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HoopIdea wants to #StopTheFlop. To spotlight the biggest fakers, we present Flop of the Night. You can help us separate the pretenders from the defenders -- details below:

Mario Chalmers, who made three of four 3-pointers in Game 6, is becoming the Miami Heat's version of Lakers championship era Derek Fisher. Disruptive defense, spot up shooting ... and, of course, flopping. Chalmers has even mastered Fisher's ability to draw fouls by driving headlong into traffic and tossing the ball toward the basket.

Last night, he drew an offensive foul (video) on a moving screen from Roy Hibbert with Fisher's typical flair for the dramatic.

Working the play-by-play, ESPN's Mike Breen points out that the referee on the scene got the call right, but Jeff Van Gundy was still annoyed by Chalmers' act and suggested a flopping rule similar to the NHL's restriction on "Embellishment":

Breen: Well, Hibbert was clearly moving. You can say that he flopped, but that’s a foul.

Jeff Van Gundy: You see that’s where my flop rule will come into play. If you flop, even if you were fouled -- which he was -- you’re not gettin’ it!

Maybe Chalmers would "get it" in Jeff Van Gundy's world, but his theatrical reaction and the discussion it sparked was enough for him to get our Flop of the Night.

When you see an egregious flop that deserves proper recognition, send us a link to the video so we can consider it for Flop of the Night. Here's how to make your submission:

• Alert HoopIdea to super flops with the Twitter hashtag #FlopOfTheNight (follow us on Twitter here).
• Use the #FlopOfTheNight hashtag in Daily Dime Live.
• E-mail us at hoopidea@gmail.com

After they split two games in Florida, the Indiana Pacers returned home and handed the Miami Heat a 19-point loss Thursday night to take the series lead.

The Pacers lost their first playoff game at home, against the Orlando Magic, but have won their past three home games by a combined 52 points. All three of the victories have been by at least 15 points.

The key Thursday was Roy Hibbert, who finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds, both of which are career playoff highs. With Hibbert on the floor this series, the Pacers have outscored the Heat by 30 points; when he has been on the bench, they’ve been outscored by 17.

After not getting any support for LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Game 2, the Heat’s leading scorer Thursday night was Mario Chalmers. It was the first time in 29 playoff games over the past two seasons that the leading scorer wasn’t one of the Big Three.

The Heat needed those points to offset the lack of production by Wade, who scored just five points. It was the second-lowest scoring playoff game in his career and the first time he scored fewer than 10 points since the first postseason series of his career, in 2004.

Part of the reason for his lack of scoring was his inability to get inside. Eleven of his 13 shots were from at least 10 feet out. His two field goal attempts from inside 10 feet were his fewest this season -- regular season plus playoffs -- and second fewest of his postseason career.

Wade didn’t have any more success filling the stat sheet elsewhere. Among players on the court for at least 35 minutes, he was the first since Eric Snow in 2001 to record no more than five points, rebounds or assists while turning the ball over at least five times.

The Heat have struggled to get out in transition against the Pacers. They scored 10 transition points on 39 percent shooting in Game 3 and have been outscored in transition over the first three games of the series.

Against the New York Knicks in the first round, the Heat shot 59 percent in transition and scored 39 more points than they allowed.

The Heat are even having trouble on open jumpers. In unguarded, catch-and-shoot situations, Miami made just two of 12 shots in Game 3. Against the Knicks, the Heat made 42 percent of these shots.

This is the eighth time LeBron’s team has lost back-to-back games in a playoff series. If the past is any indication, it doesn’t look good for the Heat. James’ team lost six of those previous seven series, including the past five.

Statistical support for this story from NBA.com.

The Miami Heat were unable to overcome the loss of Chris Bosh, dropping Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals at home against the Indiana Pacers.

When LeBron James and Dwyane Wade played together without Bosh on the floor during the regular season, the Heat outscored their opponents by 17 points per 48 minutes. In Game 2, the Pacers outscored the Heat 62-51 in the 32 minutes when they were on the floor together.

The Heat have leaned on James and Wade in the second half of both games against the Pacers. They have combined to score or assist on 81 of Miami’s 90 second-half points, including 33 of 37 points after halftime in Game 2.

In fact, no Heat player other than James and Wade scored more than five points on Tuesday. Elias confirms that no team has ever won an NBA playoff game in which the third-leading scorer had five or fewer points.

James missed two free throws with 54.3 seconds left and the Heat trailing by a single point. He is now shooting just 59 percent from the charity stripe this season in the final minute of one-possession games. The rest of the Heat have made 13 of 15 free throws under similar circumstances.

