May 29, 2008
Incredibly, the NBA has released a statement that the officials missed the call in Game 4 on Tuesday night, when Derek Fisher appeared to foul Brent Barry on the game's final play.
"With the benefit of instant replay, it appears a foul call should have been made," said a statement by NBA spokesman Tim Frank.
Continue reading "Oops, Sorry Spurs & Flop Fest To End" »
May 28, 2008
Michael Beasley's height is a hot topic in Orlando. The PF was listed as being 6-10 at K-State, but many people think he's closer to being 6-8 or so. If he does clock in closer to 6-7 or 6-8, the Heat could actually decide to pass on him and go with O.J. Mayo instead. We should know later this week of Beasley's official height.
Most of the premiere names in the draft won't be doing much in Orlando as many players see the risks easily outweighing the rewards this week. Dominate over mediocre competition and you've simply done the expected. Suck against mediocre competition and you can hurt your draft status. That said, I'm guessing that if a guy like O.J. Mayo or Jerryd Bayless were to buck the trend and actually get on the floor and scrimmage, it would do nothing but help their stock and impress the talent evaluators, even if they didn't dominate the floor.
Continue reading "Pre-Draft Camp Notes" »
Gregg Popovich said in his press conference Tuesday night that the no-call on Brent Barry at the end of Game 4 "was the proper no-call...If I was the official, I would not have called that a foul." Barry also said he didn't think it was a foul, which is going to probably put the controversy to rest sooner than later.
In case you missed it, Barry appeared to be fouled by Derek Fisher while attempting a 3-pointer near the buzzer, but took a dribble instead of jumping into Fisher, resulting in a no-call. The Lakers held on for a 93-91 win.
Continue reading "Pop Says Call Was Correct" »
May 22, 2008
There's just not enough stuff going on right now to justify a full-blown column. The Spurs blew a primo opportunity last night, giving up a 20-point lead to Kobe and the Lakers. That puts Tim Duncan in an early 1-0 hole, but the Spurs were supposed to lose the game anyway. It's not a devastating loss, but the chances to win on the road during these playoffs have been so few and far between, they really blew an opportunity. Kobe overcame a Ray Allen-like first half (two points) to score 23 after the break, and the Lakers went on a 44-20 run to close out the game and the Spurs. Players on both teams struggled a little (Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom, Manu Ginobili, Mike Finley), while Kobe and Duncan put on a show. If the Spurs are going to beat the Lakers in L.A., Manu is going to have to have "one of those nights."
Game 2 is Friday, while we get Game 2 of the Celtics vs. Pistons tonight.
I'm taking my 13-year-old son to see Indiana Jones today...Ironically, I was 13 when Raiders of the Lost Ark came out.
Not sure why, but here are five music videos I like. Obviously, I stopped watching MTV when they stopped playing videos.
5. Fatboy Slim - Praise You
4. Johnny Cash - Hurt
3. Beastie Boys - Sabotage
2. Nine Inch Nails - Head Like a Hole
1. Talking Heads - Once In a Lifetime
Several Nirvana and Weezer videos are also worthy, along with Losing My Religion by R.E.M. and any video directed by Spike Jonze. I'm not sure why, but my best friend and I stayed up for about 25 straight hours one weekend in 8th grade waiting for the Once In A Lifetime video to come on.
May 21, 2008
7:41 PM - Isiah Thomas is missing from tonight's action, which is just sad. He has that great smile, great suits, is arguably a draft genius (one of the only things he's done right since winning a championship with the Pistons as a player) and would be good for a few jokes at his expense tonight. However, James Dolan and Donnie Walsh have shipped him off to scout talent....in Siberia! Actually, it's France and Italy, but as far as Knicks fans are concerned, he might as well be in Siberia.
Here are some of the folks we'll see tonight at the lottery fiesta. The lottery officially starts in 20 minutes.
Kings: Margie Parilo - Superfan. Some of the Maloofs will be there as well, but Margie will be in the spotlight. Nope, not a joke.
Pacers: Larry Legend - With Walsh outta the picture, it's Larry's world now.
Heat: Dwyane Wade - Hopefully he doesn't dive for any loose ping pong balls tonight.
Bucks: GM Lionel Hammond - Who?
Grizzlies: Rudy Gay - Not to be confused with Brandon Roy.
Sonics: Kevin Durant - ROY hoping to bring good luck to Oklahoma City
Timberwolves: Fred Hoiberg (The Mayor)
Bobcats: GM Rod Higgins - Jordan's ex-teammate back in the spotlight.
