TrueHoop reader Tim, a Spurs fan, emails: "Most Spurs fans are hoping for a Spurs win, Suns win, Rockets loss tonight in order to secure a #3 Spurs vs. #6 Rockets in the first round. In addition, this would mean a Suns-Jazz bloodfest at the same time. But it occurs to me that the Rockets might want the same thing. The Spurs haven't exactly blow away the competition of late. Kind of ironic, eh?"
Slade Gorton is the man orchestrating the effort to keep the Sonics in Seattle. Seth Kolloen at Enjoy the Enjoyment writes of his work, and adds: "For my part, even though I'm your typical Seattle lefty and Gorton's a pro-business Republican, I long ago resolved to support the guy no matter what. Slade Gorton for Senate? Yes. Slade Gorton for President? Anytime. Slade Gorton for Intergalactic Emperor, promising to build 80,000 space battleships in an all-out war against the Sun? I'm first in line at pilot school."
Every time the Tim Donaghy case comes up these days, there are more delays. Anyone know what's going on?
Ron Hitley of Hornets247 on the Hornets win over the Clippers: "Play of the game: Two minutes deep in the fourth quarter, Hornets lead it by 13. Chris Paul fires a bullet down the left side of the lane, but the thread is too fat for the needle and the Clippers get hands to it before David West can. Nick Fazekas ends up with the rock, but West mans up to him right away, forcing the rookie to s--- a brick and step out over the baseline. Hornets get it right back. Inbound, swing, and Julian Wright has it at the top of the key. A high pick gets him past his man, and he's faced with that same Fazekas dude who's about to get punked a million times worse than he did fifteen seconds ago. JuJu rises and rams home an emphatic two-handed tomahawk. Fazekas wonders why he tried to hang with the giraffe calf as he takes rebounding position for the and one." Highlights.
If the Jazz beat the Spurs tonight, they'll be 3-0 against them this season, and they'll have home court advantage against the Spurs in the first round. The Jazz are unbelievable at home. If I'm the Jazz, I say go for it. Get the win. The two teams they have dominated in the West are the Spurs and the Hornets, and this probably gets them on a course to meet both of them on the way to the Conference Finals. If the Jazz lose tonight, they probably get Houston on the road, and then quite probably the Lakers in the second round.
Keeping up with the Cavaliers and Wizards trash talk. And for the record, if DeShawn Stevenson is succeeding in getting superhuman LeBron James to worry about him, he's doing something right. With all due respect to a much-improved Stevenson, the best-case for the Wizards is that they both get ejected.
Chris Herrington of the Memphis Flyer asks Sonny Vaccaro about raising the NBA's age limit another year. Vaccaro responds: "Over my dead body would that ever happen. That would be the most egregious and presumptuous thing I've ever heard -- that [David] Stern and [Myles] Brand could just idly talk about playing with people's lives. Why don't they just make [college teams] a farm team and just call them up when they need them? This to me gives me fuel. When they can talk about this so casually, with no consideration of the people's lives they're affecting, and then hide under the umbrella of amateurism, they've opened up something that I hope Congress goes after. They've admitted to forced amateurism."
Consternation in Charlotte, where the Bobcats reportedly have a very favorable stadium deal -- one expert calls it likely the best in the NBA -- but is still fighting off worries they might leave or sell. Steve Harrison and Jefferson George of The Charlotte Observer point out that moving could be expensive: "Details of the controversial arena contract suggest that Bob Johnson received one of the best deals in the NBA, but he also is anchored to Charlotte for years. The team must pay the city of Charlotte $200 million in damages if it leaves before 2010. The penalty declines gradually over the next 20 years, to $150 million if the Bobcats bolt between 2010 and 2015, to $70 million if they leave in 2018 or 2019. The team is free to go after 2030, when the city is expected to finish paying for the $265 million Time Warner Cable Arena." Tom Sorenson of The Charlotte Observer says owner Bob Johnson is the problem.
In the wake of Carmelo Anthony's stop for alleged drunk driving, (and apology) there could be repurcussions for the entire team. Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post: "During the upcoming playoffs, team officials are giving serious consideration to flying players back to Denver between road games, rather than let them roam the streets of a strange city at night. Should the Nuggets do more to ensure players are rested, focused and at their best during the postseason? 'It's a question that should be asked,' Nuggets coach George Karl said." I'm sad the Nuggets don't trust their players more -- a lot of team people happily suggest they never worry about that kind of stuff, because of the kinds of players they have.
Ronald Tillery of The Commercial-Appeal: "When the Chicago Bulls placed a call to the Grizzlies, as the NBA's trade deadline loomed, offering a package with Andres Nocioni, Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas as the essential components for Pau Gasol and Hakim Warrick, the potential trade fell on deaf ears. The Grizzlies flatly declined." If that's true, I think the Grizzlies will live to regret it. Those are three great Bulls.
Minnesota has a really good player in Al Jefferson. And the rest of the players, says David Berri of the Wages of Wins, are really pretty bad -- except for Kirk Snyder, who is playing his best basketball.
Totally agree with Michael Grange of the Globe and Mail: "Coach of the year: Let's face it, this is a stupid award. I've spent a fair amount of time around NBA teams and I just can't see how you can properly evaluate coaches without being deep inside an organization, and even then it's a crap shoot."
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