After the missed free throws, Wade and Mario Chalmers missed game-tying shots in the final 24 seconds. Over the last two seasons, including the playoffs, Wade is 4-for-13 and Chalmers is 1-for-8 on such shots. The four makes and 13 attempts by Wade are the most for the Heat in that span, topping the 2-for-12 effort by James.

It wasn’t only the Heat that went cold in the final two and a half minutes of the game. The teams combined to miss all 10 field goal attempts and six of eight free throws. The Pacers’ two free throws in the final minute were the only points after Wade made a shot with 2:41 left to cut Indiana’s lead to a single point.

The Pacers won despite scoring just 78 points. In the last 25 years, this is the second-lowest point total in a postseason road win for Indiana. The low was also at the Heat, a 73-70 win in the decisive Game 6 in the 2004 Eastern Conference Semifinals.

LeBron is the fifth MVP to play for a team that scored 75 or fewer points in a playoff game. According to Elias, the only MVP to appear for a team scoring fewer points was Allen Iverson, as the Philadelphia 76ers scored 74 points in a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in 2001.

Without Bosh in the lineup, the Heat had trouble finishing inside five feet. Miami made just 42 percent of its shots from inside five feet, tied for its second-lowest accuracy this season. After outscoring the Pacers 40-22 from close range in Game 1, the Heat were outscored 26-22 on Tuesday and had six shots blocked inside five feet.

Chicago Bulls
PG Derrick Rose  SG Ronnie Brewer  SF Luol Deng  PF Carlos Boozer  C Joakim Noah
Minutes Played: 284
Offensive Rating: 111.6 points per 100 possessions
Defensive Rating: 91.8 points per 100 possessions

How it works offensively
In 2010-11, the Bulls were a middling offensive team that relied on one dominant mode of attack -- a dynamic Rose at the top of the floor. This season, Rose is still the prized asset in the Bulls' scheme, but he's orchestrating a deliberate, savvy offense that's expanded its breadth.

This unit plays at a plodding pace of 90.9 (which would rank them last in the NBA), but it's a tight, killing-you-slowly kind of assault. How many teams pressure you with a point guard like Rose, who collapses the defense anytime he works off the dribble, but can also feed the post and have three quality options from there? When you watch these Bulls move around the court with purpose, it's hard not to see hints of the best of the Deron Williams-Boozer era in Utah -- only better, because Noah's screens and ball skills are so exceptional for a big man.

This group also features two world-class athletes in Deng and Brewer who understand how to play off a penetrator, as well as a couple of big guys who know how to hit a cutter. Ever since Derrick Rose arrived on the scene in Chicago, we've been hearing about how the Bulls have a fatal hole at shooting guard. Bulls fans, you have your shooting guard. His name is Ronnie Brewer.

The rap on Brewer has always been that he can't space the floor. Fair enough, because Brewer is a subpar shooter from beyond 10 feet. But elite teams find workarounds for flawed players, and the Bulls have maximized Brewer's many strengths beautifully. Spacing is a nice attribute to have in an offense, but movement is woefully underrated in today's game. And you won't find a lot of players who move more intently off the ball than Brewer. He might not hit a shot for you from 24 feet, but he never stops moving. Feed, clear, cut and repeat.

Would there be more space for Rose to work if he had a couple of wings who were better conventional shooters than Brewer and Deng? Possibly, but there are more ways to bludgeon an opponent than a drive-and-kick. Putting bodies in motion and forcing opponents into bad decisions with endless actions has its virtues.

How it works defensively
The vaunted Tom Thibodeau defense is no longer an exotic mystery cooked up in some lab in Cambridge, Mass. It's simply standard operating procedure for several NBA defenses -- but few, if any, of the imitators run it with the precision this unit does.

On nearly every half-court possession, the Bulls' defense has one objective -- keep the ball out of the middle of the floor. Once they have you confined to the sideline and you try to, for example, run a pick-and-roll, the Bulls will strangle you like a python by trapping, then bringing a third defender to the ball side of the paint to add further pressure.

What makes this unit particularly deadly when they implement this defense? Let's start with Joakim Noah. Bringing three guys to the ball is all well and good, but it doesn't help if you don't have two defenders who can cover the rest of the floor in what's essentially a two-man zone. There isn't a big man who performs this task better than Noah. He instinctively knows where the offensive threat is coming from -- when the ball will be reversed out of that pressure, to whom it will go to and how to best help without compromising the system.

Throw in two lanky defenders like Brewer and Deng, whose length, agility and smarts allow them to both stifle defenders on the ball or work as Noah's partner in that backside zone, and you have the components for the most difficult defense to score against in the NBA.

