The Sports Frog

The last installment of the second round previews follows for your amusement.

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS

Boston vs. Cleveland

A hearty "thank you" goes out to the Celtics for choosing to join the NBA's second round of the postseason. Should we be excited about them now that they face a legitimate challenge from last season's Eastern Conference champs or should we be less than impressed by the way they allowed the Hawks to hang around by dropping all three games in Atlanta?

Boston led the NBA in point differential during the regular season, outscoring their foes by a whopping 10.3 points per game. Even though they were taken to the limit by the Hawks, they still outscored them by an average of a dozen points per contest. I'm confused as to whether that means anything other than the Hawks pulled out narrow victories while the C's are very comfortable at home, where they will play a potential deciding Game Seven. Home has been good to the Celtics against Cleveland, as well, as they won both contests there while dropping the two at the Q. Just as they exhibited in the first round, Boston's defense against the Cavs is significantly better at home than on the road. In the two home wins, the Celtics held the Cavs to 35.6 percent shooting while hitting 44.5 percent of their shots. In the two road losses, the C's gave up 49.4 percent shooting while achieving the same level of marksmanship.

In the Cavs' two regular season victories over the Celtics, Lebron James led the way with 35.5 points per game. No surprise there. He also tallied 12.5 assists per game. It will be interesting to see how Boston responds defensively - stop Lebron as much as they can or stop the other players around him. Cleveland was the top rebounding team in the NBA, grabbing 4.2 more boards a game than their foes, but Boston finished in a tie for third at +3.1 boards per night. When the two teams went head-to-head, the Cavs outrebounded Boston by an average of five per game. Zydrunas Ilgauskas, in particular, is a pain in the neck for the C's frontcourt, clearing 12.5 boards per game in the season series. His offense is what is key for the Cavs, as he averaged 18 points in the two wins on 50 percent from the field. Z only averaged 10 points on 33.3 percent shooting in the two losses. His worst performance came in the game Lebron missed back in December, as he clanked 9-of-12 that night.

Unlike the Hawks, the Cavs aren't going to play timidly on Boston's floor. They have Lebron James, who can handle any defender they throw at him and set up teammates as need be. Had the Celtics rolled through the Hawks like expected given the discrepancy between the two teams' regular season resumes, I would expect them to take it. After being forced to go to seven to beat a lesser team, I don't see it.

PREDICTION: Cavaliers in 7.

There will be a part three coming soon, as I'm not going to bother writing something in advance based on the previous post-season accomplishments of the Celtics' roster.

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS

Los Angeles vs. Utah

This series provides an interesting quirk with each team possessing a significant advantage over the other at a pair of positions. The Lakers have Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, who are head and shoulders above their counterparts from Utah, Ronnie Brewer/CJ Miles and Mehmet Okur. While the distance between Gasol and Okur isn't that far, Gasol's all-around play (22.3 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and 2,8 blocks per game against Denver) and functionality in the triangle offense put him squarely ahead in this matchup of non-traditional centers. In fact, like in last year's playoffs, Okur struggled in Utah's first-round series against the Rockets. While his rebounding has picked up to 12.6 caroms per contest, Okur connected on only 36.8 percent of his field goals, well off his 44.5 percent mark for the season. In fact, Okur's postseason offensive numbers don't stack up well to his post-All Star numbers, when Okur posted marks of 17.0 points a night and 48.0 percent shooting.

Going for the Jazz, though, is their lethal combination of Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer, who are superior to Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom, respectively. Williams' size enabled him to have very successful results at the Lakers' expense this season, averaging 23.3 points and shooting 53.7 percent from the floor. Williams had a six-point stinker in one game, too, underscoring his ability to generally get shots he wants on a regular basis in this match-up. Boozer has had the occasional rough spots against the Lakers (a 6-for-15 game back in December) and his relatively poor offensive showing against Houston in the first round (16 points per game on 42.9 percent shooting) throw a tiny bit of doubt over his ability to score against the Lakers' length and size in the frontcourt.

Los Angeles and Utah ranked third and fourth in point differential over the course of the season with less than half a point per game separating the two squads. One statistic on a team-wide level that doesn't bode well for Utah is that the Jazz commit the most fouls in the league at 24 per game, leading to their opponents taking 30.1 free throws per game. Kobe Bryant will be shooting a lot of them. The Lakers took home victories in three of the four contests, including the only battle after the Gasol trade, which came in Salt Lake City, which bodes well for them.

PREDICTION: Los Angeles in 6.

I'm glad I checked the NBA scoreboard today because I didn't realize the second round was starting. That's on me, though, as I should have figured that it wouldn't be the NBA Playoffs if some teams didn't have the chance to get a second round game in prior to two teams not deciding their first round. I would ask, "Who runs this league," but we all know the answer (Ernie Johnson at TNT). Thus, the San Antonio-New Orleans write-up is hurriedly done, but that shouldn't stop it from having the same low-quality analysis I generate at the office. See, some of us have jobs, Anti-Blog Nation! (In full disclosure, I am writing this while on the couch, but it is in my home, not my mother's basement. Also in full disclosure, I wrote the to-be-released Los Angeles-Utah preview (at work) before Game 6 of the Utah-Houston series even though New Orleans-San Antonio was set. Pretty bright, huh?)

In any case, I guess you truly cannot win them all, or in the case of the Phoenix Suns, they cannot win against the Spurs at all. Hitting six out of seven is nothing to look down on, though, and if Boston (the 66-win Boston Celtics!) can pull out Game Seven at home (against an under-.500 team!), it'll be seven of eight.

In any case, I'm back to offer predictions for the conference semi-finals. I can tell you're excited.