Bulls: Steve Schanwald (VP Bus. Ops) - I'd rather see Benny the Bull - He woulda been good for a inflicting pain on someone, probably would have gotten involved in a lawsuit, and could have taken Wade's arm off with a high five if the Bulls get the first pick.
Continue reading "NBA Draft Lottery Diary" »
May 19, 2008
You guys know how I love to throw the rock and roll names around in my columns. I've been accused of name dropping, and I plead guilty as charged. But I have somehow become pretty tight with some big names in the indie rock world, and like to give my boys some hype. As a result, I've got Ben Bridwell from Band of Horses, Bo Koster from My Morning Jacket and Mark Smith from Explosions in the Sky all signed up for the Rock and Roll Fantasy Hoops League I'm running this year (along with several others). But this little snippet from an interview with Stephen Malkmus (Pavement) made my day.
Continue reading "Big Day for Dr. A" »
May 17, 2008
Last word on the David West/Robert Horry debacle. ESPN's John Hollinger brought up a great point on Friday.
Why was West even in the game with the Hornets down 21 deep into the fourth quarter? Everyone and their mother knew West was gimpy and the Hornets had no chance to win the game. Had the Hornets just conceded and put West on the bench (which is really where he belonged at that point), he would have never been in a position to drop his guard, stretch out for that ball and be drilled in the back by Horry. I'm mad I didn't ask that question myself last night.
And as for the Celtics...Yes, Ray Allen has been terrible and a defensive sieve. But why isn't Kevin Garnett being more aggressive? There was a play late in the game when he got the ball 10 feet from the hoop with no Cavalier player anywhere near him...Instead of putting it on the floor and taking it aggressively to the hole, he put up a soft floater that didn't go down. Dare I say it was a timid effort? KG should be going to the rack like LeBron James has been doing. Maybe he is just too unselfish, but he also has a ton of game minutes on his body, and we might be seeing the effect of that fact coming to light right now.
May 14, 2008
We would have gotten it right, right? Fantasy owners would have realized that Al Horford was the real ROY, correct? I'm sure you would have, even if you aren't a homer like me. How many times this season did Horford hurt his team? Looking at the game log, I'll go out on a limb and say somewhere between 3-5 times. There were a few games where he shot it poorly and the team lost a close game. But the reality of the situation is that Horford was the third-best Hawk over the course of the season, and the second-best player on the team more than a few times. He averaged a double-double and brought leadership and heady play every night, despite being a rookie. The numbers don't lie. He had 25 double-doubles, which tied him with Dirk Nowitzki, and was a higher number than we saw from guys like Carmelo Anthony, Josh Smith and Baron Davis. How many dub-dubs do you think the MVP candidates had this season? LeBron had 31 and KG had just 29. Horford shot 50 percent from the floor (OK, 49.9) and averaged 10.1 points and 9.7 boards to go along with 0.9 blocks.
Continue reading "Fantasy Owners Wouldn't Have Screwed This Up" »
May 13, 2008
Mike D'Antoni was introduced as the coach of the Knicks on Tuesday. He said during the press conference that he has no problem with Stephon Marbury and he plans on adjusting his style to win with his current roster. What was he supposed to say? "I can't wait to get rid of Stephon Marbury and I have no chance of winning with the roster as it stands now."? Marbury is as good as gone as D'Antoni sets his sights on bringing in Derrick Rose, Chris Paul or Steve Nash, and he's also got his eyes on Leandro Barbosa and Boris Diaw. I'm not sure that he's going to have an easy time in finding trade partners (you can cross Jerry Reinsdorf's Bulls off his list), but as I said in the debut of this blog, changes are coming for the Knicks.
LeBron James’ mother, Gloria, was sitting courtside for Monday’s Game 4 in Cleveland and suddenly found herself in the middle of the action when LeBron and Paul Pierce got tangled up and fell out of bounds together. Kevin Garnett stepped in to help his teammate back to the court, but was confronted by an angry Gloria. She appeared to rant at both Pierce and Garnett, prompting Wally Szczerbiak to approach her for a “high five.” The whole thing ended pretty quickly, as LeBron appeared to tell his mom to “Sit your bleep down!” Happy Mother's Day! The fact Wally was offering high fives is pretty funny, but I’m not sure how to even describe why.
Continue reading "Happy Mother's Day! Love, LeBron" »
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