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Orlando Magic
PG Jameer Nelson  SG J.J. Redick  SF Hedo Turkoglu  PF Ryan Anderson  C Dwight Howard
Minutes Played: 178
Offensive Rating: 118.3 points per 100 possessions
Defensive Rating: 98.4 points per 100 possessions

How it works offensively
How good has this group been with the ball? There isn't a five-man unit that's recorded a higher offensive rating or a larger point differential in its favor. This isn't Orlando's most-used unit -- that would be the starters with Jason Richardson at shooting guard instead of Redick (402 minutes on the floor versus 178). The starting five aren't chopped liver, but the Redick-at-the-2 unit blows them away.

In many respects, this unit evokes the halcyon days of the Magic, circa 2009. Stan Van Gundy is one of the great pragmatists in the league. He deftly appraises his personnel on the floor and always seems to find a way to maximize those players' strengths while minimizing their weaknesses. These are familiar schemes that leverage Howard's presence down low to open up the perimeter for the Magic's snipers along the perimeter -- specifically Redick and Anderson.

Many times it starts with a high pick-and-roll with Nelson and Howard. The Magic get penetration or a deep feed to Howard in the paint, which forces the defense to collapse. When that happens, you know the drill -- a kickout to Redick or to a lifted Anderson for a clean look at a 3-pointer. Nelson has also developed a nice pick-and-pop rhythm with Anderson to find him open shots.

Other times, they initiate offense through Turkoglu on the left side. Turkoglu's efficiency numbers have fallen off since 2009 (he's shooting poorly and turning the ball over too frequently), but he's still capable of putting the ball on the floor and finding shots for others, and getting Howard the ball where he likes it. Redick is in constant motion in the Magic's half-court sets, breezing around baseline screens, getting free via pin-downs and using his escape dribble along the perimeter to find space.

And that's how an NBA unit chalks up a gaudy true shooting percentage of 60.5 percent, even with a below-average free throw rate.

How it works defensively
This unit earns its money on the offensive end -- a 98.4 defensive rating isn't anything to be ashamed of, but doesn't qualify as elite. Still, these five are getting a sufficient number of stops.

Unlike their contemporaries up in Chicago, Orlando places more of a premium on chasing shooters off the 3-point line, and they have the luxury of staying at home because they have a very large man with very broad shoulders manning the basket area and cleaning up any blow-bys that might occur. How is that going? Opponents are shooting 24 percent from beyond the arc against this unit and converting only 4.8 3-pointers per game. That is what chopped liver tastes like.

As imposing as Howard is under the basket, altering shots and intimidating, his pick-and-roll defense is also a key ingredient to this unit's defensive success. The Magic don't need to rotate all that often and, when they do, Howard recovers promptly to the back line and those rotators can immediately dash back to the perimeter where they can contest long shots with a close out, or just stagnate the offense.

One-on-one defense can occasionally be problematic, but Redick's tenacity -- both on-the-ball and chasing rabbits like Ray Allen around screens -- is vastly underrated. Turkoglu is no Tony Allen, but his length and awareness of where Howard is lurking makes him an adequate defender, as well. Finally, Nelson is a sturdy fireplug who can use his strength to bother opposing point guards, though he does yield his share of blow-bys.

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Miami Heat
PG Mario Chalmers  SG Dwyane Wade  SF LeBron James  PF Chris Bosh  C Joel Anthony
Minutes Played: 389
Offensive Rating: 109.9 points per 100 possessions
Defensive Rating: 94.7 points per 100 possessions

How it works offensively
This past summer, Erik Spoelstra immersed himself in a single exercise: Examine how he could make life easier for the Heat's offense by diversifying their attack. In 2010-11, Spoelstra grappled with several strategies -- elements of the Rick Adelman's corner offense, "elbow sets" run through Bosh with multiple triggers and even some old Hubie Brown sets to free up shooters. The Heat finished the season as the NBA's third-ranked offense.

Spoelstra came to a realization, one that didn't necessarily conform to his natural instincts: The Heat could do better, and to achieve that improvement, it would require less conventional structure. He has freed up James and Wade, made transition opportunities and early offense priorities (Miami has gone from 21st in pace last season to 12th this season) and found new ways to space the floor.

So far as Wade and James, they have one imperative -- catch the ball and attack and don't allow the defense to set. No more dawdling at the top of the floor, waiting for stuff that never materializes. Off that, the Heat have found gold with Chalmers' vastly improved outside shot. The Heat were assembled with the idea that James and Wade would have quality shooters primed for kickouts, and with Chalmers, they have a teammate shooting 44.3 percent from 3-point-land.

