Daily Basketball
NBA and NCAA blogging on an occasionally daily basis
Archive for July, 2007
July 25, 2007 at 6:59 pm · Filed under NBA
NBA commissioner David Stern said that the Donaghy scandal was one “(one of the worst situations) that I have ever experienced either as a fan of the NBA, a lawyer for the NBA. or a commissioner of the NBA.” And while this betting scandal may be one of them, level-headed fans shouldn’t be worrying about the downfall of the NBA, as many have suggested.
Henry Abbott compiled a list of responses he received from many NBA insiders, and while opinions vary, it seems unanimous that you’ll still have Greg Oden playing his rookie season this fall. David Stern says that the NBA has “not exactly” looked into other refs being involved, but if referees really get 95% of their calls right, then die-hard and casual fans alike shouldn’t worry about the integrity of the game.
Although the referees draw continual ire, that 5% of mistaken calls are made in human error — not for point-shaving, and not always in situations that drastically affect the outcome of the game.
Where does the betting scandal fall, at least in recent history? The Pistons-Pacers brawl will have more seriously damaged the face of the league. Most fans don’t know the officials on a first-name basis, and not many referees have million-dollar endorsement deals with shoe companies.
The only fans who closely follow the NBA year-round surely won’t believe that Tim Donaghy is one of many felons officiating. Not to mention that Donaghy surely didn’t succeed in every attempt to shave points, and may have still made the right call more often than not.
However, Tim Donaghy will please guilty to the charges. What does that mean for the NBA, and for Donaghy?
Over 50 years ago, NBA referee Sol Levy was arrested for charges of point-shaving. The case lasted two-and-a-half years, before escaping on a technicality.
This was in the league’s first decade of existence, before the league had expanded across the country and before casual fans followed the likes of Jordan, Magic, and Bird.
While the NBA may not be at the top of its glory, if the league could survive in the beginning of its existence, it definitely won’t collapse now.
July 13, 2007 at 2:11 pm · Filed under General, NBA
We’ve set up a page to cover all of the NBA offseason thus far. The page lists all of the signings so far, as well as a couple trades and the salary cap information for the 2007-08 season. If you notice we’ve missed anything, feel free to let me know in the comments sections of the page.
The San Antonio Spurs definitely know what they’re doing, judging by their domination this past decade, but they allowed themselves to get ripped off in their trade with the Houston Rockets. The Spurs traded the rights to top international prospect Luis Scola and big man Jackie Butler. In return the team got Vassilis Spanoulis, who apparently said before this trade that he wouldn’t come over to the NBA if traded to the Spurs and offered a starting spot. That being said, this move was purely financial as the champions continue to play with no salary cap worries.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have targeted Mike Bibby as their next point guard. The team is in talks with the Sacramento Kings, and the teams were close to a three-way deal with the Spurs before the Scola/Spanoulis trade.
After averaging 9.5 fouls a game in summer league action, Greg Oden decided to sit out the rest of the Las Vegas action to have his tonsils removed. Portland Trailblazers officials say that his tonsils seriously affected his poor performance, although on the other hand, his performance may have caused the inflammation of his tonsils.
July 6, 2007 at 2:37 pm · Filed under NBA
Although this is only the fourth season of existence, the Las Vegas Summer League has attracted 22 teams to bring their young players to Sin City. The teams include the Chinese international team, as well as every team in the Western Conference except for the Utah Jazz.
Likely not a coincidence, Team China won’t take on the Milwaukee Bucks in summer league action. Bucks GM Larry Harris wants to meet with #6 draft pick Yi Jianlian, whose agent continues to push for a trade. Apparently, Yi will play for the Chinese national team, although Harris may hope to get him in a Bucks uniform.
The Cleveland Cavaliers invited former LeBron James teammate Romeo Travis to play for their summer league team. That provides a pleasant reminder that James should could have played his four years of college basketball now, but he made a pretty smooth transition by most standards.
Kevin Durant and Greg Oden surprised some people when each announced that they would play for their summer league team. The two teams meet in summer-league on July 15th, and if you care to watch a bunch of future NBDL and overseas players, you can catch the game on the NBA’s summer league website.
The NBDL announced its team affiliations. The owners of the #1 and #2 picks this year, the Portland Trailblazers and Seattle Sonics, share a D-League affiliate. Also, the San Antonio Spurs joined the Los Angeles Lakers as the only two teams with sole management of their affiliated team.
