, rookies seldom start. And Love, for one, is super confident that he can share the floor very effectively with Big Al. So we'll see what happens. But don't buy the "oh good, now Al Jefferson can move to his natural position" line.
That guy, eating alone at P.F. Chang's? All alone? With the beard? That's Gilbert Arenas.
Prosecutor's have examined Tim Donaghy's claims about a rigged Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals. William Bender of the Philadelphia Daily News: "Perhaps the most damaging allegation for the NBA was Donaghy's implication that two referees assigned to the 2002 Western Conference finals between the Lakers and Sacramento Kings pushed the series to a seventh game by 'heavily' favoring Los Angeles in Game 6. He said that the referees, whom he described as "company men," called 'made-up fouls' against Sacramento and ignored fouls committed by the Lakers, according to Lauro. The officiating that night had angered the Kings and their fans -- and even consumer advocate Ralph Nader. NBA commissioner David Stern has said that Donaghy's claims are baseless and that the exiled referee is 'singing' only to get a lighter sentence. In yesterday's filing, Goldberg did not refute Donaghy's claims, but clearly indicated that the U.S. Attorney's Office would take no action based on the information Donaghy provided. Some of his allegations involved potentially criminal acts, particularly his statement that NBA executives interfered with the outcome of games. The government might have decided not to prosecute for a myriad of reasons, including a lack of evidence or conflicting evidence; because the statute of limitations had expired; or because the information Donaghy provided was inaccurate. Prosecutors did not say yesterday whether Donaghy knowingly lied."
Brian McCormick saw "Gunnin' for that #1 Spot." He writes: "My favorite part of the movie, however, was listening to the youth basketball power brokers criticize the youth basketball system. Chris Rivers, Darren Matsubara, Clark Francis and Ron Matena criticized the development system. ... They were accurate in their comments about the youth system becoming big business and the problems which this causes in the development system. However, they are the system." A longer review from BlazersEdge.
SupersonicSoul: "... in the past two seasons Presti has had six second-round picks available to him, and, of those six, he has traded away five, receiving in exchange a future second-rounder, an end of the first-rounder, cash, and Jeff Green's left arm (an approximation of what the pick's value in the Ray Allen trade). And so, to close the book on last year's draft-day dealings and put an end to my extended ramblings, the Seattle Sonics essentially traded Carl Landry for half of DJ White. Not exactly a sweet flip."
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