Fewer sets are being run through Bosh at the high post with this unit, though he's still able to facilitate when the pace settles into a more deliberate, half-court game. Many of those sets that started with Bosh at the high post are now being initiated with James at the "Karl Malone" spot off the mid-post. Meanwhile, Bosh and Anthony screen with the best of them -- especially to lend space for Wade to attack -- and Bosh is still superb at lifting to a spot 18 feet away from the hoop for a no-dribble J.

How it works defensively
Spoelstra is still experimenting and tinkering with the Heat's schemes. Many a night, Miami is flirting with a Thibodeau-style strongside strategy, but one with a bit less structure and more freedom for James and Wade to rove. This isn't coming without costs: This unit is giving up 19.2 3-point attempts per 48 minutes, and opponents are shooting 40.4 percent from beyond the arc in the process.

The Heat are aware of the shortcoming and seem willing to tolerate a few gimmes on the perimeter in service of their larger defensive goal -- create chaos. That means more ball pressure than ever from Chalmers, and Bosh and Anthony jumping out with impunity on every ball screen. When it comes to defending the pick-and-roll, Bosh and Anthony might be the best big man tandem in the business at showing hard and recovering to the right spot on the back line.

Most of all, Spoelstra is encouraging James and Wade to operate as free safeties in what can be described as a quasi-two-man zone. Spoelstra's nature favors order over chaos and he traditionally has discouraged gambling, but he's come to appreciate that doubling-down on his team's athleticism makes good sense.

The results are there. Opponents are turning the ball 16.8 times per 48 minutes against this group. More impressive, the unit generates 23.3 points per 48 minutes off these turnovers and 22.5 fast-break points per 48 minutes. There simply isn't a defense in the world that can stop James and Wade in the open floor and the Heat's newfound guerrilla defense has maximized these opportunities.

The Miami Heat were in a zone against the Sacramento Kings' zone defense in their 120-108 win on Tuesday night.

The Kings spent almost the entire first half trying to contain the Heat’s potent half-court offense by playing a zone . That’s something that had worked for other teams earlier this season, but not for the Kings in this contest.

The Heat entered having scored on 42 percent of their possessions against zone defenses. But the Kings' zone posed no problems. The Heat scored 47 points against Sacramento’s zone defense, shooting 65 percent against it.

Heat guard Mario Chalmers tied a career-high by making six three-pointers. Four of those came on spot-up jumpers. He typically averages a pair of baskets on spot-ups per game.

The Heat have won seven straight games by 10 or more points, the second-longest streak in Heat franchise history. The last time a streak of seven or more such wins occurred in the NBA was when the Heat won a team-record nine in a row last season.

Reversal of Fortune
The Portland Trail Blazers ended the San Antonio Spurs 11-game winning streak on a night in which Tim Duncan and Tony Parker both sat to rest.

This was a game that was over early. One night after scoring a franchise-record low seven points in the first quarter, the Trail Blazers tallied an NBA season-high 41 first-quarter points.

The 137 points that Portland scored in its win was its most since 1997. The 40-point defeat was the Spurs worst defeat, also since 1997.

Feat of the Night
Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert scored a career-high 30 points in an overtime win against the New Orleans Hornets.
Hibbert hadn’t even reached the 20-point mark in his last 14 games.

The primary reason for his success on Tuesday? Offensive rebounding.

Hibbert had seven offensive rebounds and converted five baskets from them, netting 11 points for himself. He entered averaging only 2.4 points from offensive rebounds (so around one basket) per game.

Plus-Minus Note of the Night
All four Cleveland Cavaliers reserves had a positive plus-minus, and all five of their starters had a negative one in their 101-100 win over the Detroit Pistons.

The most notable of the Cavs subs was Alonzo Gee, who had 16 points and 11 rebounds. In his 25 minutes, the Cavaliers outscored the Pistons by 14 points. It was his second-best plus-minus of the season.