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS

Continue reading "NBA Frog Preview: Postseason Second Round, Part 1" »

...I have lost all faith in athletes. I mean, I'm sure that she's a nice lady (no I'm not; I know nothing about her) but Dwyane has got to be pulling something better than that.

"Barkley broke through the commotion to say, "I like Star. She's a cougar."

"What's a cougar?" Smith asked, not so innocently, a perfect lob to Barkley.

Sir Charles promptly slammed the ball home: "Preying on a young Dwyane Wade."

That's pretty funny at least, if inaccurate vis a vis cougar-dom. Now Chuck and Dwyane have something to talk about in their next commercial.

He's back...... With more sequals than Freddy Krueger, the coach you can't kill, Larry Brown, is giving it another chance. Of course this excites both Larry and Tony Kornheiser (Larry was his camp counselor) and perhaps even the people of Charlotte.

Well-traveled Larry Brown has reached an agreement to return to the NBA as coach of the Charlotte Bobcats, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Monday.

The 67-year-old Hall of Famer will be taking over his ninth NBA team, and it will be his first coaching job since a messy exit from the New York Knicks in 2006. Brown will replace Sam Vincent, fired on Saturday after going 32-50 in his one season.

Back with more NBA predictions, this time playoff-style. My preseason ones weren't that bad, save for the catastrophe known as the Chicago Bulls' 2007-2008 season. Of course, with Skiles having already been shown the door and interim replacement Jim Boylan getting the opportunity to polish his resume, at least someone other than me is getting punished for them screwing up my predictions. Even with the abomination of the Bulls, I still hit six of eight playoff teams from the East (Philly and Atlanta in, Chicago and New Jersey out) and all eight in the West from the October picks.

Let's try it again with the first round of the postseason.

Eastern Conference

Boston vs. Atlanta

Continue reading "NBA Frog Preview: Postseason First Round" »

It's all good. The jockeying for position at the top. The scrambling to avoid being 50-win or near 50-win team left out of the playoffs, which is something that will be unprecedented. John Hollinger has a fine look at the nine teams in the middle of the scrum for the eight playoff spots and what the outlook is for each here on espn.com. He likes New Orleans for the #1 seed, with Golden State the unluckiest 51-win team in NBA history.

Oh, and while we are here, please do remember that Chris Paul is the NBA MVP. Thanks.

On Isiah Thomas.

He's probably right. Then again, when has it not been open season on Thomas in the last five years?

A crush at work kept me from commenting on the latest twists and turns in the Knick soap opera with regard to the hiring of Donnie Walsh and the surely imminent dismissal of Thomas from his position as coach (to twin with his de facto removal as ruiner of all things Knick from the front office), but I would be remiss if I did not highlight Marbury's words late this week:

"Marbury said Thomas, who will coach tonight in New Orleans, wasn't straight with the fans. Marbury believes his Knicks stint was hurt because Thomas, a Chicago native, didn't get the Big Apple, complaining too much about the Garden booing. "The fans have a right to feel how they feel," Marbury said of their distaste for Thomas. "Our fans aren't ignorant. They're smart. You can't tell them one thing and do another thing. Be truthful to them. You can't lie to our fans. If you play bad, don't blame it on someone else."

It should be hella fun when Thomas finally does get axed and Marbury can go ahead and completely empty himself of his ire. As it stands, the previews have already been fun.

Knicks mulling hanging on to Isiah.

It's pretty clear by now that just being on a team that won titles in the 80's and 90's does not make you uniquely qualified to run/coach a basketball team. So why not shake it up a little? Everything Isiah touches turns to shit. It's not even up for debate anymore. He cannot function in this role successfully. Running a team from the point guard position is a lot different than standing on the sideline wearing a suit.

But not necessarily the polite route. Quoth the Shaq about the end of his experience in Miami:

"We have professionals who know what to do," O'Neal said of playing for the Suns. "No one is asking me to play with Chris Quinn or Ricky Davis. I'm actually on a team again."

And, "ouch".

Returns the Riley:

"It's sad that he says those things," Riley said before the 103-96 overtime loss. "We shared so much here, together, for three years, good and bad, three and a half years. I just think it's sad that he's got to do that."

That's it? That's all you've got? I think Pat Riley's mind is already on his upcoming Sweet Sixteen/Elite Eight vacation.

How about you, Ricky Davis?

"It shows his true colors."

Good lord. I am absolutely disappointed. No wonder O'Neal called you all out. Fireless. Gutless. Sand in the face wimps.

Chris Quinn? How about you? Go:

"To be honest with you, I don't have too much to say about it," he said. "I don't know. But it didn't hurt me."

That's a tiny step in the right direction, a little sticks-and-stones-but-names-will-never-hurt-me sentiment.

Fine. Wusses. Back to O'Neal:

"I guess when you have a lot of power, you can do what you want," O'Neal told the Globe of Riley's personnel moves. "Me? If I ever came into that kind of power, I think I'd be willing to admit it if I messed up."

Another haymaker! Riley?

"I've taken blame, basically, for this," Riley said. "The buck stops at the top. I wish him nothing but the best. I don't have anything but good feeling for Shaq. I mean it. I don't care what he's saying right now. He wanted to go to a contender. And we sent him there. We sent him to Utopia and we're here left with the carnage. And I don't know why he's not happy."

Damn. How long has the corpse of Pat Riley been wandering around Miami?

By whatever measure you want to use, it ought to be him. The funny part is listening to folks who don't follow the NBA all that closely slowly come to that realization. Like, say, Mike Golic, who stumbled this morning as I watched Mike & Mike around the concept that Paul is just that good. He launched into the awkward it-depends-what-your-definition-of-MVP-is thing, you know, most outstanding player overall or most valuable player on a team. He then said that if it is outstanding player overall it would have to Kobe. And he said it like it was completely factual, no further discussion needed. A sun comes up in the east sorta statement.

