Getty Images
Derrick Rose, off to an impressive start with seven points and two assists, played just five minutes before succumbing to a strained right hip flexor in a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks Friday.
After Richardson Jefferson fouled Rose when the speedy guard turned Dan Gadzuric around on a fast break, Rose landed awkwardly and came up limping. He later rode a stationary bicycle near the bench but didn't return.
"It's nothing serious," Rose said. "I could've gone back in, but they kept me out as a precaution. My leg was caught behind me, and all my momentum was going forward. I should be fine."
Source: Chicago Tribune
-
Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:51 pm EDT
Grant Hill loses starting job to Barnes in Phoenix
Getty Images
There has been a chaning of the guard, may that small forward, in Phoenix. Suns coach Terry Porter named Matt Barnes the starter at small forward over Grant Hill.
The move makes sense for several reasons. Barnes brings defense, athleticism and more 3-point shooting range to help with spacing the floor for the starters. And Hill brings experience and ball-handling ability to the second unit when rookie Goran Dragic is manning the point guard spot.
"Grant brings calmness to that second unit and he can help Goran - who has made a lot of strides by is still very experienced — as another person who can handle the ball. Matt fits well with the first unit as a spacer, while Grant will allow Goran and L.B. (Leandro Barbosa) to do the same thing with that second group."
Hill has started 697 times in his 705 NBA games, but doesn't feel coming off the bench will be a problem.
"I anticipated this when we signed Matt and Coach Porter and I have talked about preserving my minutes this season," said Hill, who will likely see his minutes diminish from 31.7 last year to 25-27 this year. "You look at guys like Manu (Ginobili) and L.B. and they have a big impact on games when they come in. I'd like to think I can do something in that vein. We're trying to win a championship and we all have to make sacrifices. It will be different, but once you get on the court it is still basketball."
Barnes, who has 64 starts in his NBA career — most of them with Golden State — said he didn't care either way, but "it's an honor to start for a team with this much talent."
Source: East Valley Tribune
-
Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:20 pm EDT
Shaq may get more rest on back-to-back to nights
Getty Images
He he may called Superman but it quite clear Shaquille O'Neal is no longer the man of steel. O'Neal sat out the second of back-to-back preseason games Tuesday in Los Angeles, and Phoenix Suns coach Terry Porter said he may employ a similar regimen for the 36-year-old center during the regular season — limiting minutes or sitting him out completely when the matchups are favorable.
"We may do a little bit of both. Of all the guys who have played that position, he's probably been fouled the most and beaten on numerous times," Porter said. "We want to be proactive in giving him enough minutes to stay sharp, but looking at the big picture and giving him ample time to get rest. He might go 28-30 minutes (in the first or second game of a back-to-back) and then the second night he might be limited or not play."
The Suns won't rest O'Neal in all such situations.
The Suns open the season in San Antonio Wednesday and face New Orleans at home the next night.
Source: East Valley Tribune
-
Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:06 am EDT
Will Memphis move Crittenton to Magic?
Getty Images
It has become apparent that there will be minimal playing time for second-year guard Jararis Crittenton behind O.J. Mayo with the Memphis Grizzlies. Griz head coach Marc Iavaroni was asked if the team had any interest in trading second-year guard Javaris Crittenton to the Magic.
While the Griz haven't discussed any potential deals with any team regarding Crittenton he could still could be moved, perhaps to the Orlando Magic.
"I don't see Javaris Crittenton as a backup point guard," Iavaroni said. "We have two point guards, and Marko Jaric is capable and can play point guard."
As for possible deals, Iavaroni said: "We're always interested in improving our team. If we found a situation that would help us, we'd look at it."
Source: Memphis Commercial Appeal
-
Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:00 am EDT
Yao denies he has retired from Chinese National Team
Getty Images
Yao Ming denied reports out of Shanghai that said he'd decided to retire from the Chinese national team.
"I haven't announced that," Yao said after Wednesday's practice. "I think now there is no national team and all I want to worry about is playing 82 games and the playoffs. I don't know where the news came from.
"I'm not aware of that. Maybe he heard something from somebody I know. It was not from me."