• ESPN's Chris Broussard reports that the Clippers have intense interest in Dwight Howard. D.J. Foster of ClipperBlog on the Blake Griffin effect: "If there’s a testament to the power of Blake Griffin, this is it. The Clippers were never really in the running for LeBron ... Now that Blake Griffin is a real, dunking, dominating thing, it buys you more than that. It lends legitimacy to these types of discussions. It’s no longer a pipedream for Chris Paul or Dwight Howard to be a Clipper -- Blake Griffin has made even the wildest of dreams suddenly seem very tangible."
• The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's editorial page sounds the bell for a new arena to replace the Bradley Center: "If there isn't a shovel in the ground for a new state-of-the art facility within the next five to eight years, the team's days in Milwaukee are numbered. Bucks owner Herb Kohl has paid big salaries in an effort to keep the team competitive, but he has been relatively quiet on the question of how to fund a new arena. If Kohl wants to keep the team in Milwaukee, he should have some skin in a new building. There will have to be other sources of funding as well. Kohl should be leading an effort to build a new home for the Bucks, and the business community should be backing him."
• How badly do the Heat need Mario Chalmers? The Indexiers discuss.
• HoopSpeak's Beckley Mason breaks down some tape of Tony Parker and discovers that he might be the best analog for the younger Russell Westbrook: "[W]hen he gets space in the open court, Westbrook is every bit as difficult to corral as Parker. But after witnessing James Harden’s emergence as pick and roll dynamo, the Thunder would be well served to take advantage of Westbrook’s excellent cutting instincts by giving him more regular opportunities to be a finisher from off the ball, rather than a creator on it."
• Similarly, Aaron M. of Gothic Ginobili sees a lot of Gerald Wallace in Spurs rookie Kawhi Leonard: "His game brings me the electric rush I get watching an older and wiser Gerald, grounded in a younger, more durable frame. The leaping athleticism I love watching in Gerald’s game is there, but in Kawhi’s game it’s completely unhinged from Gerald’s creeping tendency to dial his pure athletic plays back a slight bit -- Gerald knows he’s over 30, and he knows he needs to keep from killing himself just to make the super athletic move when he can do an efficient but not exactly as effective move that keeps him from injury."
• Danny Chau of Hardwood Paroxysm would like you to take a closer look at the Thaddeus Young. The Sixers' 23-year-old small forward might be the league's most valuable sixth man. Imagine him with a right hand.
• Team LeBron James vs. Team Kevin Durant in flag football at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.
• Quickish chooses the best sports book of 2011.
• When Wes Matthews chats with teammate Nic Batum on Twitter, he uses French -- and addresses Batum in the "vous" form.
• NBA nostalgia in the form of high-top fades, gold-capped teeth and standard-issue goggles.
• A securities analysts upgraded shares of Madison Square Garden on Monday from a "neutral" to a "buy." The stock jumped more than 10 percent during Monday's trading session.
• Macao Time Machine, as retired NBA players like Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Gary Payton and Dale Ellis tour Asia.
• Among the losers of the settlement: Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, which canceled Chalmers' charity game scheduled for Thursday night.
• The Top 40 most shared stories of 2011 on Facebook.

The Miami Heat won their first playoff series since 2006 -- the year they won their only NBA title -- by eliminating the Philadelphia 76ers in five games. The 76ers' postseason drought continues, as they still haven't won a playoff series since 2003, when Larry Brown was their coach and Allen Iverson was their leading scorer. They are 0-4 in playoff series since then.

Miami did a lot of damage from downtown, hitting 12 three-point field goals on 30 shots from long distance. The 30 attempts were one shy of the franchise playoff record and the 12 made treys tied the third-most by the Heat in a postseason game.

Mario Chalmers matched his playoff high with 20 points off the bench, making half of his 12 shots from beyond the arc in 30 minutes. Chalmers proved to be a difference-maker while on the court, as the Heat shot 46.4 percent and outscored the 76ers by 17 points when he was in the game. Miami shot just 24 percent from the field and was outscored by 11 points when he was on the bench.

Chalmers became the first Heat player outside the Big Three to reach the 20-point mark in the series. This game also marked the first time in the postseason that three Heat players each scored 20 points. But it was wasn’t that Big Three that did it. Instead, it was Chalmers, Chris Bosh (22 points) and Dwyane Wade (26 points).

LeBron James, who tied his playoff career low with just three first-half points, finished with only 16 in the series-clinching win. Prior to this game, James was 0-5 in playoffs games when scoring fewer than 19 points.

The 76ers dominated the Heat down low, outscoring them 44-26 in the paint. Elton Brand was the catalyst in the post, making 8-of-9 attempts for 16 points. Yet Miami held the advantage on the offensive boards 15-9, and was able to convert those rebounds into 18 second-chance points, compared to just six for Philly.

The Heat march on to the conference semifinals, where they’ll face the Boston Celtics, a team they beat only once in four meetings during the regular season. Three-point shooting was the difference in their head-to-head matchups as the Celtics made 45 percent while the Heat shot just 28.6 percent from long distance in the four games.

