- Tom Ziller of Sactown Royalty on John Salmons vs. Kobe Bryant: "If Salmons weren't a teetotaler, he would've earned himself a comped night at the Hardwood Suite for his battle with Kobe. Kobe hit one more FG than Johnny ... while taking 12 more shots. And a bunch of the makes came when the game had been more-or-less decided. Salmons also had more assists, more rebounds, fewer turnovers, and more steals ... and his +/- (+11) was better than Kobe's (-15) by ... 26 points. And this came as each guarded each other most of the night, with some help on each end."
- Oregonian beat writer Jason Quick says that he has no interest in talking to Greg Oden right now. He says Oden is too wrapped up in expectations, and won't improve until he can learn to have fun playing basketball again. (via Dwight Jaynes)
- An anonymous NBA GM believes the fix is already in, and Chris Bosh and LeBron James are destined to be Knicks.
- You could read the article about the 73-year-old college hoops player, or you could just wait for the movie.
- Questioning new-breed stats, just a little. One thing I'd point out: I don't know everything about which teams take statistics very seriously, but the short list certainly includes Boston, New Jersey, Denver, Portland, Houston, and Dallas. That's a fine group of teams, and several of them are far outperforming conventional predictions this season. Poor analysis, I know, but worth keeping an eye on. UPDATE: Put the Spurs on this list, too. Look at this job listing.
- Remember when your eighth grade coach told you to follow your shot? And have you noticed that much of the time NBA players don't? Ben Q. Rock of Third Quarter Collapse credits Keith Bogans with a game-saving play for Orlando: "... the Magic, a notoriously poor offensive rebounding team, got the biggest offensive rebound of the game, though, one that might have won it for them. Down 5 points with :33 to play, Keith Bogans spotted-up in the right corner, which is one of his favorite spots. The shot came up well short, but Bogans did the fundamentally sound thing and followed the shot, which allowed him to collect his own miss. Bogans found Rashard Lewis in the left corner--Lewis' sweet spot is the left baseline--and Lewis drilled the three to bring Orlando within 2 with 0:29 to play. If Bogans doesn't get that rebound, it's hard to imagine the Magic would have found a way to win."
- In a cold New England jail, inmates spend their time confined in cells so small they can touch opposite walls at the same time. But sometimes, they get to do just about the greatest thing in the world: play basketball. And it's a big deal. Violence, they say, is down, since the games have been going on: People don't want to get in trouble that would keep them away from the court. On Boston.com, Stan Grossfeld tells the tale from inside the walls, including discussion of a certain big-name Knick: "Switching the topic from violence to money, all three jail hoop players think Marbury, the Knicks' estranged point guard, has lost touch with reality. You can't just pocket $21 million and not play ball, they say. 'Where's the love for the game?' says Perry. 'I mean, go play basketball. Win games. You are getting an opportunity that nobody else has. Give me that opportunity. I'd play for the Oklahoma Thunder, the worst team in the league.'"
- New and better video of Darko Milicic ripping his jersey. His teammates are not inclined, it is clear, to talk to him about it when he gets back to the bench. And word of the charity auction in which the jersey will be sold. (Via 3 Shades of Blue.)
- The Western Conference is lacking a middle class. There are nine good teams, a big gap, and then the rest. (11-9 Dallas, as of today, is followed by 6-15 Memphis.)
- Tyson Chandler vs. trout, trout win. But Tyson Chandler and a shrimp vs. redfish ... and I guess the shrimp is in some ways the real winner, but in other ways, the real loser.
- Steve Aschburner usually writes about basketball in Minnesota, but today he's exploiting his Chicago childhood to write about political corruption in the Windy City.
- Shelden Williams and Candace Parker got married. Melody Gutierrez of the Sacramento Bee writes: "When Shelden Williams' and Candace Parker's busy schedules continued to cause them to push back their plans for a big wedding, the couple decided to elope Nov. 13 to Lake Tahoe. 'We just decided that with both of our schedules, it would be better to elope,' Williams said." (Via FanHouse)
- Credit Michael Grange with a really interesting comparison: LeBron James and the 2008-2009 Cavaliers are like Allen Iverson and the 2000-2001 76ers. Only James is way better than Iverson.
- Video proof, from Rod Benson, that not only is there such a thing as free throw defense, but Benson is really really good at it. (Via Ball Don't Lie)
- Carlos Boozer is injured. It's not a big deal -- he'll sit out tomorrow -- but Utah has been bit hard by the injury bug.
- Mark McLane of Black Jesus Disciples with a super fantastic Jerry Colangelo story: "Years ago, I work
ed for The Home Depot. A coworker of mine was an older gentleman whose retirement hadn't quite stuck the way he hoped. Bored out of his mind sitting around the house, he decided to don a hideous orange apron and make some extra dough while keeping himself busy. Every once in a while, we'd talk Suns basketball (this was during Nash's first MVP season) and while knowledgeable, he admittedly didn't follow the team all that closely any more, and didn't plan to despite my pleas and the Suns incredibly entertaining brand of basketball. The reasons cited were your standard, run of the mill cultural differences, getting too old, that kind of thing. Except the last one he gave. Colangelo no longer ran the show. It turns out my friend was once a Suns season ticket holder and had been for a number of years. 1988 rolled around and due to a rough economic spot in his life, he and his wife were forced to cancel their season tickets. They made the necessary calls and were soon no longer Suns season ticket holders. Finishing up dinner one night not long after canceling their season tickets, there was a knock at the door. My friend answered to find Jerry Colangelo, donning a three piece suit, hoping to discuss what brought on the cancellation of their season tickets and how he could bring them back into the fold. Colangelo had a cup of coffee, made his pitch, thanked them for their time and continued support of the Phoenix Suns, and went on his way, leaving behind a couple of renewed season ticket holders."
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