Adam Hoff of Section F Sports has long been in love with Mario Chalmers, who had a strong summer league debut: "He showed better playmaking skills than even I expected, his jumper still looked quiet and consistent (as always), and his D was just tremendous. He was physical and quick and doing all the Rondo kinds of things that Seattle spent the #4 pick hoping to get from Russell Westbrook. In fact, his defense was so stifling that it left everyone unsure of how to comment on Derrick Rose's performance. The Bulls' new franchise point guard had a rough outing, going just 3-for-8 with five turnovers. So ... bad showing, right? Not so fast. I think he was just having a tough time with the "straight jacket!" (Kevin Harlen voice) that Chalmers had him in. I think we have to wait and see on Rose. (And that's assuming we care at all about summer league results. See: Banks, Marcus. See: Belinelli, Marco.)"
You should really read Marc Stein's latest about the Sixers making a run at Elton Brand. It occurs to me that Baron Davis could make all these worries go away for Clipper fans by taking a little less money himself.
Arizona-based business man Irving Liimatta ran into Gilbert Arenas three times in two days at a hotel in Shanghai, and eventually asked for Agent Zero's autograph. Liimatta tells Dan Steinberg of the D.C. Sports Bog: "He was so cool about it. He didn't make me feel like an idiot. He is a credit to your team and to your community." And here Arenas greets the Philippines.
Steven D. Levitt on the Freakonomics blog: "Fascinating new research by my University of Chicago colleague, Jeffrey Grogger, compares the wages of people who 'sound black' when they talk to those who do not. His main finding: blacks who 'sound black' earn salaries that are 10 percent lower than blacks who do not 'sound black,' even after controlling for measures of intelligence, experience in the work force, and other factors that influence how much people earn. (For what it is worth, whites who 'sound black' earn 6 percent lower than other whites.)"
Various angry fans have been suggesting various ways to show solidarity with aggrieved Sonic fans, by doing something or other when the Oklahoma City team comes to town next season. Boycotting, wearing green and yellow, and booing have all been mentioned. But here's an idea that would be powerful, although very tough to pull off: Silence. I have another problem though, which is that there are kind of five groups at play here: The Oklahoma City fans, the Oklahoma City owners, the Oklahoma City players, the other Oklahoma City team personnel, and the NBA. My beef is only with the owners and the NBA, who made this happen. But in-arena protests seem to really target the players.
Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel: "Beasley played only 8:17 in the first half. Why? Because of foul trouble. That's when Heat President Pat Riley reminded summer-league coach Keith Askins of the no-foul-out rule."
Portland's Channing Frye, on his blog: "I'm gonna answer some questions that I've been asked maybe 6,756,434,567,387,634,345 times since the end of the draft. Yes, I'm excited to be playing with Jerryd and Ike; not only because they both will help the team with their hard work and their great attitudes, but because they're from Arizona (Arizona State, I really don't claim, but Ike is the only exception). I feel like we made some moves to make our team better in the draft and that everyone has been working out extremely hard even now to prepare for the long road next year. I can't really set goals for the team without being held accountable, but oh well, this year we need to make the playoffs. We have a playoff-caliber team. With all the pieces we had last year and the new pieces we have this year, we are definitely making moves to become a very, very good team. The only thing I would say is to stick with us through the hard times because of the new players that we have, it's gonna take us some time to get used to each other and used to the rotations and how fast or slow we can play."
Ross Siler of the Salt Lake Tribune on traveling the Utah countryside with Morris Almond: "Our first stop was in Tabiona, a 155-person town in Duchesne. There's not much there other than an LDS ward house, a post office and a K through 12 school. It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense for the Jazz to spend time and energy visiting Tabiona - - it's not like they're in danger of losing the market to the Nuggets - - but they say the annual turnout justifies it. They had more than 50 kids in the gym for Almond, who was doing everything he could not to call the town 'Tapioca' or 'Timpanoga.' The highlight for me was when one boy squeaked out a question asking Almond if he was Mormon. Almond thought the kid was asking if he was a 'poor man,' then almost doubled over laughing once he was corrected."
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