• Lang Whitaker will be live-blogging the draft Thursday with Brandon Jennings at SLAMonline: "No player had a crazier Draft night last year than Brandon — remember him showing up late to shake David Stern’s hand? — and only one or two rookies had better first seasons than Brandon. Few of the Draft 'experts' you’ll hear from on Thursday night (including myself) actually played in the NBA. But none of them averaged 15.5 ppg and 5.7 apg and led their team to the Playoffs last season."
• The Mies van der Rohe Award for roster minimalism goes to ... the Miami Heat. After dealing away Daequan Cook to Oklahoma City on Wednesday, Miami has only two players under contract for the 2010-11 season -- Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley. They also have a boatload of cap space to re-sign Dwyane Wade and add possibly two additional marquee names.
• Chalmers will be doing some important work in Lawrence, Kansas today: "The Mario V. Chalmers Foundation is donating $25,000 to LMH Endowment Association to establish the first 'Mario’s Closet.' Mario’s Closet will be a specialty shop for a variety of free or low cost accessories for cancer patients. Lawrence Memorial Hospital will operate Mario’s Closet and is anticipated to open in Winter 2010."
• Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus says the deal makes a lot of sense for the Thunder: "Cook is hardly a typical contract dump. His salary for next season ($2.2 million, per Sham Sports) is perfectly reasonable, and Cook brings to Oklahoma City a skill (perimeter shooting) that is still in relatively short supply there. The Thunder has a chance to look at Cook next season and see if he can return to usefulness as a reserve; if not, Oklahoma City can cut bait at the end of the year with no further obligation."
• Peter Keating revisits the D.R.A.F.T. Initiative developed by Jordan Brenner and Tom Haberstroh. Keating adds: "[K]eep an eye on Al-Farouq Aminu. He's from Wake Forest, the school whose players have most surpassed draft-day expectations. He's a sophomore, the best-producing class among early picks. And he's one of the top small forwards in a draft top-heavy guards and big men, so a team that grabs him around No. 7 or 8 could get great value."
• If you watched enough ACC basketball last winter, then you know big, savvy guard Greivis Vasquez is a prime candidate for 2010 draft sleeper. John Hollinger's Draft Rater projects Vasquez as the 10th best pro on the board. Vasquez worked out for the Magic on Monday. Ben Q. Rock of Orlando Pinstriped Post broke down Vasquez's game, and enumerates why he'd be a particularly good fit in Orlando if he's still available.
• Lest we forget how well Evan Turner performed at Ohio State in 2009-10, Ed Weiland of Hoops Analyst spells it out nicely: "[T]his was almost a historic season by Evan Turner in how truly impressive it was. I can’t imagine how overboard the hype would have been if this season had been accomplished by a player from Duke or North Carolina. Turner scored like the best SGs, rebounded like a PF and passed like a PG. There wasn’t anything here not to like."
• Ted Leonsis, Homer, LeBron James, Aaron Rodgers and Gilbert Arenas all in one place.
• The salary cap and on-court implications of Corey Maggette's arrival in Milwaukee.
• Kansas Jayhawks Cole Aldrich and Xavier Henry are making the most of their time in New York City, which included a visit to Sean John: "So swanky was the experience that at one point, when Aldrich and his girlfriend, KU student Britt Claflin, were in the back picking out the suit’s particulars, a woman emerged from the suite and said, 'Mr. Aldrich would like a cranberry juice.' Within seconds, a bartender chipped the ice, popped the top and served up a refreshing beverage."
• Evan Turner in pleated khakis, Al-Farouq Aminu in Urkel eyewear and Luke Babbitt in Naomi Wolf-inspired earth tones.
• Roland Lazenby on the prospect of Phil Jackson's retirement: "All across the NBA you can hear coaches breathing a sigh of relief. If Jackson retires, there'll be no pressure to meditate and read books."
• If you see an impatient J.R. Smith or DeAndre Jordan in line at the Apple Store, today is your lucky day.
• NBA Elite 11 will have some new features that will improve upon NBA Live: "'That's why when we started this year, we addressed the two biggest problems people have with basketball games. Number one: losing control of your player. If you played the basketball games the past few years, you know that there are times when you get locked into these animations and you have no control over your player as these long animations play out.' With 'NBA Elite 11,' Littman and crew think they've solved that problem by separating the upper body from the lower body with the use of the two analog sticks."

The Lakers need Lamar Odom as much as Lamar Odom needs the Lakers. Jarrett Jack heads to Toronto, while Eddy Curry remains unmovable. And the big powers in the East make some tweaks to their benches. 