The 28-year-old Yao was still recovering from a broken bone in his left foot when he played for Team China in August at the Beijing Olympics. It was the third time Yao has represented China in the Olympic Games.
Source: Houston Chronicle
-
Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:46 am EDT
Pacers trying to move Tinsley to keep Croshere
Getty Images
Austin knows his second stint with the Indiana Pacers could end by Monday, when NBA rosters must be trimmed to the league mandated 15 players.
The Pacers conclude their preseason tonight against Dallas. So this could be Croshere's last game in a Pacers uniform. He spent his first nine seasons with the franchise, playing a key role in the 2000 NBA Finals. Pacers president Larry Bird brought Croshere to camp with the intention of giving him every opportunity to make the roster. In order for him to stay, however, someone with a guaranteed contract must be cut.
The Pacers are continuing to pursue trade options for point guard Jamaal Tinsley, who remains away from the team. They're talking to "several teams" about Tinsley, but no deal appears imminent.
Pacers general manager David Morway said Croshere and Josh Davis have "had terrific camps, so we have some tough decisions to make."
Source: Indianapolis Star
-
Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:39 am EDT
Maggette says hamstring will not keep him out of opener
Getty Images
There is only a week to go before the Golden State Warriors open their regular season. Then why was their $50 million investment, Corey Maggette, was sitting on the floor during Wednesday's practice, an ice pack over his right leg?
Maggette has a strained hamstring. He said it will not prevent him from playing in the season-opener. But will it keep him from playing well?
"Oh, yeah," he said. "That never crossed my mind that I won't play Wednesday. I've got a lot of time."
Maggette averaged 22.1 points for the Clippers last season but missed several games with a strained right hamstring (he appeared in 70 of 82 games). He said his current injury is different because it's higher in the leg but added, "Hamstrings are probably the trickiest injuries" because a primary treatment is rest.
The forward said he "tweaked" the hamstring in Saturday's exhibition in China, but he played Tuesday's exhibition against a Lithuanian club team, collecting 17 points and five rebounds in 26 minutes. He had five turnovers, wasn't at his best defensively and said he wasn't able to drive with power.
So he's skipping two practices, though he suited up Wednesday and shot lots of free throws.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
-
Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:31 am EDT
Brand, Dalembert need to get on same page in Philly
Getty Images
The newest addtion to the Philadelphia 76ers, Elton Brand has said that he and point guard Andre Miller quickly found themselves on the same page, but that it's taking longer with center Samuel Dalembert.
Brand, the first legitimate low-post power forward during coach Maurice Cheeks' tenure, is unaccustomed to playing with a center who can dive to the rim, making remarkably athletic plays, catching lobs for dunks, but who also can step out and drain a 12-to-15 foot jump shot. Dalembert, in turn, hasn't played with a power forward who can consistently command a double-team. With that threat, the center must be consistently aware of rebounding from the weak side.
Here's the perspective of Theo Ratliff, who has played both positions during his long career:
"They have to avoid running into each other. Both are good shot-blockers, and might tend to go to the ball, and then you might leave a guy open. It's about thinking the game and they're both pretty good thinkers on the floor. "Offensively, Elton knows how to pick and choose his spots, so Sam just has to play off him. Sam's a pretty good player off the ball. He's been doing it his whole career. It's a long season. It's just going to take some time."
Source: Philly.com
-
Thu Oct 23, 2008 7:15 am EDT
Kobe says knee is fine, could play Thursday
Getty Images
You can't blame Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant for fearing the worst. When he hear a a crackling sound in his right knee after he banged it into the knee of teammate Josh Powell while chasing a rebound in Tuesday's game, who wouldn't fear the worst?
Bryant, after walking off on his own power to a locker room at the San Diego Sports Arena, was told he had a hyperextended right knee. Make that only a hyperextended right knee. In fact, he might play Thursday night in an exhibition rematch against Charlotte in Anaheim.
"If I'm good enough to go, I'm going to go. I don't see why not," he said.
Bryant said he "should be fine" for the season opener Tuesday against Portland.
