Daily Basketball
NBA and NCAA blogging on an occasionally daily basis
Archive for 2006
November 25, 2006 at 11:35 am · Filed under NBA
Andrei Kirilenko returned to the lineup, but focused mainly on the defensive end in the Utah Jazz’s rally victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. Kirilenko only took (and made) one shot but had five blocks and played great defense against Kobe Bryant in the fourth quarter. The seven-point deficit the Jazz had to come back from was nothing compared to two 16-point and one 21-point deficits the Jazz needed to rally from to their 12-1 record.
Miami Heat coach Pat Riley wants to acquire another veteran point guard so he isn’t forced to overuse Dwyane Wade. Both Jason Williams and Gary Payton need to overcome their knee injuries, and according to the Miami Herald some options may include Tyronn Lue, Damon Stoudamire, and Earl Watson.
A couple superstars struggled horribly last night: Gilbert Arenas and Ben Wallace. Arenas only scored three points against the lowly Memphis Grizzlies in the Washington Wizards‘ loss, while Ben Wallace failed to grab a single rebound for the first time since 1999. Wallace also failed to score (not quite so surprising) in less than 20 minutes of play.
The NBA continued to pick on Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks last night. The league called the team during halftime telling the team that players needed to remain sitting on the bench to avoid blocking the fans views during the game. “I think it shows the great cohesiveness we have on our team,” owner Mark Cuban said. “Our guys are always pulling for each other and I think fans can appreciate that. The league called, and we’re fine with that.”
A night after upsetting #2 North Carolina, the Gonzaga Bulldogs lost to the Butler Bulldogs for the NIT title. Butler held a comfortable lead for most of the game, as Gonzaga lost their first game of the season since losing Adam Morrison.
November 22, 2006 at 3:52 pm · Filed under NBA
GM Bryan Colangelo is considering another shakeup in the Toronto Raptors‘ franchise, with head coach Sam Mitchell at the top of the list. “Do I see a need to change the roster? Do I see the need to change the coaching? Everything is being evaluated.” Any changes in player personnel would likely be insignificant. Chris Bosh thinks he knows the difference between this season and last year’s 1-9 start: “I think we just get nervous…because everybody just wants to win so bad”.
The Raptors fell to 2-8 after a loss to the 10-1 Utah Jazz, who surprisingly have the best record in the NBA. Though Andrei Kirilenko has sat out the last handful of games since spraining his ankle against the Milwaukee Bucks, the team has won their last six games led by Carlos Boozer (who is near the top of the league in RPG) and stud sophomore Deron Williams. In other Jazz news, the Delta Center of the Stockton-Malone era has been renamed the EnergySolutions Arena (after a nuclear waste company based in Utah).
Shooting guard J.R. Smith agrees with the Denver Nuggets‘ players and media that the team signed him for a bargain price. “In my opinion, I think so,” Smith said. Local papers have compared the signing to the purchase of Manhattan for $24 in the 17th century. For the season, Smith has averaged a little more than 16 points per game.
The New York Knicks plan to stir things up in the backcourt, according to pure speculation and quote from GM Isiah Thomas. When asked about the Francis-Marbury backcourt, there was some obvious skepticism that things were not working out. Based on how difficult it would be to trade either Francis or Marbury, Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson may be the odd men out.
Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard wants to be the first big man in 15 years to score 20 points and pull down 20 rebounds in three consecutive games. Howard is definitely physically capable of the feat, and has the chance tonight against the Indiana Pacers. “I’ve got to eat right tonight to make sure I have a lot of energy,” Howard said. “That would be an accomplishment (to get another 20/20). I’d be proud to get another one.”
Daily Basketball was down for about 24 hours over the last two days, but (obviously) the issue has been resolved…
November 16, 2006 at 4:40 pm · Filed under NBA
Former superstar and current Philadelphia Sixer power forward Chris Webber wants a trade from the team if his role continues to diminish. “I don’t like this role,” he said. “So, you can take that however you want.” Webber has been averaging just a little more than 10 points and eight rebounds this season.
A few former starters have been demoted to the bench, including Toronto Raptors‘ Morris Peterson and Memphis Grizzlies‘ point guard Damon Stoudamire. Both have been okay with their new role. Stoudamire expressed little concern: “at the end of the day, I’m not too concerned about it. I’m going to play hard.” Damon’s cousin Salim has also had a substantial drop in playing time; Salim averaged the same number of minutes per game last year as he has spent on the floor so far this season.