But, here's the thing. Newsflash to Golic, Chris Paul is absolutely right there with Kobe Bryant, and Lebron James, and whoever else you want to argue into that group, as the best player in the league. In fact, for my money, he's the best player in the league. Yes. Chris Paul is the best player in the NBA. Right now.

New Orleans won 39 games last year. They currently are just ahead of the vicious pack in the Western Conference for best record. That is largely because Chris Paul has put that team on his back and carried them there.

He is almost unguardable at this point. He scores at will - when he wants to. He involves teammates constantly. He controls games. He is simply the best point guard I have seen in terms of impact in a game (with a slight apology to Steve Nash) since Isiah Thomas in his heyday. Paul will someday soon lead his team to an NBA title. Watch and see. Probably not this year, in the stacked Western Conference, but the Hornets have as good a shot as any team there. And it is because of Chris Paul.

Last night, in a 100-99 win over Lebron's Cavs in Cleveland, Paul put up this line:

15 points 20 assists 1 turnover

Good lord. A 20:1 assist to turnover ratio is pretty, um, "good".

It was New Orleans' 5th win a row, and 10th in their last 12. For the year Paul is averaging:

21.6 ppg 11.4 apg 2.71 spg .494 fg% and only 2.51 turnovers a game

MVP.

Again, as I have done throughout this year, if you have not had a chance to do so already, I implore you to linger on a Hornets game if you run across them while channel surfing. And, come playoff time, try and catch a game or two of theirs. He is THAT good.

ETA: Swamp all-star govtchedda is quite right to point out that stumbling across a Hornets game is awfully hard with as little love as they have gotten from the nat'l telecasts this year. True. So, definitely take an opportunity to watch him come playoff time. And hope that the nat'l networks rectify the situation for next season.

...actually coach his team.

Can't say I blame him. Given the choice between watching the Heat pile up losses and stare down his bench trying to find a player not dreckful to put in and going to the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, the tournament wins 10 times out of 10. For a GM. For a coach? He needs to be on the bench. And, given that Miami's current rather dire situation is on Riley's shoulders entirely, perhaps he needs to go ahead and give up one of his roles.

At any rate, in the meantime, Sweet 16 games!

"The games are getting bigger," he said. "The ones that I like are starting to play against each other, which is good. If that happens, then that's the matchup you want to see."

That could mean more lost time on the bench for Riley, who holds the dual role of team president. He already has missed three games while scouting, including two over the weekend, and could miss Thursday's game at Detroit and Sunday's game at Boston that are scheduled head-to-head against the tournament.

"If I have to miss 'em, I'll miss 'em," he said. "I don't want to. I will try to get back. I will try to squeeze everything in Friday and Saturday if I can."

Yeah. Don't knock yourself out there, coach.

Sorry if this is oldish or recycled news, but I am still catching up on the sports world after two weeks of family and work emergencies. But, the headline Knicks want to puruse Lebron is about as surprising as finding out that men find Kate Beckinsale (and her apparently perfect box) attractive. Course, to make that happen, they would have to be begin shedding salary like a snake sheds skin, and soon. Any takes for the atrocious Zach Randolph contract? Hello? Is this thing? Anyone?

Got to say, if there is any chance of making that happen, the Knicks would be well advised to look away from Jerry West's alleged interest in coming to New York as GM. The man responsible for the flaming ruins of the NBA in Memphis and the Brian Cardinal free agent contract probably is not the best choice for dealing with the flaming ruins that is the Knicks franchise at the moment.

In this case, the three words (I count a set of initials as one word in this case) have nothing to do with George Carlin, except that these may be more of a joke than anything the esteemed comedian ever said. You tell me.

"K.G. tanked it."

And what great crime did Garnett commit? He took himself out of the lineup for the final five games of the 2006-07 season with an injured quad.

The speaker? Glen Taylor, owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves. You know, the team that shipped Garnett out over the summer to finish destroying their franchise in a rarely-seen "scorched earth" policy. I guess when someone asks about your team's recent warm streak (four wins in the last six) and its contrast with their closing kick last year, essentially accusing your franchise of tanking last year to try to maintain a protected first-round pick, you do what you have to do to defend your franchise's honor... even when it is an outright lie.

18 in a row (the last nine of which have been by double digits).

4 in a row since losing Yao.

And doing it now against the other giants in the West. At the fourth longest win streak (tied) in NBA history, we have long since passed fluke stage and are perhaps seeing (finally) what it would be like if Tracy McGrady carried a team. Turns out it is pretty damn good.

Third spot in the Western Conference good (at the moment). The Houston Chronicle's Richard Justice with a very good read on McGrady this morning:

"He did things that take your breath away, and he made them look easy. Tracy McGrady isn't the only reason the Rockets had another magical night. He's just the biggest. If this wasn't a perfect game, it was close. McGrady was on the floor for all 48 minutes, scored 41 points, handed out nine assists and grabbed six rebounds. Years from now when someone asks you why McGrady was special, tell him to watch this game. Whenever New Orleans seemed about to get back in it, McGrady delivered. "We also had Tracy McGrady, and it didn't matter what they did," Rafer Alston said. When it was over, when the Rockets had beaten the Hornets 106-96 to become just the seventh NBA team to win 18 games in a row, they acted like a bunch of high school kids."

Yeah, winning 18 in a row will probably do that. I guess. If everything breaks right, the Grizzlies might put together an 18 game losing streak to close the year. They are the bizarro Rockets.

Their trade for Shaq looks particularly ill-advised? Check.

They are in danger of maybe not making the playoffs? They are still in the western conference, so, check.