Bryant reported some soreness, but he can put weight on the knee and crouch down low with it, according to the Los Angeles Times.
He did not practice Wednesday and had ice wrapped around his knee at the team's training facility as he recounted the tension he felt the previous night.
Source: Los Angeles Times
-
Wed Oct 22, 2008 11:24 am EDT
Cavs' West battling mood disorder
Getty Images
Delonte West of the Cleveland Cavaliers left the team for 2 weeks, and finally returned last week. After a few days, he finally acknowledged publicly that he had been battling a mood disorder.
"Before you can help out a team or an organization, you've got to be able to help yourself first so you can give your undivided attention to the job at hand," West, preparing for his fifth NBA season, told reporters in Cleveland. "I removed myself from the team so I could get myself together so I could not be a distraction to the team and what we're trying to accomplish here. For a while, you feel like a weaker man because you've got to raise your hand and ask for help. But I found out over the last week that made me a stronger person."
Dr. Joel Fish, a sports psychologist who has worked with the 76ers for 12 years and is a member of a league steering committee to speak about mental-health issues, explained: "There is no relationship between NBA talent and NBA personalities. Because players are big and strong physically, they're not necessarily strong emotionally."
Fish believes West will get solid support from his peers because, "Players know what it's like to be in somebody else's shoes. They understand they're not machines, they're not robots. It's not a matter of being strong or weak, soft or tough. They're flesh and blood like anyone else. Depression, with treatment, can get better."
West did not address questions about his disorder before contributing five points and seven rebounds off the bench in the Cavaliers' 91-83 preseason win over the Sixers at the Wachovia Center last night.
Source: Philly.com
Saturday, October 25, 2008
nba rumors
Friday, May 30, 2008
#
Jason Maxiell, Rasheed Wallace
Getty Images
Friday night, they pull out the old armor, they tug on the rusty helmets, they lift the familiar swords. But if they fall, it is over. Know that. This annual drama, this thrilling but maddening Pistons attitude ends tonight if the Celtics win. All good theatre runs its course, and the Pistons Entitlement Show of the past four years has become a feisty but weary act. It might have one great performance left. It may still hold a championship. But, like a Broadway hit with dwindling box office, it is being watched by its backers very carefully. And a curtain hangs overhead wrote Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom.
"We're going to come out and we're going to fight and we're going to scratch," Chauncey Billups said well after midnight following the Game 5 loss at Boston. "We're going to claw and do the things that we've been known to do."
Sounds good. Sounds strong. But ask this tough question: What things have the Pistons "been known to do?" Since winning the NBA title in 2004, they have been known to: 1) Steal playoff games. 2) Throw away playoff games. 3) Win strong on the road. 4) Lose ugly at home. 5) Go longer than needed against inferior teams. 6) Oust challengers in seven games. 7) Watch certain stars drift off the stage. 8) Stay cool. 9) Lose their cool. 10) Face elimination. 11) Say they like the pressure. And 12) Get eliminated anyhow.
Much has been made of the six straight trips to the Eastern Conference finals. And it is impressive. But if the Pistons bow out tonight or Sunday, they will have lost four of those six. That's nothing to hang your hat on. There has long been a feeling that these Pistons are defending champions, even when they are not defending anything more than "Eastern Conference Semifinalist."
Source: Detroit Free Press
* 75 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Friday, May 30, 2008 8:02 am EDT
Don't worry about Game 6, there will be a Game 7
Chauncey Billups
Getty Images
The Boston Celtics survived, but they will not forget this. They can't. They have flirted with disaster too many times in these playoffs, raised too many questions about their mettle down the stretch, and though they go to Detroit with a 3-2 lead, they also have to come home and do this all over again. Do you really think the Celtics will close out the Pistons at the Palace on Friday night? I don't see it happening. This series has been too close, and the Celtics remain 1-7 on the road in the playoffs. This is the same Celtics team that could not close out Atlanta or Cleveland on the road in Game 6 wrote Detroit Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg. And are you telling me the Detroit Pistons can't win Game 7 in Boston?
"We can't worry about a Game 7 right now," Chauncey Billups said. "We've gotta worry about Game 6."
