- From a PR professional's perspective, David Stern nailed that press conference.
- As he promised when he won the rookie of the year, Brandon Roy gives back to his hometown of Seattle by throwing a big party to let everyone celebrate. But some people don't know how to celebrate, and the party was reportedly shut down early owing to fistfights and drawn guns. Police assured reporters that the combatants were merely partygoers with no connection to Roy. (Via Enjoy the Enjoyment.)
- Great headline for a pretty boring article about Minnesota reportedly negotiating to buy out Troy Hudson: "Last Days of Troy."
- The Hornets might have a new local investor. UPDATE: The announcement is official.
- ESPN's Marc Stein has updated his excellent summary of all things Donaghy.
- The Painted Area on the team USA scrimmage: "Kevin Durant looked GREAT. Forget about those summer league numbers, tonight Durant went up against some of the best players in the world, and more than anything, he looked like he belonged. His numbers were 22 pts., 5 reb. 4 stl. on 9-14 FG and 2-5 3PT in 24 mins., but that doesn't even tell the whole story as he was getting his points every which way - threes, follows, a gorgeous spinning move over Battier - just like he did at Texas. Also had a nice strip of Michael Redd in the open floor."
- The Wizards re-signed DeShawn Stevenson. One version of events I heard is that if they resigned Stevenson, it meant they were unlikely to have a spot for Juan Carlos Navarro, one of the best guards in Europe, whose rights they hold. Word is Miami might be interested in acquiring Navarro's rights.
- If referees are now worried that making lots of calls will arouse suspicion, that could be bad for players who live at the line, like Dwyane Wade.
- The Spurs waive super dunker James White. When I saw him in Las Vegas, I wrote that he didn't look like a Spur to me -- not very team oriented -- and now I feel like a prophet.
- ClipperBlog: "Is there anyone who seriously doubts that 2007-2008 NBA season will be the most carefully refereed collection of sporting events in modern history?"
- Mark Monteith of the Indianapolis Star: "The problem for the NBA is, and always will be, where to find better refs? They're diligent in their training and analysis, but they have to tap into the existing workforce like every other industry. Safe to say, they're not hiding a colony of outstanding refs somewhere and refusing to let them work."
- Dwight Jaynes of the Portland Tribune: "... finding specific intentional incorrect calls is extremely difficult given that the league has set up a situation where officiating in its games is so discretionary. Even though referee evaluations have become much more intense and complete than ever before, its almost impossible to tell a good call from a bad one. Come on, what's a foul in the NBA? What's traveling? What's illegal defense? Fouls and violations used to be pretty clear in basketball. Everyone knew them when they saw them. Now, though from someone who has seen thousands of games in person and on the NBAs satellite television package I have no clue a lot of nights how referees are going to interpret the rules. Body contact in games has gotten to the point where defenders lean all over players. On offense, post players body bump defenders with great force. Yet a guard puts a hand on a dribbler and its a foul. Sometimes. Not all the time. Palming the ball? Thats a turnover. Sometimes depending on who did it. Theyve gotten more strict about calling traveling. Some games. Sometimes. Some players. Not others. Same with three seconds in the key."
- Robert Weintraub writing for Slate: "A careful examination of that record shows Donaghy's likely pattern. Last year, Donaghy reffed 12 games in which the over/under was 184.5 or less-those games went over 10 out of 12 times, a highly suspicious number. Donaghy games with an over/under above 205 points, however, only went over seven out of 18 times. This makes sense intuitively. In a low-scoring game, a quick whistle would ensure that each team gets enough free throws to sufficiently pad the point total. On the other hand, it's harder to call enough fouls to ensure an 'over' in a game where the Vegas line is already high."
- Mark Cuban encourages you to revisit essentially everything he has ever written about NBA referees. Somebody please pore through all of that and write us all a nice tidy little book report so we can figure out why it is that Cuban wanted us all to read that today.
- Good luck finding the hotel room in Colorado where the Kobe Bryant fiasco happened those years ago.
- Some good insight into Kevin Garnett trade rumors. Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News reports that the Warriors, Mavericks, and Suns all got permission from the Timberwolves to talk to Garnett's agent on draft night.
- The Alan Schwarz article in today's New York Times is loaded with interesting stuff, including: "'Everyone thinks of point-shaving scandals as involving players, but I've always felt at this point it would be a referee,' said Bryan Leonard, a professional sports bettor and handicapper in Las Vegas for 24 years. 'In the N.B.A., players are making millions of dollars. They don't need the money. What do referees make?'" I say it's CRAZY to think that no NBA players have money trouble. People who gamble a lot, take private jets, support massive groups of unemployed friends and family in high style, and party like rock stars can go through even the biggest salaries in a hurry. I have heard several stories of players with big contracts
but no cash. Not that I'm saying players are throwing games, but the assumption that big contracts eliminate the need for cash is flawed. - Dave D'Alessandro of the Newark Star-Ledger reports: "Evidence of Donaghy's eccentric, lavish lifestyle emerged in the last few days. One current NBA referee, who remained anonymous to honor the league's gag order, claimed that Donaghy once bragged that his home 'cost $1.1 million. I mean, how in the world can this guy live in a million-dollar house? His salary had to be in the $150,000 to $160,000 range by now, and the playoffs is good for bonus money. But that kind of house -- that's way out of our league."
- There is the suggestion, from various quarters, that Donaghy may not have actually been dealing with the real mafia. (Of course, the whole story is said to have come out of an FBI probe into the Gambino family, so things get a little murky for me here.) Schwarz's Times article above makes mention of "people portraying themselves as connected to organized crime." Portraying? What's that about? Ken Berger and Robert Kessler report in Newsday: "Donaghy had been expected to surrender to authorities Tuesday or Wednesday but now is expected to surrender by the end of this week or early next week, law enforcement sources told Newsday, citing routine reasons for the delay. Two South Jersey bookmakers described as 'small-time mob wannabes' not affiliated with the NBA also are expected to be arrested."
- Doc Rivers has an interesting take in Steve Bulpett's Boston Herald article: "As crazy as this sounds - and I've talked to two other coaches who feel the same way - I feel the most sorry for the other refs. As much as we're on them, I think we all know they do have the toughest game to officiate. And now they're going to be under a real spotlight. They're going to be painted with a bad brush because of one guy, and they really don't deserve it. It's just like when a couple of players in our league get in trouble and people start asking me how I can coach this bunch of guys. Well, the vast majority of players in our league are not like that - they're very coachable and they're good people - but because of the actions of a few, they all get painted with the same brush."
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