Well, at least if they miss the playoffs, maybe the lottery will bring them some help? Um, NO. Not check.

The Sonics have the completely unprotected Suns first round pick this year.

Oops.

Hey Steve Kerr? These are massive mistakes you are making (and have made). Just sayin'. And, as a Grizzlies fan, I know from massive mistakes.

1. Emperil Yao Ming's chances of playing for the Chinese National team in the Olympics with a foot injury? Done.

2. Add Yi Jianlian to the potential injury list?

Maybe. Persistent pain in the wrist.

"It's kind of an indescribable pain, and that's one of the reasons we wanted him to see so many physicians," Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak said before the Bucks met the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night. "I think it's probably gotten worse; I don't think it's healed. We had some practices here recently where he couldn't shoot jump shots at the end of practice, because it was bothering his wrist."

Gee, I wasn't one of the three physicians who saw him (probably because I am a lawyer and not a doctor), but, hey, none of that sounds particularly promising.

...the Suns are better with Shaq than without.

All evidence to the contrary. D'Antoni's thesis:

"I don't think there's any doubt," D'Antoni said. "Not play-wise, but on paper and what we see. We can be a better team than we could ever be with the little guys running all over the place. We may not be as pretty, but we're going to be much more efficient."

It's not the lack of "pretty" that people are citing when panning this trade, coach. It's the, um, "losing".

Look ahead to the NBA draft!

Ian Thomsen on si.com likes these five for the potential top of a deep draft (one's a name that has been off my radar):

1. Michael Beasley---Kansas State
2. Derrick Rose---Memphis
3. Danilo Gallinari---Italy
4. Eric Gordon---Indiana
5. Anthony Randolph---LSU

Beasley, Gordon, and Rose I am well aware of. Add in Gallinari as the token Euro I would expect to not know about but who is always in such lists, and we are almost there. But, Randolph? I'd missed the boat on him. But Thomson says:

"Anthony Randolph (18 years old), 6-11 freshman PF, LSU. I admit he's a longshot to go this high, but who knows? It's shaping up to be a four-player draft, followed by several murkier picks based on long-term potential.

"Randolph has the most upside of anybody,'' an NBA scout said. "This guy, if you walked into his gym, you'd say, 'I'm looking at Chris Bosh [when he was a freshman at Georgia Tech]. He's from Dallas, he's skinny and left-handed, skilled and athletic -- all like Bosh. He doesn't shoot it quite as well as Bosh did, and we have a lot more to learn about him over the next two months. But he could become Chris Bosh.''

Well. I'm listening. That's even interesting, as our next meeting of Grizzlies fans (the four left) will involve power-point presentations of who the Grizzlies might take at #4 overall (since the lottery hates the team too).

Randolph:

...Tyron Lue's services are being fought for?

By three teams?

Legit NBA playoff teams at that?

How long have I been gone? Where am I? Who am I?

The world makes no sense.

ETA: Oops, forgot the extra "n". Tyronn Lue. Getting love. Catch the wave.

Yao Ming is the David Beckham of China. Stay with me here.

One of his country's best players in his given sport? Check. Yao is probably without question the best his country offers, Beckham, if match fit, would probably be welcome in the England squad even at his advancing age.

An international icon? Check. Yao plys his trade in the US and is marketable around the globe. Beckham, well, the exact same thing applies.

Somewhat hard to listen to when he is speaking English? Check. Yao because it's not his native language, Beckham because he's a little squirrelly.

Married to a star in his respective country? Check. Yao married a Chinese National Women's Team star, Becks married a Spice Girl.

Injured, leaving a nation to pin their hopes in an upcoming international competition on his recovery? Check. Yao hopes to play, Beckham never really recovered in time for the 2002 World Cup, though he played as well as any of his teammates in that event.

The fact remains that China, like England in 2002, probably fancies its chances a bit more than is realistic. Yao's injury won't help the team, but even a fully fit Yao wouldn't push China into gold medal contention alone. It would take something like playing in their home country, having fantastic fan support, and getting Home-court calls from referees for China to make a lot of noise in the summer Olympics.

Hey, wait just a minute...

Dateline New York (17 wins):

Eddy Curry mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. "The losing is killing me." Um, ok? For the record, Curry went for 12 points and 5 boards in New York's latest beatdown, on 4 of 11 shooting. Oh, and four of those points came in garbage time.

Dateline Memphis (14 wins):

Good news for the Cavs, the horrible Grizzlies were their Washington Generals-style opponent for their first game with Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Joe Smith and Wally Szczerbiak. The Grizzlies quickly fell behind by 28 points. Solid work by the Grizzlies-Generals.

Dateline Miami (9 wins):

The organization held a Family Festival yesterday. So...um, that's something. The team has still lost 11 in a row, but at least families feel celebrated. By the way, I cannot imagine how unhappy Jason Williams must be in that locker-room at this point.

So, while everyone else is celebrating the insane race that is the top nine teams in the Western Conference, or wondering if the post-trade Cavs are now good enough to get by Boston and Detroit, don't forget to give the occasional shout out to organizational incompetence. It's all these clubs seem to want.

Potentially large. That's a pretty damn decent team full of athletic young players he's been dropped into.

Bibby as leader should not be underestimated:

"Bibby sat courtside until getting the go-ahead to join his new teammates. The minute he got on the floor, the tenor of the session changed dramatically.

The Hawks' pick-and-roll sets got sharper instantly. The little inside passes in transition that rarely found mark before were on the money now. Bibby waited all of 15 seconds to start leading, playfully chiding Josh Smith and Al Horford to "run with me, run with me" on a fast break during part of the full court scrimmage portion of practice. "We got to look every chance we get, even the little creases, he'll find you," Smith said. "He sees the opening even before it happens. I'm not used to that." Bibby said his teammates better get used to it, because they're going to see heavy doses of it every night.