If you think the Pistons are finished, you shut off the television early in the fourth quarter, when the Pistons looked finished. You didn't see Boston come oh-so-close to one of the great chokes in NBA history. The Pistons almost came all the way back from a 17-point deficit. That will stick with the Celtics, who needed seven games to beat the lowly Hawks and came within a few shots of blowing Game 7 against undermanned Cleveland.
Source: Detroit Free Press
* 75 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Friday, May 30, 2008 7:58 am EDT
Players who flop to draw fouls will be fined by NBA
David Stern
Getty Images
According to Newsday, NBA commissioner David Stern will institute a policy next season in which players who flop in an attempt to draw fouls would be fined. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Stern dismissed giving referees the power to assess technical fouls for flopping or incorporating a point system in the same manner as flagrant fouls.
The source said flopping has been one of Stern's biggest pet peeves when it comes to the game. The source said his intention is to hit players in the wallet early and often, starting with the preseason. The hope is by midseason players will have gotten the point. The league will use NBA officials who already keep tabs on games throughout the league to monitor flopping. Those individuals will present to the league videotape of plays that are viewed as flops and the league will determine whether or not to assess a fine.
Source: Boston.com
* 67 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Friday, May 30, 2008 7:56 am EDT
Collins, Bulls discuss coaching opening
Doug Collins
Getty Images
Doug Collins, who guided the Chicago Bulls and a young Michael Jordan from 1986-89 but couldn't get them past Detroit in the playoffs, has talked with the team about returning as coach.
"I have spoken with Bulls management recently about their head coaching vacancy and will resume conversations after the conclusion of my work for TNT in the Western Conference finals," Collins said yesterday from Los Angeles, where he was working Game 5 of the Spurs-Lakers series. "There is no agreement in place."
During a pregame interview on TNT, Collins said he talked with Bulls general manager John Paxson and team owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
"I have not been offered. I have not accepted," Collins said. "Jerry Reinsdorf has been a friend of mine the last 20 years, so he and I have spoken on a lot of occasions over the last 20 years . . . the whole thing is there's interest on both sides."
Collins added that as soon as the Western Conference finals were over, "we've agreed to sit down and talk to see exactly what is there."
Source: Associated Press
* 24 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Friday, May 30, 2008 7:54 am EDT
Pistons not sure if Hamilton will be able to play
Richard Hamilton
Getty Images
The Detroit Pistons don't know if Richard Hamilton will be healthy enough to play against the Boston Celtics Friday night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. Detroit's leading scorer strained his right elbow in the final seconds of Boston's 106-102 win Wednesday night in Game 5. X-rays were negative, and Hamilton's arm was in a sling as he left TD Banknorth Garden.
"If we had to play [yesterday], I don't think he'd play," said coach Flip Saunders, whose team didn't practice yesterday. "It would be different if it was the left arm, but it's his right arm. The shooting arm. The golden arm."
Hamilton will be a game-time decision. If he cannot play, Saunders said he would probably insert rookie Rodney Stuckey at shooting guard.
Source: Associated Press
* 18 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Friday, May 30, 2008 7:48 am EDT
Bryant comes up big down the stretch for LA
Kobe Bryant
Getty Images
For more than six months, the Los Angeles Lakers had proven they were more than a one-man team. Luke Walton, like the half-dozen other players who had helped turn the Lakers into the best team in the Western Conference, knew he was capable of making a difference according to the San Antonio Express-News.
But late in the third quarter of Thursday's Game 5 of the conference finals at Staples Center, Walton and his counterparts realized they wouldn't be the ones to take the Lakers' final step back to the NBA Finals. All it took was one look at Kobe Bryant to understand that.
"We saw it in his eyes," Walton said. "He wanted the ball."
And when Bryant got it, he did exactly what the rest of the Lakers knew he would. Bryant scored 22 of his 39 points in the final 13:42, ending the Spurs' season and lifting the Lakers to the championship round for the first time in four years.
