- I am not Phil Stacey. (Yes, we both have shaved heads, but so does Michael Jordan, and believe me, no one confuses me with him.) Peter Schrager congratulated me on managing to run this blog while hanging in there with my performance career.
- In a Lion in Oil (that's a palindrome, BTW) interview, Jason Whitlock explains his "black KKK" remark ("Body by body- The tears are the same and the pain is the same. The violence is just so senseless. The fear that the gang-bangers prey on in the community is the same type of fear generated by the KKK. I understand that this is a strong analogy...") and offers a solution: “I think the most important thing is embracing education. We can’t let kids go to school and continue to be ridiculed for talking properly. Getting an education is not acting white. People are called ‘sell-outs’ for talking properly. Additionally, hip-hop culture has become an expression of prison values. 25% of guys in my generation in the black community are incarcerated because of our country’s punitive drug laws. We can’t keep continuing to build prisons and creating these punitive cages. We have to rehabilitate people. Some people even need to be ‘habilitated.’ Non-violent offenders need to be treated differently than violent-offenders.”
- Marcel Mutoni talks about the Knicks' overzealous PR department, and Howard Beck of the New York Times has a real-world example. In an article about the awkwardness of being Knick assistant Dave Hanners or Phil Ford--Larry Brown loyalists in a Garden that openly loathes Brown--Beck writes: "Approached individually, Ford and Hanners each said he would be happy to share his thoughts, pending approval from the team’s public-relations office. A week later, a Knicks spokesman said that neither coach wanted to be interviewed."
- Typically I try not to write a lot of "oh those poor multimillionaires" stuff, but you have to admit that never being in one place for long is a very tough aspect of the NBA life, especially if you have a family. This is from Brandon Roy's blog on Blazers.com: "Now, she is past her 35 week mark, so he could be born any day now. Now I'm on pins and needles, I'm so excited. I just can't wait until he gets here and I get to be a dad and start a new chapter in my life. My girlfriend is actually up in Seattle, we don't have any family around here and I wanted her to be around family in case the baby was born and I was out of town or something. I just want her to be comfortable and she has a good support group there, I just try and go and visit her as much as possible. I talked to Coach, about being there when he is born, and he said just let him know, they will make sure and get me out of here. We are still trying to improve this team, so right now, I am just trying to balance the two out, but I think Coach know that when I'm out on the court I'm all business and when I get a chance to go back home, then I try and do that."
- Remember when Maryland's Keith Gatlin iced a win over North Carolina by inbounding to himself (does Gatlin get an assist for that?) off Kenny Smith's back? I love gimmicks. Here's video.
- Basketbawful guest host Evil Ted: "...when the Bulls took Eddy Curry and Tyson Chandler out of high school, those two looked like really big high school players. Oden looks like a MAN. An adult. Somebody who's icy stare could freeze Ben Wallace in a prison shower."
- Many teams have been reluctant to embrace their friendly local independent bloggers. One reason they might want to reconsider: Golden State of Mind has sold nearly 80 tickets to a single game.
- Tim Hardaway is seeking your forgiveness, especially if you are David Stern.
- Sam Rubenstein: "No LeBron, Cavs win easily. Yes Ron Ron, Kings lose. Cleveland is 9-2 in the LeBron era when he does not play. So, which of the following is the best team? Cleveland without LeBron, Philly without Iverson and Webber, Miami without Wade, the Hawks without Joe Johnson, or the Knicks without Jamal Crawford? Everything we’ve been told about needing a superstar (and Jamal Crawford) is LIES! Unless you’re the Celtics, who really missed Paul Pierce. Or the Bucks with Michael Redd. I digress… let’s stop promoting these superstars, cut player salaries down to a tenth of what they are, restart the league promoting the teams instead over the overhyped individual, and go from there. Who’s with me?" (Also from SLAM, a great little SLAM vs. GQ battle is brewing.)
