Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News on the loss to the Suns that will keep the Warriors from the playoffs: "After a horrendous first half out of Davis, Nelson benched Baron [Davis] for the entire second halfand then the second half just happened to feature a furious GSW rally, some of the best Warriors defense and best activity of the season. Coincidence? No. I've written endlessly about Davis' talents and will to dominate& but he can be lousy, too, his lousiness usually spreads to the entire team when he's lousy, and most of his coaches, from Nelson on backward have let him be lousy without question or comment. (Maybe a small shrug.) Not tonight. In a game that the Warriors had to win to maintain the illusion of staying in the playoff race for one more night, Davis missed 11 of his 13 shot tries, didn't do much on defense and was a -6 in the plus/minus in the first half. Gone. Out. Not to come back. Somebody held BD accountable? And risked getting him mad? When he can opt out this summer?"
People in Philadelphia are livid that a questionable call, by video review, reversed the outcome of a key game, condemning the Sixers to meet the tough Pistons in the first round. John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News: "Realistically, the only teams not affected by last night's review were the Boston Celtics, who had clinched the No. 1 seed a week ago, and the Atlanta Hawks, who gained the eighth seed when the Indiana Pacers lost. 'There's contact on the play by Dalembert' with two-tenths of a second left, Willard said. 'I have a foul on the baseline. 'The rule is set for that very purpose so than any reviewable situation -- field goals or fouls at the end of a period can be reviewed to make sure that it either occurred before or after the end of the period -- before zeroes are on the clock.' That's the officials' story and they are sticking to it. And with the fate of so many playoff teams affected by it, they damn sure should have."
Jefferson George of The Charlotte Observer quotes Bobcats owner Bob Johnson on his relationship with co-owner Michael Jordan: "Helping with marketing and promotions cuts into Jordan's personal time, Johnson said, and 'Michael, in his mind, divides his business from his personal. He does not see the connect between what he does in basketball operations with his visibility and presence,' Johnson said. For Jordan's personal time to be used for business, Johnson added, Jordan likely would want to be paid. As Jordan might put it, Johnson said, 'I don't wear Hanes underwear for nothing.'"
Bob Johnson made a comment a while ago about Barack Obama and what he did "in the neighborhood." People thought he was making a cheap reference to Obama's admitted past drug use. Johnson said that was not at all what he meant, he was talking about Obama's community organizing. According to Jim Morrill in the Charlotte Observer, Johnson said: "I make a joke about Obama doing drugs (and it's) `Oh my God, a black man tearing down another black man.'" Wasn't that a joke about community organizing?
Gary Parrish on the CBS website: "The NBA forbade [Michael] Beasley from entering the draft out of high school and in turn forced him into a position that admittedly makes a mockery of our institutions of higher learning. But make no mistake, the blame lies with the NBA, not with Beasley, because he never wanted or needed college as much as college wanted and needed him."
Remember that famous draft day swap of college teammates Antawn Jamison for Vince Carter? Who got the better player? As time rolls on, Jamison looks better and better.
You should know who Rick Welts is. He's the president of the Suns, the former league executive who started the three-point and dunk contests, and a former Sonics' ballboy who finds it painful to talk to his friend David Stern about what's happening in Seattle.
Referee Jack Nies is about to call his 2,000th game. Dave D'Alessandro of the Newark Star-Ledger tells a story about the first game NBA veteran referees Bob Delaney and Jack Nies worked together: "'I knew Jackie had a tremendous playground reputation as a player when I was at Jersey City State,' said Delaney, in his 21st season as an NBA ref. 'Our first game together was an eighth-grade championship -- two big-timers from Jersey, right? -- and we were about to start the second half. Some guy yells, 'Hey, refs -- you've got them going the wrong way.' We had to start it over to get them going in the right direction.'"
Tom Enlund of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "The Bucks will conclude the regular season Wednesday at Minnesota and then are expected to announce their intentions about their coach. New general manager John Hammond has called that his 'top priority.' The die, though, has probably already been cast for Larry Krystkowiak."
A. Sherrod Blakely of Booth Newspapers: "A win tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves would give the Pistons homecourt advantage if they reach the NBA Finals against any team that emerges from a crowded field of Western Conference contenders. Pistons coach Flip Saunders is aware of his team's chance to get homecourt advantage, but he is quick to add that it is not something he and his staff have spent much time mulling. 'That hasn't been our marching order,' Saunders said. 'As I told our guys from day one, our main thing is, if we get into the playoffs and we're healthy, and we're rested, we're a tough team to beat in seven games no matter where we play.'"
Mike Wells of The Indianapolis Star: "Mike Dunleavy, more than a year removed from a rough four-plus years with the Golden State Warriors, is having a career season and is getting some mention for Most Improved Player. 'I'm biased from the standpoint of what he has meant to our basketball team,' Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. 'I could not imagine this season without Mike; he has helped us in so many ways. He's improved his defense and he has been a facilitator of our offense. Not only scoring, but making good decisions with the basketball. He's had a great year.' Dunleavy faces some stiff competition for the award. Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu appears to be the front runner with Memphis' Rudy Gay also getting some mention."
Joey from StraightBangin': "To have 'rooted for' the Knicks this season was something of an oxymoron. I don't know a single person who cares about the team that spent this year approaching the games with even a modicum of hope. Worse, Knick fans didn't even participate in the good-natured cynicism that accompanies predictably bad teams which may be repaired in the future. The level of transfixed, and sometimes gleeful, loathing that was shared across New York was something I'd never encountered before. All year, following the Knicks was tantamount to laughing your way through a comically horrible movie: the product was so thoroughly awful that you had no recourse but to laugh, lest you suffered something serious and painful. But something about Knickdom was different. The laughing was not informed by anything at all positive."
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treak for the Cash