Source: Express-News
* 714 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Friday, May 30, 2008 7:26 am EDT
Happy ending all that is missing from Lakers' script
Jordan Farmar
Getty Images
From Finished to Finals. The most improbable Hollywood twist in a franchise built upon them took another spin Thursday, an entire city now whirling in its wake. From Loons to June. Months after they began a season with one whining diva and seven dwarfs, the Lakers are bringing a legitimate fable into the NBA Finals. From Shock to Awe. With a 100-92 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, the team that began the season as an NBA joke is now just four wins from an NBA championship wrote Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke.
No more punch lines, just punch, a dozen playoff wins in 15 playoff games. No more laugh track, just tracks, huge and imposing, most recently on the backs of the defending NBA champs, who were buried Thursday for the fourth time in five games.
"We have so many ways to win," said Jordan Farmar, shaking his head in the wonder that envelopes his city today.
They seemingly used them all in the Western Conference finals clincher, a game that was a metaphor for a season. The Lakers won after a horrendous start left them trailing in the second quarter by 17 points.
Source: Los Angeles Times
* 33 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Thursday, May 29, 2008 11:08 am EDT
Lakers winning games on the glass
Pau Gasol
Getty Images
There's a basketball axiom that claims "rebounding wins championships." For the defending NBA-champion San Antonio Spurs, that statement has proved to be true in this year's Western Conference finals against the Lakers, who have consistently dominated Coach Gregg Popovich's aging Spurs team on the backboards according to the Los Angeles Times.
Except for Tim Duncan's steady rebounding, the Spurs have been outworked by the Lakers at retrieving missed shots. That was evident in the Lakers' 93-91 victory over San Antonio on Tuesday, which gave them a commanding 3-1 lead heading into tonight's Game 5. Despite Duncan's game-high 17 boards, the Lakers out-rebounded the Spurs, 46-37, with Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant each grabbing 10. And thanks to the Lakers' overall edge in rebounding, they were able to control the basketball for crucial stretches of Game 4, especially in the fourth quarter.
So, how are the Lakers' getting this done? Although the Lakers lack a monster rebounder, they have a group of hard-working big men willing to bang bodies underneath the basket. In four playoff games against the Spurs, Lamar Odom is averaging a team-high 10 rebounds, followed by Gasol, who is averaging nearly eight, while Bryant and Vladimir Radmanovic each are grabbing nearly six. Reserves Luke Walton and Ronny Turiaf are also averaging six more rebounds per game off the bench.
Every time a shot goes up, the Lakers are boxing out San Antonio players around the basket to grab the rebound themselves or open up an opportunity for a teammate. And with the height and long arms of players like Gasol, Odom, Radmanovic and even Turiaf, the Lakers have built a high wall near the rim on missed shots, which has prevented smaller San Antonio players from getting cheap rebounds.
Source: Los Angeles Times
* 116 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Thursday, May 29, 2008 11:03 am EDT
NBA said Fisher fouled Barry
Brent Barry
Getty Images
Talk about a late whistle. Twenty-four hours after he collided with the San Antonio Spurs' Brent Barry with Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on the line, the Los Angeles Lakers' Derek Fisher was called for a foul.
"With the benefit of instant replay, it appears a foul call should have been made," said a statement by NBA spokesman Tim Frank.
With the Spurs trailing by two, Barry, a 95% free-throw shooter in the regular season, would have been given a two-shot foul, giving the Spurs a shot at overtime in a game in which they never led. Unfortunately for San Antonio, the admission does nothing more than set the record straight. The result will not change, the Spurs still trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven series after walking off the AT&T Center court Tuesday night 93-91 losers.
Game 5 is tonight at Staples Center.
Source: Los Angeles Times
* 360 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Thursday, May 29, 2008 9:35 am EDT
Perkins makes biggest contribution yet to Celtics
Kendrick Perkins
Getty Images
In the first half of Game 5 last night, all you could do was watch Kendrick Perkins. The Celtics center demanded it. He used his 6-foot-10-inch, 280-pound frame to back his way toward the basket and then pull away for a jumper. He maneuvered around bodies for rebounds. He continued his consistent play in the Eastern Conference finals, taking over the first half before finishing with career playoff highs of 18 points and 16 rebounds in the Celtics' 106-102 victory.
