- Ron Artest: not guilty of animal abuse. Everyone, take back your cruel jokes. Sactown Royalty is on a roll, in fact. Also check out Vlade Divac allegedly selling knockoff Gucci, and Reggie Theus who is a real candidate to coach the Kings.
- Yahoo's Steve Kerr has some bad news for Orlando fans: "For this team to take the next step, it needs a serious playmaking perimeter player and a shooter. Oh, and it also needs Dwight Howard to develop a post game. I may be crazy, but I'm not sure Howard is going to pull it off. As talented as he is, he's not a natural born post player. I'm not sure you can teach a guy to all of a sudden become really gifted on the block. Either you've got it or you don't. With big men, there's an innate sense of how to score down low. Zach Randolph is a low-post scorer. He just has a knack for finding holes, seeing angles and putting the ball in the basket. Did he learn all that in one year at Michigan State, or did it come naturally to him? I think it came naturally. Howard? I don't see it. He's a physical specimen, a phenomenal rebounder, a good shot blocker and lightning fast for a big man. But he doesn't have touch on the ball, and his footwork is robotic. I just don't think he's ever going to develop an efficient, nasty post game." One question though: is it not possible Randolph has developed a tad as a pro? Must all development come in college?
- This looks like it's a fun little Cavaliers knock-off of American Idol. But after listening to all three songs -- two current Cavaliers hastily recorded a capella, the third a throwback, lustily slathered in studio production -- I suspect the whole thing is really just an effort to get us all to hear Mark Price croon about Jesus.
- Bill Bradley, hawking books, tells a funny story about that shot he missed against the Baltimore Bullets in game seven of the 1971 Eastern Conference Championships.
- The case that Brandon Roy is the most boring player in the NBA.
- There's a little language here some might find offensive, but this imagined conversation in the Warriors' locker room after game two is really must-read.
- The international players with the highest PER rankings (Insider). Dirk Nowitzki, Yao Ming, and Tim Duncan top the list. Fourth is, more surprisingly, Pau Gasol, who is well ahead of Steve Nash, Mehmet Okur, and several others who have gotten a lot of press.
- MESSY. Who's the president of the Seattle SuperSonics? Did the team really make a deal to buy land in Renton? Are the Sonics moving to Las Vegas? What's going to happen next? In search of straight answers in Seattle.
- Corey Maggette has surgery. Give him huge credit for getting the timing right. So many players time their surgery to miss the beginning or the end of the season. Now's the time to have surgery if you want to, you know, play.
- Laker fans re-emerge. Some smart thoughts about how Los Angeles actually won.
- If you haven't seen Dan Majerle's trick shots, you should check out the video, and the first comment.
- Traveling is one of the most basic calls in the NBA. Right?
- I stand by my prediction that Jason Kidd will play tonight, and play well.
- The scoreboard in Cleveland is an insane, fire-breathing beast, that almost had a man stationed inside it, nestled among all the propane and electronics. If it tells you to eat dog food (which it might -- click that link and read) I'd advise you to do just that.
- Mark Montieth of the Indianapolis Star is not ready to concede that Golden State got the better end of that big mid-season trade.
- Clyde Drexler, never one to admit defeat, swears he is thrilled to have been voted off Dancing With the Stars.
- The Rockets vs. Jazz series is real deal playoff basketball, and it's anybody's series. Both teams are playing extremely hard. Yao Ming is getting an A in the Jeff Van Gundy school of knocking heads. If Houston can figure out how to get more than four players to score even one point, they'll be golden.
- Who'll pipe up for the Wizards these days? Antonio Daniels, that's who.
- Rumor: Larry Brown and Princeton have talked about the university's head coaching job. Honestly, I hope he does it. That would be perfect for him. He'd really get to teach, and he's amazing at that. UPDATE: Larry Brown probably won't get that job, because somebody else already did.
- Guess Larry Hughes doesn't like sleep.
- The Heat are acting like they're terrified of Ben Gordon.
- Preparing for the NBA draft, if you're an NBA executive, means close scrutiny of the finest American colleges have to offer.
- Photoshop in the right hands is fantastic. The whole playoffs are lampooned here,
essentially. - A PG-13 bet worth keeping an eye on.
- Dan Shanoff makes the case the NBA's age limit is a fraud, and Monta Ellis is exhibit A.
- David Blaine is absolutely amazing, in my book. Watch this and tell me I'm wrong. Now he's in some NBA promos.
- UPDATE: ESPN's John Hollinger (Insider) analyzed the Nuggets in the few games everyone was healthy and together, and declared the team much better than it first appeared, and a real threat to the San Antonio Spurs. The APBRMetrics Community debates whether ignoring most of their season is cherry-picking the data, or a sensible adjustment given the circumstances. Interesting conversation.
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