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Ray Allen was just informed that he will have to go to the shootaround while the rest of the Celtics celebrate Rajon Rondo's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese.

Is it possible that we're at the end of an NBA era without even realizing it? We're not talking about the stars - come game time Kobe, 'Melo, D-Wade, and LeBron will be doing their thing for years to come. No, what's got our attention is the possible demise of the daily lunchtime ritual known in NBA circles as "the shootaround."
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COOKING WITH GASOL
Check your scorecards, because last night it was the Spurs who were healthy and the Lakers who were hurting. So with Kobe Bryant (a bad ankle) and Andrew Bynum (a bad hip) on the bench, Pau Gasol (a bad man) filled up the stat-sheet in a 12-point win over the Spurs. 21 points. 19 rebounds. 8 assists. 5 blocked shots. (Whew.) It's been more than 10 years since anybody hit those numbers in the Association (see also: Shaquille O'Neal vs the Nuggets on January 10, 2000). And only four others have ever hit those numbers, at least since someone decided to start keeping track of blocked shots (in 1973): Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (twice), Bob McAdoo, Robert Parish, and Charles Barkley.

More from The Rundown, including what Kobe has to say about playing (or not) in the All-Star Game, and why LeBron is both a streaker and a swinger, after the jump.


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New Orleans celebrated the Super Bowl champion Saints long into Monday morning. Later in the day, we learned OT prospect Seantrel Henderson is still being recruited, Danica Patrick is racing at Daytona, and the NFL made a generous donation to Haiti. See those stories and more in the links below. So, In Case You Missed It, February 8, 2010 at a glance:

Super Bowl XLIV Breaks TV Record
The 26-year record for TV viewership went down Sunday. Super Bowl XLIV set a new mark for the most-watched television program in history.

Times-Picayune Sells Record Number of Issues
The Times-Picayune, New Orleans' largest newspaper, has been around for 173 years but they've never seen a day like this. The morning after the Saints won the Super Bowl, the newspaper set a record for issues sold.

NFL donates “Super Bowl Champion Colts" Gear to Haiti
Every year the NFL prints Super Bowl champion t-shirts and hats for each participant and donates the merchandise from the losing team to a worthy cause. The league announced Monday that this year those shirts and hats will be donated to the victims in Haiti.

Woods Caddie Says No Return Coming
Rumors were swirling that Tiger Woods was coming back to the PGA Tour February 17, but his caddie, Steve Williams, says those rumors are unfounded.

Danica Patrick to Make Her NASCAR Debut Saturday at Daytona
Danica Patrick announced Monday that she will make her Nationwide Series debut in Saturday's DRIVE4COPD 300. Patrick is coming of a strong 6th-place finish in the ARCA event over the weekend.

OT prospect Seantrel Henderson Still Available
On signing day, top OT prospect Seantrel Henderson verbally committed to USC, but never signed his letter of intent. Now he and his dad say they will wait to find out what sanctions are imposed by the NCAA (on USC) before signing.

Browns Release Troubled WR Donte Stallworth
Donté Stallworth had his suspension lifted, but is now a free agent after his former team, the Cleveland Browns, terminated his contract Monday.

AP Photo/David Smith

(5)Villanova (21-2, 10-1 Big East) bounced back from a big loss to (8)Georgetown to take out (4)West Virginia (19-4, 8-3 Big East) Monday. 'Nova G Scottie Reynolds led the way with 21 points, 19 in the second half, and the Wildcats shot 57% from the field. WVU F DaSean Butler struggled to find his shot, finishing 2 of 12 from the field and scoring 13 points. This comes one game after posting a season-high 33 against St. John's. The Moutaineers missed 14 free throws on their way to shooting a miserable 56% from the line. Villanova remains tied with (3)Syracuse for the top spot in the conference.

Drew Brees outstanding performance Sunday capped a historic playoff run. Brees is the 5th QB in the Super Bowl era to throw at least 8 touchdowns without an interception in a single postseason. He finished the Saints Super Bowl run completing 70.5% of his passes for 732 yards with a QB rating of 115.4.

Glenn James/NBAE/Getty Images
Don't be scared. Mark and Jerry are only thinking of ways to squeeze you into Cowboys Stadium.


With NBA All-Star Weekend approaching like a stampede of prized cattle, the league announced that more than 90,000 fans will attend the game at Cowboys Stadium. That figure will trample the previous basketball attendance record set when 78,129 witnessed Michigan State versus Kentucky on 12/13/03 at Detroit's Ford Field. It'll also double the size of the biggest crowd at an All-Star game when 44,735 packed into the Houston Astrodome in '89. However, impressive as the 90,000 mark may be, it's not Texas-sized enough for party hosts Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban:

"Well, we want to push the magical number and we think we have an opportunity here," said Jones. "We're well along the way right now: one-double-0." Nobody likes making Arlington fire marshals sweat like the Cowboys' owner.
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(5) Villanova (20-2, 9-1 Big East) vs (4) West Virginia (19-3, 8-2 Big East)
7:00 PM ET, February 8, 2010 -- WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, WV -- ESPN

Two top-5 teams tonight when No. 5 Villanova invades Morgantown to take on No. 4 West Virginia. The Mountaineers have won 4 straight in Morgantown and are 12-3 all-time at home vs Villanova. West Virginia is 6-2 against ranked Villanova teams, including 2-0 when both teams are ranked. West Virginia is 0-2 against top-five opponents this season (18-1 against everyone else). This is Villanova’s 2nd game in 3 days on the road vs a top-ten opponent (lost 103-90 at 8 Georgetown Saturday). The last time Villanova faced back-to-back top ten teams in the regular season was in 2005. They lost to No. 9 Boston College 67-66 on Jan. 19, 2005, but then took down No. 2 Kansas 83-62.

Scottie Reynolds, Career vs West Virginia
Games 3
PPG 9.3 (28/3)
FG % 31.8 (7-22)
Asst-TO 2-11

Game Preview: (4) Villanova vs (5) West Virginia


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AP Photo/ David Duprey
Something tells us Terrell Owens Ochouno could have a problem sharing the spotlight.

You could argue that no one had more fun at Super Bowl week in Miami than Chad Ochocinco, but No. 85 mixed in a little bit of business with pleasure when he lobbied Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis to sign Terrell Owens for the 2010 season.

Something tells us the month leading up to the start of free agency (March 5) is going to be faaaaantastic. Because Owens, who is a free agent, seems to be all for the idea. In fact, The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Joe Reedy reported T.O. would change his name to Ochouno (eight one, in Spanish) if he did in fact play for the Bengals.

Yikes. Why do we think a name change is only the beginning of the antics these two would cook up together in Cincy? Separately, each is an attention-grabbing machine. Together? We can only imagine … .

First of all, the pair would take touchdown celebrations to a whole new level. The best part is, they wouldn't even have to think of anything new, they could just combine all their old tricks – something of an ode to their most famous works. The first time the Bengals play at Dallas? We’re picturing T.O. and Chad dressed in ponchos and sombreros, doing the Macarena on the Dallas star after one of them scores a touchdown.

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