Kurt Helin of Forum Blue & Gold: "Don't delude yourself into thinking the Lakers are better off without [Lamar] Odom -- the best proof is that last season he led the Lakers in +/-, the Lakers outscored opponents by 16.4 points per 48 minutes when he was on the floor. Second was Kobe [Bryant] at 12.1. The simple truth is that good things happened for the Lakers when he was on the floor. He came up big in the playoffs. His versatility cannot easily be replaced. There are some intriguing pieces on the Heat roster ([Mario] Chalmers, for one) but any move the Lakers make here is not going to make a title more likely. Can the Lakers win a title without Odom? Yes, but the margin of error is now non-existent. [Andrew] Bynum has to be healthy and playing at his peak. Artest has to fit in swimmingly. Bench guys like Sasha [Vujacic] and Jordan [Farmar] cannot struggle for long stretches. Everything has to go right. And that's a lot to ask."

Mike Kurylo of Knickerblogger: "When the Knicks acquired Eddy Curry, he was supposed to be the future of the franchise. Although there were signs that he would never reach that level of play (namely every stat but fg% and pts/36), his size and flashes of scoring lead many to believe in his potential. In 2009 Eddy Curry had his most disappointing season, playing a grand total of 12 minutes and scoring only 5 points. Immediately after the season ended, Curry vowed to get in shape, and immediately began twittering about his work out regimen. In the weeks since, his private trainer 'leaked' that Curry lost 30 pounds, and Eddy appeared before the Knicks brass at the summer league. It appears that Curry is doing what he does best. He appeals to the optimist in Knick fans, while producing almost nothing."

Jared Wade of Eight Points, Nine Seconds: "In the end, however, Jarrett [Jack] isn't worth $5 million a year - at least not to a Pacer team that still has [Jamaal] Tinsley's devastating deal on the books, will be paying Mike Dunleavy to rehab his knee for at least another six months, and is significantly overpaying for the production of both Troy Murphy and TJ Ford. I really liked the fearlessness and aggressive penetration Jack showed so consistently last season, but Bird was right to let him walk for that price. It would have been great to keep Jarrett around at something like three years/$12 million, but he played his way into a better offer from Toronto and no Pacer fan should fault him for that."

THE FINAL WORD
Cavs the Blog: How Danny Ferry is like Billy Beane.
Celtics Hub: Exit Tony Allen, enter Marquis Daniels.
Orlando Magic Daily: C.J. Watson vs. Anthony Johnson. 

(Photos by Noah Graham, Jeff Zelevansky, Harry How/NBAE via Getty Images)

That Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur incident at the Rookie Transition Program ... Chris Broussard of ESPN the Magazine has many more details than we knew previously. For instance:

According to sources, Chalmers and Arthur were caught in Arthur's room at the Doral Arrowwood resort in Rye Brook, N.Y., when a fire alarm went off Wednesday at about 2 a.m. Hotel management went to the room, but the players refused to allow them in.

Stern's anger was apparently evident when he began his speech; he mentioned Chalmers and Arthur by name and told the 67 rookies in attendance that the two would be thrown out of the program and forced to attend the 2009 session.

Management then left to get security, which used its own key to enter the room minutes later. Once inside, security found Chalmers, Arthur and at least two women. There was a strong stench of marijuana in the room, and one person was in the bathroom with the door locked, repeatedly flushing the toilet, sources said.

The police were called to room, which they searched, but neither marijuana nor drug paraphernalia was found.

The players had been planning to attend the program's opening session with David Stern the following morning, but when Stern learned what had happened the night before, Broussard's sources say he had them sent packing, then called them out by name before the entire group.

Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers were sent home for breaking the rules. There is talk of women and marijuana. Everyone is shaking their heads in amazement at how this has unfolded.

But what actually happened? They were sent home from what? For breaking what rules?

More details are emerging -- we'll probably know more about what happened later today. But for now, here is an attempt to wrangle what we do know.

What is the NBA's Rookie Transition Program?
After getting to sit in for a day of the Rookie Transition Program in 2002, I'm a big fan. Yes, it's mostly about sitting in some dim conference room and and listening, but it's a significant few days.

Here's why: The NBA is long on tough and short on love. And this program is one little attempt at being just a little nurturing toward young players.

It's doubtful the NBA will pose Darrell Arthur in the clouds again anytime soon. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

There are no cell phones. There are no girlfriends. There are no agents, or distractions of any kind. There aren't even clothing decisions to be made: Every rookie wears their matching shirt.

But there is a lot of heartfelt advice from retired players, coaches, and experts of all kinds.

I think there are a lot of groans about the whole thing. The days are long, and often boring. (Here's a look at what's on a past year's agenda.) When they dim the lights use the overhead projector more than a few eyes fluttered shut.