"I told them I'm going get it to them," Bibby said after practice. "One of my strong assets is being a strong shooter, so I have to shoot it to be a threat. I'm going to shoot it sometimes. But I'm not going to shoot it every time. I've got a lot of young horses out here, so I'm going to get it to them."

Michael at Braves & Birds is appropriately excited.

This time:

"The swap will send Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Trenton Hassell, Moe Ager and Keith Van Horn, who has not played since 2005-06, to the Nets for Mr. Kidd, Malik Allen and possibly Antoine Wright. The Mavericks also will lose first-round draft picks this summer and in 2010, along with the cash payment, the maximum allowed by the league. Mr. Cuban would not confirm the players in the deal. The Mavericks will have to waive a player - possibly veteran Juwan Howard or rookie Nick Fazakas - before they can re-sign Mr. Van Horn because they are at the league-maximum 15 players.

Mr. Van Horn's inclusion could be the only problem. He has never filed retirement papers with the league, and the Mavericks still own his rights, meaning they can sign him to any amount and include him in this sort of sign-and-trade scenario. It is believed Mr. Van Horn will get a $4 million salary for this season to help make the salary-cap figures match. For the trade to be approved, Mr. Van Horn must show he's serious about resuming his career, according to NBA commissioner David Stern."

Amazing.

To recap: Devean George has Larry Bird'd himself into staying in Dallas and playing for a championship. Jerry Stackhouse's loose lips have ensured him staying in Dallas and playing for a championship. And Keith Van Horn gets, apparently, $4 million dollars to attend some practices in Newark and fly around the country for two and a half months.

Jeebus. Good work if you can get it, Van Horn.

Yeah, I know it has been happening every year. But not like last night. Not even close.

Dwight Howard can fly. Pretty damn cool revelation.

From the Arizona Republic:

"Suns trainer Aaron Nelson said Shaquille O'Neal's flexibility has "vastly improved" since his arrival in Phoenix. The 7-foot-1 O'Neal's progress evidently has surprised even the team's medical staff - and flies in the face of suggestions by Lakers coach Phil Jackson that O'Neal's "foundation" is shaky.

"There isn't any arthritis in his hip causing his problem," said Dr. Thomas Carter, the club's orthopedic surgeon. "He is in better structural condition than the vast majority of NBA centers. It was just soft tissue - flexibility and strength. And those guys (on the medical staff) have done a great job with him."

...

"He's been able to jump a little higher and move a little quicker," he said. "He's worked hard. He's done everything we've asked him to do. He's working out twice a day and coming back from the All-Star Game early on Sunday so he can do the work."

In one week? One effin' week in the desert, and he's moving quicker and jumping higher? Well, shit. No wonder old people move to the desert in such high numbers. Maybe they are all moving quicker and jumping higher too. Huh.

Either that, or some faith healer of one type or another has gotten to him. Hmmm, it turns out you can see the healing aura lingering around O'Neal, now that you know what to look for:

So...what if this thing really doesn't go through? What if "Larry Bird rights" scuttle it? And, before this, how many of you had any idea what "Larry Bird rights" were? Or that they even existed? Or even know what they mean now?

Yeah. I don't either. And really don't care to know.

At any rate, Devean George continues to resist his exile to Newark, and Kidd remains a Net. Which prompts Chris Mannix at si.com to wonder what Dirk will have to do in order to help repair feelings in the Dallas locker room:

"He's looking out for himself a little bit," Nowitzki said. "In a way, we play a team sport but a lot of it is about individuals. It's Dirk versus Kobe, not L.A. versus Dallas. It's not promoted as much as a team sport as it is in Europe. Devean was looking out for himself; that's what you are used to over here."

Oooohh. I don't think that's going to help.

In case you were needing a Coach Flake rumor:

"An NBA source said yesterday that Sixers executive vice president Larry Brown has drawn interest as a candidate for the Chicago Bulls' head coaching job."

Yes. Please. I desperately miss Coach Flake. I need my annual cycle of Flake-quits-demands-remainder-of-gazillion-dollar-contract-anyway. C'mon Bulls. The cosmos needs you.

San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich comes correct:

"What they did in Memphis is beyond comprehension," said Popovich. "There should be a trade committee that can scratch all trades that make no sense. I just wish I had been on a trade committee that oversees NBA trades. I'd like to elect myself to that committee. I would have voted no to the L.A. trade."

Yes. Correct. Soooo correct. And this is amusing as well:

"When told that [GM Chris] Wallace had challenged executives to criticize the deal publicly, Popovich replied, "Well, there you go. I'm on the record."

Again, as I went into at length in the day after the trade, simply dealing Gasol for cap space was damn near unconscionable by the Grizzlies.

1. Free agents ain't flocking to Memphis, particularly big name free agents.

2. Gasol could have brought a few young pieces to help fit into Marc Ivaroni's systems ALONG with cap relief.

To go with just cap relief? A major "fuck you" from Grizz owner Mike Heisley to what's left of the Memphis fanbase. We three remaining Grizz fans get the message loud and clear.

Chad Ford does it. BSG does it. Why can't I?

All of these passed the smell test, er, RealGM's Trade Checker, so let's have some fun shaking up the NBA before the playoff run.

Orlando trades Carlos Arroyo, Pat Garrity, and JJ Redick to Philadelphia for Andre Miller.

Why Orlando should do it: Miller would be an established point guard to come in and distribute to Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, and Hedo Turkoglu. His lack of shooting range doesn't matter much with Lewis and Turkoglu playing a ton of minutes.

