By Henry Abbott
- Sounds like Delonte West is day-to-day with ... whatever's going on. One NBA Insider told me he hopes the team will give West several months away from basketball to fine tune things without the pressure of the spotlight. West has already been treated for depression, was recently busted for speeding in front of a marked police car with three loaded weapons, and then went AWOL for a short while from his team. Now West has reportedly had a new round of issues including a domestic violence report filed by his wife. "We're not talking about an elbow injury," says the source. "If it was his heart would we want to rush him back on the court? The brain? ... It's not easy."
- The things teams are doing to save money in a bad economy. One team (cough, Bobcats) is replacing expensive half-time acts with local kids playing basketball against each other. Part of the reason for doing so is that their parents tend to buy tickets. You see what that is? It's the NBA -- the league of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant -- turning to your local (free) little league to improve the appeal of the product.
- The designs of the NBA's 30 courts. The NBA isn't like college, where some teams have crazy-colored playing surfaces or anything. Which is the best? Very hard to argue with the classic look in Boston, but the new/old Philadelphia logo is not without its appeal.
- Lamar and Khloe Odom get tattoos of each other's initials on their hands. A commenter points out that in Swedish "LO" and "KO" mean "bobcat" and "cow." Of course, those initials together also sound just like the Spanish word for "crazy."
- The NBA has new rims this year.
- The preseason is meaningless. Right? An examination. In short, for the Hornets through the last several years, the preseason has had some correlation with the regular season.
- Not a team captain: Derrick Rose. He's shy, and young, so I can see how that would happen. But don't expect the same again next year, when he'll be less shy and less young.
- The other day in a season preview chat, we learned about the Thunder's only fan in Iceland. Now you can really get to know the guy.
- Kevin Pelton tells Valley of the Suns that Steve Nash is hardly fading: "I broke down Nash’s advanced stats by coach, and under [Alvin] Gentry [the latter part of last season] he played as well as he ever had in his career."
- Kwame Brown pokes fun at his own ball-handling abilities, or lack thereof.
- Why did the Pistons waive Deron Washington? Keeping him would have cost the same money, and they're not short of roster spots.
- Previewing tonight's games, with fancy highlight videos.
- Anyone doubt this performance would win the NBA dunk contest?
TRUEHOOP CONTRIBUTORS
Henry AbbottTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
J.A. AdandeTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Kevin ArnovitzTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chris BroussardTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chad FordTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Tom HaberstrohTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
John HollingerTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Marc SteinTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
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