At halftime, Perkins owned 13 rebounds, two more than the Pistons as a whole, and 12 points, as many points as he scored in Game 3.
"Coming into this series, that was the No. 2 of the things that we felt we had to do to win this series," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "No. 1 was ball pressure. . . . [Perkins] went out and did it, and I thought that freed everyone else. He was sensational tonight, played with great energy. That's three games in a row that Kendrick Perkins has been absolutely phenomenal."
Perkins did most of his damage by limiting the Pistons' second-chance points. He loaded up 11 defensive boards for the game, while the Pistons were limited to just five offensive rebounds. As a team, the Celtics pulled down 31 defensive rebounds (42 total), compared with the Pistons' 25 total rebounds.
Jason Maxiell, Rasheed Wallace
Getty Images
Friday night, they pull out the old armor, they tug on the rusty helmets, they lift the familiar swords. But if they fall, it is over. Know that. This annual drama, this thrilling but maddening Pistons attitude ends tonight if the Celtics win. All good theatre runs its course, and the Pistons Entitlement Show of the past four years has become a feisty but weary act. It might have one great performance left. It may still hold a championship. But, like a Broadway hit with dwindling box office, it is being watched by its backers very carefully. And a curtain hangs overhead wrote Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom.
"We're going to come out and we're going to fight and we're going to scratch," Chauncey Billups said well after midnight following the Game 5 loss at Boston. "We're going to claw and do the things that we've been known to do."
Sounds good. Sounds strong. But ask this tough question: What things have the Pistons "been known to do?" Since winning the NBA title in 2004, they have been known to: 1) Steal playoff games. 2) Throw away playoff games. 3) Win strong on the road. 4) Lose ugly at home. 5) Go longer than needed against inferior teams. 6) Oust challengers in seven games. 7) Watch certain stars drift off the stage. 8) Stay cool. 9) Lose their cool. 10) Face elimination. 11) Say they like the pressure. And 12) Get eliminated anyhow.
Much has been made of the six straight trips to the Eastern Conference finals. And it is impressive. But if the Pistons bow out tonight or Sunday, they will have lost four of those six. That's nothing to hang your hat on. There has long been a feeling that these Pistons are defending champions, even when they are not defending anything more than "Eastern Conference Semifinalist."
Source: Detroit Free Press
* 75 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Friday, May 30, 2008 8:02 am EDT
Don't worry about Game 6, there will be a Game 7
Chauncey Billups
Getty Images
The Boston Celtics survived, but they will not forget this. They can't. They have flirted with disaster too many times in these playoffs, raised too many questions about their mettle down the stretch, and though they go to Detroit with a 3-2 lead, they also have to come home and do this all over again. Do you really think the Celtics will close out the Pistons at the Palace on Friday night? I don't see it happening. This series has been too close, and the Celtics remain 1-7 on the road in the playoffs. This is the same Celtics team that could not close out Atlanta or Cleveland on the road in Game 6 wrote Detroit Free Press columnist Michael Rosenberg. And are you telling me the Detroit Pistons can't win Game 7 in Boston?
"We can't worry about a Game 7 right now," Chauncey Billups said. "We've gotta worry about Game 6."
If you think the Pistons are finished, you shut off the television early in the fourth quarter, when the Pistons looked finished. You didn't see Boston come oh-so-close to one of the great chokes in NBA history. The Pistons almost came all the way back from a 17-point deficit. That will stick with the Celtics, who needed seven games to beat the lowly Hawks and came within a few shots of blowing Game 7 against undermanned Cleveland.
Source: Detroit Free Press
* 75 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Friday, May 30, 2008 7:58 am EDT
Players who flop to draw fouls will be fined by NBA
David Stern
Getty Images
According to Newsday, NBA commissioner David Stern will institute a policy next season in which players who flop in an attempt to draw fouls would be fined. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Stern dismissed giving referees the power to assess technical fouls for flopping or incorporating a point system in the same manner as flagrant fouls.