Why Philadelphia should do it: Arroyo and Garrity's deals come off the books at the end of the year. It can't hurt to take a flyer on Redick, who would replace the already-shipped-out Kyle Korver as their three-point shooter (their roster currently is shooting 31% from deep). Miller's under contract for one more year at $10 million. Redick has two more years of team options at under $5 million combined. That's almost $8 million off the books for Ed Stefanski to play with next year. Louis Williams also gets to take the reins full-time.

Continue reading "Making up NBA Trades Is Fun" »

Peals of laughter echo in response from the anyone associated as a fan or employee of the NBA.

From the NY Post:

"Isiah Thomas made an admission yesterday: the Knicks are in need of a point guard. Thomas essentially blamed this season's disaster on not having stability at the point. Though Thomas has handed the keys to Jamal Crawford, he knows Crawford is not the prototype for the position.

Thomas was not ripping Stephon Marbury, just saying the Knicks' season was ruined by their early riff, the death of Marbury's father, the confusingly long bereavement leave and, ultimately, Marbury's decision to have ankle surgery. "Most championship teams have to have the right point guard to orchestrate [things]," Thomas said. "That's been a problem for us this year. Injuries are part of the game."

Hysterical.

Um, Isiah? Even if Marbury had not had a season from hell (even by his standards), the point guard play was going to be not what the Knicks needed. Hysterical. Perhaps he could acquire another power forward to deal with the problem.

Classic case of one franchise bending over to allow another franchise to have its way. Awesome. As ususal, I am the fan of the franchise doing the bending.

Pau Gasol to the Lakers for cap relief. Swell. I'll buy tickets tomorrow. As Commercial Appeal columnist Geoff Calkins captures very well:

"Later this year, Dick Hackett -- or whatever poor sap accepts the job as the Grizzlies next president of business operations -- will have to approach FedExForum suite holders and ask them to renew their leases. It's hard to imagine how that will go.

Poor Sap: "Renewing your lease will allow you to continue to watch the exciting Grizzlies."

Lease Holder: "Really. Why would I want to do that?"

Poor Sap: "We have lots of cap room."

Lease Holder: "I'm paying tens of thousands to watch cap room?"

Poor Sap: "We might spend it this summer."

Lease Holder: "Might?"

Yea, cap room!

So many thoughts, here's the best I can do in terms of organizing them:

1. Pau Gasol---He's remarkably flawed and miscast as franchise anchor. He's soft. He is not anywhere within range of the term "leader". He can be indecisive with the ball, disappers when the game is on the line, and gets m a y b e one tough rebound when the team needs one a month. But none of that will matter on the Lakers, where they have a franchise anchor (Bryant, obviously, and maybe Bynum in a year or three), plenty of toughness, teammates who won't let Gasol hold the ball and look confused, and grown-up NBA players to get rebounds. In short, Gasol will be able to bring to LA what he DOES do well, which is score in bunches and provide decent off the ball defense. He's a perfect fit for the Lakers, and should have no problems with being the second or even third option. It fits his personality perfectly.

As for getting him out of Memphis? Bonus. The fanbase here had grown to loathe him. Booed every time he touched the ball of late. Too many years of whiny pleading Euro-looks to officials when he didn't get a call. Too many years of flopping, too many years of, well, back to Calkins:

"That Gasol can't be the best player on a good team? That he's as soft as a throwed roll?"

Yeah, that. So, it's good that he's gone. Past due. But that brings me to the main problem I have with the Grizzlies franchise right now.

2. The Return for Gasol---As much as I hammered the Twins earlier this week for over-playing their hand and waiting too long to deal John Santana, it is ironic that one of the teams I root for trumped them so magnificently in franchise malpractice. One year ago, when Jerry West was running the show, they could have had a good haul from Chicago, but held out for Luol Deng, and ended up with nothing. (Side note here: both the Bulls and Grizzlies screwed up in not making that deal). This past off-season, new GM Chris Wallace came in and decided they were building around Pau Gasol, and failed to deal him when he still had value. Then after eight more months of dreck, he moved him for cap relief.

Unreal. This is where I get mad. Technically, the Grizzlies began to tear it down and rebuild when they dealt Shane Battier in 2006 to the Rockets for Rudy Gay. That was a deal I suported at the time, and still do. Battier was more accomplished, but Gay represented a chance to find your way to an All-Star at some point and was the kind of talent infusion you need if you are going to re-build. Then, the team stopped. Instead of finishing the tear down and rebuild by dealing Gasol, Mike Miller, and whatever else might be useful at that point, they tried to make it work. And, between Gasol's ankle injury and the team shutting down on Mike Fratello (hard to blame them, he was a dick), the season was lost.

Problem was, new GM Chris Wallace came in last summer and perpetuated the mistake. Instead of dealing Gasol, Miller, and whatever else had value for young pieces to fit new coach Marc Ivaroni's system, he decided to build around Gasol, calling him a superstar. Go, Geoff Calkins:

"When I came here, my first option was to give this thing a chance and see what everybody could do," Wallace said. And then what? You learned what any fan in the upper deck could have told you at the end of last year?...Wallace and Iavaroni are supposed to be savvy basketball professionals. Gasol has been in the league for seven years. So they needed all these months to decide that he's not a legitimate All-Star? While his stock continued to plunge? And then, having waited until Gasol's value has been obliterated, they're suddenly in a hurry to trade him away?"

Ridiculous mistake from Wallace. This was a particular path that this franchise could not afford to tread. Instead of building around Rudy Gay and Mike Conley with young pieces from, say, the Bulls (Nocioni, Thomas or Noah, picks and expiring contract) and taking their lumps this year, they are building around Rudy Gay and Mike Conley with, well, NO additional pieces. Crippling error.

