Daily Basketball
NBA and NCAA blogging on an occasionally daily basis
Archive for April, 2006
April 17, 2006 at 9:10 am · Filed under NBA
This afternoon, the Minnesota Timberwolves will hold a press conference announcing the future of Fred Hoiberg. It looks like they will probably be giving him a coaching or front-office job, but there is always the chance he’ll be returning to the team as a player.
Now that the season is over for most of the teams, with just a few noncompetitive games left, there are some players names being thrown out there to move this summer. Allen Iverson may be on the move, the Nuggets might move Kenyon Martin if the price is right, and Eddy Curry will likely traded from the New York Knicks in another move to shake up the franchise.
Larry Brown may be done with the Knicks already. It doesn’t look like he’ll coach for the rest of the season, and after the feud with Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis not working out, expect several players and possibly coaches to be moved this offseason.
The Houston Rockets are now in trouble off of the court. If Yao Ming really needs the four-to-six weeks to recover from a broken bone in his foot, he may not be back in time to practice and play for China’s team in the World Championships this August.
April 11, 2006 at 6:46 pm · Filed under NBA
Yao Ming will be out for the rest of the season after breaking his foot in the Rockets game against the Jazz. Apparently, the accident happened while fighting for position with Mehmet Okur. This leaves the team without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, as the team prepares to finish off a disappointing year after the team brought in Stromile Swift.
The NBA will allow playoff teams to carry thirteen players on their roster, instead of twelve. Though their will still only be twelve players suiting up, the additional player will be there in case of injury.
The Indiana Pacers will be a whole new team next year. Larry Bird says he doesn’t plan to spend much time golfing, and the players rumored to be moving are Jamaal Tinsley, Stephen Jackson, and Jermaine O’Neal. Maybe we’ll see a similar deal to the the Lakers-Heat trade. If KG demands a trade this summer, the two teams may be able to come up with something. There are some other teams interested in acquiring the Big Ticket, including the Knicks (of course), Lakers, Warriors, and Bulls.
Kevin Garnett and Ricky Davis were both missing when the team left for their road trip. Before, the Timberwolves listed medical reasons for both players, but it seems both have been left behind because the team is looking to give experience to the younger players on the team. The NBA is looking into the situation.
LaMarcus Aldridge will be leaving Texas for the NBA draft. The move shouldn’t really be a surprise, since Aldridge is a projected top-five pick, but after the team’s loss in the NCAA tourney, he sounded he wanted to come back for another chance at winning the national championship.
April 7, 2006 at 7:53 pm · Filed under NCAA
It looks like NCAA champion Florida will be keeping much of its team together in an effort to become the first team since 1991 to win consecutive titles. During a skit during the team’s celebration, Joakim Noah, along with Al Horford and Corey Brewer, announced that all three will be returning to the team. This comes as surprise since all three sophomores were predicted to be taken in the NBA draft.
Florida took another step in keeping the good things going. The team purchased the floor which they won the big game on and will use it to replace their old floor. The hardwood floor cost the team $70,000.
There have been a few more players entering the draft, as of late. The two biggest names are Josh Boone and Nick Fazekas. Neither player hired an agent, retaining their right to withdraw their names from the draft.
April 4, 2006 at 5:46 pm · Filed under NBA, NCAA
The previous record of four blocks didn’t seem worthy of the record, so Joakim Noah decided to fix that. The tournament MVP got six blocks in the title game, and his overall play was the reason the Florida Gators won the NCAA championship, and helping them shed their image of just being a football school. Noah also earned the record for the most blocks ever throughout the tournament…
Shaq has now gone on a tirade about the officiating, the first it seems (or largest) since coming to Miami. The comments came after the game against New Jersey, where he picked up several offensive fouls in a row. He was complaining about Rod Thorn, who works in the front office for the Nets while in charge of the referees for the NBA. Still, it isn’t like Shaq hasn’t got his benefit from calls…
The Pistons streak of starting the same five players (Billups, Hamilton, Prince, and the Wallaces) came to an end with the suspension of Rasheed Wallace. Wallace was suspended for having too many technical fouls, and will continue to miss a game after every other technical until the end of the season.
Now that the NCAA games are over, it’s time to focus on the NBA playoffs coming up. Several teams are fighting for a playoff spot, or to move around in the seeding. One place you don’t want to be: the Western fifth seed. Either way, you play Dallas or San Antonio. The sixth seed is in a better spot, who’d play Denver in the first round.
April 3, 2006 at 8:56 pm · Filed under NCAA
Florida won its first NCAA Mens’ Basketball championship, beating UCLA by sixteen, but the game was really never that close. I think the margin was the third-most since since 1990, when UNLV defeated Duke 103-73. It was one of the largest deficits in the history of the tournament’s final game. The Bruins made just 36% of their shots in the game, falling short of expectations for the most successful university in NCAA basketball’s history.
Joakim Noah had another great game, posting sixteen points — most of which were dunks. Florida came out strong early and never looked back, making it 1-1 in the championship game in an unusually uncompetitive tournament game.
Check back later for more news and discussion, leave a comment, or post on our forums.
April 1, 2006 at 8:53 pm · Filed under NBA, NCAA
It’s official. On Monday, UCLA will play Florida for the NCAA Tournament Championship. Though both LSU and George Mason had become favorites for their unique characters and unlikely place in the Final Four, neither was able to come back from a double-digit deficit.
The loss to UCLA will likely hurt the NBA draft stock of Tyrus Thomas and Glen Davis. Neither player was able to get it going, Thomas was in foul trouble, and Davis shooting horribly from the field.
Florida won by fifteen, 73-58. Joakim Noah had a relatively quiet game compared to the rest of his NCAA tournament stats, scoring 12 points and grabbing 8 boards in 26 minutes, along with a handful of blocks.
The NBA is ruling that the tights worn by players are against the dress code, except if they are used for therapeutic reasons. The tights have become popular after Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, and many more of the league’s premier players.
Kevin Garnett tried to explain the tights, saying “our legs swell when we fly. We have so much swelling of the joints and stuff. When you have elbows with bursitis going on, swelling of the knees … you need those tights.”
I don’t see how tights are abusing the dress code, so if players are willing to take the garbage of wearing them, so be it…
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