- Tom Ziller can't watch the Kings anymore: "Unless the Kings go on a 10-win streak, I think the Musselman era is coming to a close. The Maloofs can't handle this. I think the team itself is causing more problems than the coach, though the lines blur every time this squad can't compete with clearly inferior competition."
- Phoenix Suns at Dallas Mavericks. Tonight. (Lots of previews out there, but I like this one.)
- Eddie Sefko: "Back when they were young and silly – it seems like seven or eight years ago, but maybe it was just last month at the All-Star break in Las Vegas – Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash were novelty acts. They were young and free, and that's how they played basketball. They were full of energy and potential. They were fun to watch. Here's what they weren't: MVP material. Who in their right mind would have thought in 2001 that the skinny German and scrawny Canadian would be locked in a race for the NBA's top regular-season individual honor?"
- What if your NCAA pool was legal? Actually, that would probably not change anything, would it.
- Chad Ford (Insider) says that one player with a lot on the line in this tournament is Arizona's Chase Budinger: "Almost every scout Insider spoke with had him as a late lottery pick. But a huge game or two could push him a rung or two higher up the ladder. A series of bad games may convince him to stay in school another year."
- Roland Lazenby on another guy with a lot on the line in the next few weeks: "If Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown and Luke Walton had stayed healthy, we’re probably not having this conversation. But this is the NBA. Excuses are for losers. Phil and his Lakers are treading dangerously close to that domain. Land there and suddenly Phil no longer has his miracle worker status. Land there and suddenly Phil is just another working stiff, a coach whose blah-blah emits no light. So it’s gut check time. Time to search. And the dominant question is, what exactly is Phil Jackson’s genius?"
- Bethlehem Shoals (a little language heads up): "I used to think that college ball represented the triumph of work and discipline over skill. An individual, or a squad, wins simply by willing harder than the other side, and thus makes fans feel better about their own lack of exceptionalism. Now, I'll take it even further: it's the worship of work in hopes of culling favor with the basketball gawdz, whose seemingly arbitrary will decides the victor."
- Larry Bird was asked to assess Kevin Garnett's place in history. I guess there are multiple ways to interpret this, but I'm pretty sure I know exactly what he's getting at: "There are a lot of competitors in this league. Usually the ones who have had the most success are the top competitors. That's the way it has always been." Translation: have some team success, and then we'll talk. How do I know it wasn't an oddball way to compliment Garnett for his many individual accomplishments? Because it would have been SO EASY to say something like "Kevin Garnett is an amazing player who will never be forgotten." But that's not what Bird--a guy who is all about championships--said.
- Eddie Griffin, anyone?
- Rasheed Wallace has a lot of technicals, sure, but he's nowhere near Jerry Sloan. All hail the reigning king of the foulmouths.
- Kevin Arnovitz has a question: "Does having all five guys touch the ball offer any empirical advantage in a possession?" I have a related question: assuming having only one guy touch the ball (old school Marbury) is less effective than two (new school Marbury), over the course of time, how many players is the optimum number to have touch it? I'd wager the sweet spot is somewhere around three and a half--because a fair number of those possessions with five guys touching the ball are plays when the defense has taken away options A and B. Not to mention that if five guys touch it, it's almost never a fast break.
- The Antoine Walker rule: if you never stop shooting, once in a while you'll be a hero. He single-handedly outscored the Jazz in the fourth quarter.
- This is George Karl after a win (reported by Chris Tomasson): "We come out loose. We come out nonfocused, nonrunning. I'm actually thinking about benching them. There were times I wanted to take all five guys out of the lineup, off the court, and put five more guys on the court. That's how angry I was."
- The answer is yes, evidently you can break the backboard while missing the dunk.
Sort comments by: Most Recent | First Posted
Comments that include profanity, or personal attacks, or antisocial behavior such as "spamming" or "trolling," or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our terms of use. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
TRUEHOOP CONTRIBUTORS
Henry AbbottTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
J.A. AdandeTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Kevin ArnovitzTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chris BroussardTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chad FordTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
John HollingerTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Chris SheridanTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
Marc SteinTrueHoop ESPN Archive |