So now they have to sell "cap relief". Good luck. I understand the concept. I also know that teams like Memphis (and in markets like Memphis) are not in the first 29 or so choices for your average NBA free agent. And if you want a superstar via free agency? Good luck finding one that hits the market in his prime, or that would choose Memphis. Whole thing blows.

3. State of the Grizzlies in Memphis---Huge trouble. The lease with the FedEx Forum makes them unlikely to move in the immediate future (say, the next 7-10 years) due to some punitive clauses, but the franchise is deeply wounded, and it may prove fatal. That has everything to do with the horrible ownership of Michael Heisley who has strip-mined the business operations side of the franchise for years, and is now doing the same to the basketball side. He's had the team on the block for three years, with no buyers, because he is asking a crazy price for the team and no sane person with that kind of money is willing to pay it. In the meantime, he's fielding a team based on we'll-be-good-someday in a poor town during a recession. You want to hold a private meeting where no one will see you? I would suggest the FedEx Forum in Memphis during a Grizzlies game this March.

4. What now---Since I am a fan, I guess I will try to find the good thing in the professional malpractice exhibited by ownership and management. It almost surely can't get worse. In the meantime, Rudy Gay, who has already taken a large leap this year (averaging right at 20 ppg) needs to take another leap. He needs to become the face of the franchise immediately (if he wasn't already). And he needs to be even more aggressive with the ball. 25+ ppg the rest of the season is what I would like to see from him. Conley also has to continue to develop. When he plays (which isn't as often as one would like, as he seems forever hurt) he has shown that he was worth the 4th pick in the draft. He makes great decisions with the ball in his hand, setting his shooters up in the right spots to succeed, and attacks the rim surprisingly well for a guy with his height. He's going to be very good. He, along with Gay, needs to seize this team by the throat. Even though those are the two youngest players on the team, there is no reason to be deferential to any of the veterans left. Mike Miller is a nice player, but he is likely gone soon for expiring contracts himself and even if not, has been even less of a leader on that team than Gasol was. Other than that? Not much else to watch for in Memphis with regard to pro basketball. Wait for the draft, I guess. Hope for a shot at Michael Beasley. Hope the team institutes a one-of-the-four-fans-at-the-game-gets-to-lace-it-up-and-play-the-4th-quarter promotion for the April home games.

Beyond that? Nothing much.

And Tiger basketball. Thank G-d for that.

And the very deserving New Orleans Hornets get two in the West. Chris Paul was expected. The happy surprise? David West made it too. As well he should have. The rundown here. And the obigatory snub list from Marty Burns. At the top of his players cruelly omitted? Baron Davis and Ray Allen. Then again, West and Joe Johnson got in ahead of them, and I have no problem with that.

Good work from the coaches in making these selections this time around.

He's riding the bench.

Orlando's winning.

The latter is apparently not enough to make up for the former, so the second year player is asking to be traded. "We want to see what's out there," Redick said. "I want to stay here, but it's been frustrating."

Um, to answer your question, JJ, crickets chirping? And if you want to stay there, why are you seeking a trade? And as for why he's not playing? How about this bit of cold water:

"He's not playing because the Magic need defense and rebounding at his shooting-guard spot. Van Gundy says that Evans and Bogans are simply better at those tasks than one of the most prolific shooters in college basketball history."

Ouch. Now Redick's list of teams must include ones that don't play defense. That narrows it quite a bit. I would guess he'd better put Memphis on there then...

The New Orleans Hornets announced their presence to the rest of the Southwest Division and the Western Conference as a whole with a 102-78 throttling of the San Antonio Spurs last night. The Hornets trailed by one at half but outscored the defending NBA champs 30-21 in the third quarter and 30-14 in the fourth in the Spurs' building.

While those figures are impressive on their own, when you note that the Spurs led 59-58 with 5:50 left in the third, you realize that Byron Scott's troops closed with a 43-20 kick. Two random numbers from the night:

When Tim Duncan was on the floor last night, the Spurs were outscored by 21 points.

New Orleans shot 54.3 percent from the field paced by David West, who went for 32 points on 15-of-19 shooting.

The key for the Hornets this season has simply been health. While they haven't had a single player participate in all 43 games thus far, their top eight scorers have all played in at least 38 contests, including five of the top six in at least 41 games. Not bad for essentially the same squad that couldn't reach .500 because their top three scorers combined to miss 117 games last season.

As Memphis Bengal alluded to earlier today, things are not so pleasant in Clipperland. It's not just sniping between cheap owner Donald Sterling (no way I'm putting up another picture of him) and embattled coach Mike Dunleavy. While I was not a fan of Dunleavy's work prior to getting signed on with the Clippers, I have become impressed with his work since then, in particular the playoff run from a couple years ago. And it seems like he's in a three-way battle for running the team with the Don and GM Elgin Baylor. Oddly, the Don claims he wants to win, Dunleavy certainly wants to win, and Baylor is napping, it seems.

If you didn't go to the Simers column where Dunleavy stands up to the real estate mogul, there is actually some interesting bits about Dunleavy seeming to be the only guy interested in winning games. Simers writes...

Dunleavy thought he had a deal with Dallas in the summer to trade Corey Maggette, eligible for free agency after this season, for guard Jason Terry. But Sterling, who has said he will not meddle in player personnel but who has always professed a desire to keep Maggette in a Clippers uniform, refused to approve the trade.

Dunleavy also wanted to sign former San Antonio free-agent guard Beno Udrih, but the Clippers' bean counter, Andy Roeser, decided Udrih wasn't worth the money it would take to sign him.

Good to know the accountants have the final say on the roster.

GM Elgin Baylor seems like the odd man out here (after the jump).

Continue reading "The Battle of Los Angeles (Clips), Cont." »

The current "plan" in New York for Marbury?