Houston Rockets‘ head coach Jeff Van Gundy worries about the safety of Yao Ming and other big men in the NBA. Van Gundy complains that the Bruce Bowen issue isn’t nearly the same as the abuse Ming, Shaquille O’Neal and others receive. Currently, O’Neal has played in just about half of his team’s games while complaining about a missing quadriceps muscle. “It seems like they’re dead.”
There are rumors being spread around that Grizzlies’ coach Mike Fratello may not have his job in a couple weeks. Originally suspected to have the support of his team, the Grizzlies have been playing poorly.
As far as college hoops go, O.J. Mayo has signed a letter-of-intent to play for USC. “It’s the perfect opportunity with coach (Tim) Floyd there. He coached in the NBA and knows what it take to reach the league.” Though there probably wasn’t a single team not interested in Mayo, Kansas State and Florida were the other top options.
Meanwhile, #3-ranked Kansas lost to Oral Roberts. Marchello Vealy, who hit his first seven three-point shots, said this of the win:”We wanted to come out and shock the world tonight, and we did it.”
November 13, 2006 at 5:40 pm · Filed under NBA
The anger against Bruce Bowen’s aggressive style of defense elevated against the New York Knicks. While no fines are expected to be announced, Isiah Thomas, Greg Popovich, and Bowen were all involved in a heated exchange about the injury risk which comes when getting below the offensive player when they land back on the court. Bowen was responsible for Steve Francis spraining his ankle, and the Knicks were upset when Bowen nearly forced the same landing on Jamal Crawford.
A proposal which would have built the Sacramento Kings failed to win enough votes, meaning the team may, like the Seattle Supersonics, have little choice but to move to another city. The Maloof Brothers who own the Kings would likely try to move the team to Las Vegas, where they own multiple casinos.
Before last February, Darko Milicic could only hope to play for the team that made him the #2 pick in the 2003 draft. Now with the Orlando Magic, Milicic expects to earn a $60 million contract as a restricted free agent. The Magic decided not to offer Milicic a contract extension because they weren’t sure Milicic could maintain the level of play he had after being traded from the Detroit Pistons.
The Pistons were one of the teams that the Philadelphia Sixers tried to move Allen Iverson to over the summer. Originally thought to be cutting payroll to sell the team, the Sixers may have wanted Chauncey Billups for the shot-friendly shooting guard.
You can count the number of Minnesota Timberwolves games on two hands, but head coach Dwayne Casey already needs to earn back the respect of his team. A member of the Timberwolves says he expects Casey to be relieved of duty by mid-season. The team currently is placed last in the Northwest division, after originally expected to make a playoff push after acquiring Mike James and Randy Foye.
Phil Jackson doesn’t agree with complaints of Brown receiving $18.5 million of his contract. ” (Spurs coach Greg) Popovich probably should have weighed in on [Donald] Sterling about two or three coaches ago when he was breaking all their contracts. That was the time he should have been backing up coaches, not about a $40 million situation that ends up with $18 million. It’s about guys that were owed $500,000 or $600,000 who needed that kind of money.”
November 10, 2006 at 9:41 pm · Filed under Other
This post takes a short break from the basketball news while I try to suggest the other basketball bloggers around the NBA join ReviewMe.com. It’s a great chance to make a little cash off your writing and refer your readers to other great sites as well.
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Take a second to sign up at ReviewMe.com! Of course, you’ve got nothing to lose but a chance to pay your hosting fees while sharing related sites with your readers.
November 9, 2006 at 8:56 pm · Filed under NBA
Sure, it’s ridiculous that anybody should get paid not to work, but Larry Brown will be paid at least $18.5 million of the remaining $53 million he had left on his contract with the New York Knicks. Brown has been rumored to be receiving somewhere between $20-$40 million, but terms have the buyout haven’t been announced.
The Supersonics are done in Seattle, unless private investors come up with a huge sum of money for a new arena. It doesn’t take much speculation to realize that the team will be moving to Oklahoma City as soon as the Hornets can move back to New Orleans.
Just after being featured as one of the NBA’s players who has fully recovered from injury, Kenyon Martin will be having surgery on what was originally his “good knee”. Just a few minutes before tip-off, Martin was told by team doctors he needed an MRI which showed the need for the surgery.
Darius Miles will also be having surgery on his knee.
The NBA player’s labor union plans to take action against the ridiculously high technical fouls. “You say you want to deter it, curtail that kind of conduct on the court and now it’s kind of dipped down so the slightest little inclination … a guy throws his hands up, the refs are now calling a tech,” according to union representative Billy Hunter. Hunter also noted that players are fined for each technical foul they receive. There have been over twice as many technical fouls as last season, but for obviously more minor complaints from the players.
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