The source said flopping has been one of Stern's biggest pet peeves when it comes to the game. The source said his intention is to hit players in the wallet early and often, starting with the preseason. The hope is by midseason players will have gotten the point. The league will use NBA officials who already keep tabs on games throughout the league to monitor flopping. Those individuals will present to the league videotape of plays that are viewed as flops and the league will determine whether or not to assess a fine.
Source: Boston.com
* 67 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Friday, May 30, 2008 7:56 am EDT
Collins, Bulls discuss coaching opening
Doug Collins
Getty Images
Doug Collins, who guided the Chicago Bulls and a young Michael Jordan from 1986-89 but couldn't get them past Detroit in the playoffs, has talked with the team about returning as coach.
"I have spoken with Bulls management recently about their head coaching vacancy and will resume conversations after the conclusion of my work for TNT in the Western Conference finals," Collins said yesterday from Los Angeles, where he was working Game 5 of the Spurs-Lakers series. "There is no agreement in place."
During a pregame interview on TNT, Collins said he talked with Bulls general manager John Paxson and team owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
"I have not been offered. I have not accepted," Collins said. "Jerry Reinsdorf has been a friend of mine the last 20 years, so he and I have spoken on a lot of occasions over the last 20 years . . . the whole thing is there's interest on both sides."
Collins added that as soon as the Western Conference finals were over, "we've agreed to sit down and talk to see exactly what is there."
Source: Associated Press
* 24 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Friday, May 30, 2008 7:54 am EDT
Pistons not sure if Hamilton will be able to play
Richard Hamilton
Getty Images
The Detroit Pistons don't know if Richard Hamilton will be healthy enough to play against the Boston Celtics Friday night in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. Detroit's leading scorer strained his right elbow in the final seconds of Boston's 106-102 win Wednesday night in Game 5. X-rays were negative, and Hamilton's arm was in a sling as he left TD Banknorth Garden.
"If we had to play [yesterday], I don't think he'd play," said coach Flip Saunders, whose team didn't practice yesterday. "It would be different if it was the left arm, but it's his right arm. The shooting arm. The golden arm."
Hamilton will be a game-time decision. If he cannot play, Saunders said he would probably insert rookie Rodney Stuckey at shooting guard.
Source: Associated Press
* 18 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Friday, May 30, 2008 7:48 am EDT
Bryant comes up big down the stretch for LA
Kobe Bryant
Getty Images
For more than six months, the Los Angeles Lakers had proven they were more than a one-man team. Luke Walton, like the half-dozen other players who had helped turn the Lakers into the best team in the Western Conference, knew he was capable of making a difference according to the San Antonio Express-News.
But late in the third quarter of Thursday's Game 5 of the conference finals at Staples Center, Walton and his counterparts realized they wouldn't be the ones to take the Lakers' final step back to the NBA Finals. All it took was one look at Kobe Bryant to understand that.
"We saw it in his eyes," Walton said. "He wanted the ball."
And when Bryant got it, he did exactly what the rest of the Lakers knew he would. Bryant scored 22 of his 39 points in the final 13:42, ending the Spurs' season and lifting the Lakers to the championship round for the first time in four years.
Source: Express-News
* 714 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Friday, May 30, 2008 7:26 am EDT
Happy ending all that is missing from Lakers' script
Jordan Farmar
Getty Images
From Finished to Finals. The most improbable Hollywood twist in a franchise built upon them took another spin Thursday, an entire city now whirling in its wake. From Loons to June. Months after they began a season with one whining diva and seven dwarfs, the Lakers are bringing a legitimate fable into the NBA Finals. From Shock to Awe. With a 100-92 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, the team that began the season as an NBA joke is now just four wins from an NBA championship wrote Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke.
No more punch lines, just punch, a dozen playoff wins in 15 playoff games. No more laugh track, just tracks, huge and imposing, most recently on the backs of the defending NBA champs, who were buried Thursday for the fourth time in five games.
"We have so many ways to win," said Jordan Farmar, shaking his head in the wonder that envelopes his city today.
They seemingly used them all in the Western Conference finals clincher, a game that was a metaphor for a season. The Lakers won after a horrendous start left them trailing in the second quarter by 17 points.