Shop his expiring contract around the league this summer. Come on folks, step right up and get $22 million in potential salary cap relief!

$22 million! My G-d!

His agent must be a fuckin' genius.

Clips owner Donald Sterling on Tuesday courtesy of TJ Simers:

"I'm not happy," Sterling said. "The fans aren't happy, and can't be happy when they don't see a motivated performance. I want to make L.A. fans proud of this team, but if [ElginBaylor and Mike Dunleavy] can't make it happen, then I have no choice but to make changes."

Wow. Who woke Donald Sterling up? After 30 years of not caring, now we are supposed to believe he cares?

At any rate, Mike Dunleavy is not pleased about the rare event (also courtesy of Simers):

"It's his team and he can do whatever he likes . . . but look, you can find any coach you want, bring him in here and run the situation. But I don't think they are going to do as good a job as I do. And that's period. "You give me the budget," Dunleavy said, "and I'm going to be OK with it. I'm not asking anyone to go to the luxury tax. But if we gather information and put deals in place that I think benefit the team and somebody who is not in basketball operations disagrees with it, sorry, you've just taken it out of my hands."

Wow. Game on? Maybe if the Clips played with that kind of passion, the team wouldn't be at this juncture...

42 points from Dwayne Wade. Good. But not enough. 97-90 loss to the Cavs. Bad.

14 losses in a row now. Worse.

At least they have this: only five players have guaranteed contracts beyond this season. Course, Shaq's is guaranteed. For several Brinks trucks. So that cuts into the good news a bit. Somewhere to the north, Stan Van Gundy has to be laughing on a daily basis.

Jermaime O'Neal to the Pacers: Dunno, I may need to miss the rest of the year.

Pacers to O'Neal: The hell you will.

My bet: If O'Neal gets that trade he seems to want, his bruised knee will all of a sudden feel a lot better.

A rock solid read from Ian Thomsen at si.com on the leap being made by Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge, including a list of reasons why which has this eye-popper in it:

He's the second coming of Rasheed Wallace

He means skill level, not dickhead level.

Portland has done a fantastic job re-tooling, and when they get Oden in place, assuming he is able to be the defensive presence everyone thinks he can be, it's not too soon to include them among the NBA elite in the Western Conference for next season. Hell, they are not that far off that designation this year without Oden.

And what do Knicks fans have to do in order to get rid of all the Isiahs? I have no idea. The latest from New York's professional basketball scourge.

He's considering quitting as coach. That's good, right?

He would doing so in order to concentrate on the team presidency again. Oh. Bad with good.

And life, of a sort, goes on for a formerly great franchise.

I have no idea. I didn't know he WAS unhappy. But he skipped a Suns team practice yesterday. And he has been lashing out in a few post-game interviews since Christmas. While he apparently had an excuse (was he watching football?) for missing practice, the Suns are not happy about it or necessarily accepting it. The reasons to keep an eye on this? This quote from Steve Nash:

"After Sunday's workout, guard Steve Nash said he didn't know the reason for Stoudemire's absence or what to say about it. But on the generic subject of team chemistry, Nash said that inner squabbles can take down a team.

"I don't know if guys are pointing fingers, maybe sometimes I'm oblivious to that to some of that stuff to a fault," he said. "But if that stuff is going on it needs to be stopped or else we can kiss it goodbye. You can't win at this level if you don't have great chemistry and you don't pull for each other and if you're worried about your shots or worried about yourself or making excuses or pointing fingers at other players. That's for losers. We've been a winning ballclub here and if we want to take that next step that has to be a big part of our character."

Interesting. And worth watching.

From the Chicago Tribune's NBA gadfly:

"So why not Scottie Pippen as the next coach of the Bulls? "What's my disadvantage?" Pippen asked. "No NBA coaching experience? [Scott] Skiles' record with the Bulls wasn't that great. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do what you've done your whole life. I've played basketball, run teams and won. They didn't put me at point guard because I could dribble good. They put me there because I could run a team. I wasn't the best dribbler, the best shooter. I wasn't a point guard. But I knew how to run a team."

And quit, on occasion, when it mattered. Yeah, the quitting thing stands out.

I'd say people's memories of the quitting are a disadvantage.

But, you knew that.

Still, for those of us hoping in Memphis for a year with 30+ wins in a step back toward respectability, it has been pretty suck-tastic in reality. From the seven or so people still paying attention in Memphis, here's the good report:

Rudy Gay is good.

Mike Conley probably will be (if he could ever get over his shoulder issue).

Darko Milicic can probably anchor the 5 for awhile competently.

And, the bad report:

Pau Gasol is hopelessly lost in Marc Iavaroni's system and is re-defining listless when it comes to effort. As has been the case for about two years now (follow that link for a great blog by several of the team's remaing seven fans).

Mike Miller still couldn't defend your grandmother.

Stro Swift remains Stro Swift.

No one has any idea how to use Hakim Warrick.

And Kyle Lowry is regressing. And possess's quite possibly the least respected jump shot of any point guard in the history of the NBA.

They have, at best, no identity, no passion, no leader, and no clue. Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?

So, what next? What's next is everyone on that team outside of Gay, Conley, and Milicic should be available in a deal. And should be actively shopped. Chris Wallace is claiming to be in no rush to work a deal, and that's the right note to sound, but he damn sure best be looking. Because the Grizzlies are NOT simply a player or two away from respectability, they are a whole series of new players away from same. And the best way to get those players is to deal pieces with value. Gasol, Miller, Stoudamire (expiring contract), and Warrick all have value of varying degree. Time to start cashing that value in.

As an aside, another reason to do so would be to generate something approaching interest from the seven remaining fans. They are impossible to watch right now, and people