Source: Los Angeles Times
* 33 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Thursday, May 29, 2008 11:08 am EDT
Lakers winning games on the glass
Pau Gasol
Getty Images
There's a basketball axiom that claims "rebounding wins championships." For the defending NBA-champion San Antonio Spurs, that statement has proved to be true in this year's Western Conference finals against the Lakers, who have consistently dominated Coach Gregg Popovich's aging Spurs team on the backboards according to the Los Angeles Times.
Except for Tim Duncan's steady rebounding, the Spurs have been outworked by the Lakers at retrieving missed shots. That was evident in the Lakers' 93-91 victory over San Antonio on Tuesday, which gave them a commanding 3-1 lead heading into tonight's Game 5. Despite Duncan's game-high 17 boards, the Lakers out-rebounded the Spurs, 46-37, with Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant each grabbing 10. And thanks to the Lakers' overall edge in rebounding, they were able to control the basketball for crucial stretches of Game 4, especially in the fourth quarter.
So, how are the Lakers' getting this done? Although the Lakers lack a monster rebounder, they have a group of hard-working big men willing to bang bodies underneath the basket. In four playoff games against the Spurs, Lamar Odom is averaging a team-high 10 rebounds, followed by Gasol, who is averaging nearly eight, while Bryant and Vladimir Radmanovic each are grabbing nearly six. Reserves Luke Walton and Ronny Turiaf are also averaging six more rebounds per game off the bench.
Every time a shot goes up, the Lakers are boxing out San Antonio players around the basket to grab the rebound themselves or open up an opportunity for a teammate. And with the height and long arms of players like Gasol, Odom, Radmanovic and even Turiaf, the Lakers have built a high wall near the rim on missed shots, which has prevented smaller San Antonio players from getting cheap rebounds.
Source: Los Angeles Times
* 116 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Thursday, May 29, 2008 11:03 am EDT
NBA said Fisher fouled Barry
Brent Barry
Getty Images
Talk about a late whistle. Twenty-four hours after he collided with the San Antonio Spurs' Brent Barry with Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on the line, the Los Angeles Lakers' Derek Fisher was called for a foul.
"With the benefit of instant replay, it appears a foul call should have been made," said a statement by NBA spokesman Tim Frank.
With the Spurs trailing by two, Barry, a 95% free-throw shooter in the regular season, would have been given a two-shot foul, giving the Spurs a shot at overtime in a game in which they never led. Unfortunately for San Antonio, the admission does nothing more than set the record straight. The result will not change, the Spurs still trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven series after walking off the AT&T Center court Tuesday night 93-91 losers.
Game 5 is tonight at Staples Center.
Source: Los Angeles Times
* 360 Comments
* Permanent Link
* Email this Entry
#
Thursday, May 29, 2008 9:35 am EDT
Perkins makes biggest contribution yet to Celtics
Kendrick Perkins
Getty Images
In the first half of Game 5 last night, all you could do was watch Kendrick Perkins. The Celtics center demanded it. He used his 6-foot-10-inch, 280-pound frame to back his way toward the basket and then pull away for a jumper. He maneuvered around bodies for rebounds. He continued his consistent play in the Eastern Conference finals, taking over the first half before finishing with career playoff highs of 18 points and 16 rebounds in the Celtics' 106-102 victory.
At halftime, Perkins owned 13 rebounds, two more than the Pistons as a whole, and 12 points, as many points as he scored in Game 3.
"Coming into this series, that was the No. 2 of the things that we felt we had to do to win this series," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "No. 1 was ball pressure. . . . [Perkins] went out and did it, and I thought that freed everyone else. He was sensational tonight, played with great energy. That's three games in a row that Kendrick Perkins has been absolutely phenomenal."
Perkins did most of his damage by limiting the Pistons' second-chance points. He loaded up 11 defensive boards for the game, while the Pistons were limited to just five offensive rebounds. As a team, the Celtics pulled down 31 defensive rebounds (42 total), compared with the Pistons' 25 total rebounds.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)