But it was a real experience, like a school field trip. The players, I think, really felt like they were all in it together. I happened to be there on the day when Kenny Smith stirred up a little anti-European sentiment, but in the hallway afterward the players weren't having any of it. Whether you asked Caron Butler or Bostjan Nachbar, no one felt like the other did not belong there. Their bond as NBA rookies was too strong for that, even after just a few days of hanging around in the same big resort.

Putting together that seminar is a ton of work, and NBA people like Mike Bantom, Rory Sparrow, and Purvis Short do that work really wanting to show players how to be happier, healthier, safer and all that.

It's a gentle approach.

But you know how it is when you get a tough person to try the gentle approach, and then it bites them? THEY HATE THAT! So when the normally gruff NBA extended this huge fig leaf to the players with some real caring and insight, and then two of them apparently took advantage of it by breaking just about all the rules, the League was in no mood to hold their hands and explain things in gentle tones.

Now with an extra few days to work on that handle: Mario Chalmers. (Fernando Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)

What are the rules?
There are tons of rules at the Rookie Transition Program, the full list of which is not widely known, even in NBA circles.

When I was there many rules were discussed openly and often, and have been conformed to still be in effect. No cell phones except during certain designated periods. No pagers. No beepers. No visitors. No skipping sessions. No leaving the resort. No shirts other than the official one.

And certainly, no drugs.

What are the specific NBA regulations as they apply to rookies and the Rookie Transition Program?
Although many rookies won't get paid until the League's first standard payday of November 15 -- depending on the terms they negotiated with their teams -- rookies become employees the instant they sign contracts.

And one fixed obligation of any rookie contract is attending this multi-day session. According to the Collective Bargaining Agreement: "When a player, without proper and reasonable excuse, fails or refuses to attend a 'mandatory program,' he shall be fined $20,000 by the NBA; provided, however, that if the player misses the Rookie Transition Program, he shall be suspended for five (5) games."

The NBA has dangled the notion that these two players could be suspended. They could not be suspended for violating the NBA's anti-drug rules. They have not been drug tested, and in any case a first marijuana offense does not result in a suspension. If the NBA was to suspend Chalmers and Arthur, one rationale could be they they missed a mandatory program.

Will Arthur and Chalmers be drug tested now?
Ordinarily, they would not be tested during the summer. However, the NBA certainly would appear to have that right now. From the collective bargaining agreement: "In the event that either the NBA or the Players Association has information that gives it reasonable cause to believe that a player is engaged in the use, possession, or distribution of a Prohibited Substance, including information that a First-Year Player may have been engaged in such conduct during the period beginning three (3) months prior to his entry into the NBA, such party shall request a conference with the other party and the Independent Expert, which shall be held within twenty-four (24) hours or as soon thereafter as the Expert is available. Upon hearing the information presented, the Independent Expert shall immediately decide whether there is reasonable cause to believe that the player in question has been engaged in the use, possession, or distribution of a Prohibited Substance. If the Independent Expert decides that such reasonable cause exists, the Expert shall thereupon issue an Authorization for Testing with respect to such player."

Did Arthur and Chalmers slide in the draft because of rumors about after-hours habits?
Both Arthur and Chalmers -- championship winning teammates at Kansas -- were drafted lower than projected.

When players slide, there is always speculation as to why. Arthur famously had a mix-up -- many teams reportedly thought he had a kidney problem, which later proved false.

But the whisper campaign about "off-court" problems is intense about many players every year, and many go on to become highly regarded professionals. And there is reason to lie -- agents and teams hoping to manipulate the draft have reason to point out flaws, perceived or real, in various players.

So, yes, there has been speculation about all kinds of players, but it's good to assume it's all nonsense unless further evidence comes to light.

Is it a good idea to kick them out of the program or should they have been forced to stay?
If your only concern in the world is the future livelihood of Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur, then you might want to have them learn what is about to be taught at the Rookie Transition Program.

But don't forget there is an entire rookie class present. People talk. If tales of women and marijuana were hanging in the air, and Chalmers and Arthur were sitting in the room smiling, would anybody in the room believe the NBA and the Players Association when they deliver their "don't do drugs" presentation?

Drugs have be
en a thorn in the League's side for decades. These few days are one of the NBA's most focused sessions dedicated to preventing illegal drug use. Reports of drugs at that very event? The League had to make an example.

Are they getting off easy?
Although the league says no decision has been made yet as to whether or not they will be suspended, it's extremely likely that Arthur and Chalmers are regretting their decision.

Before even suiting up for a single regular season NBA game, they are getting a mighty public shaming and possibly a suspension.

Every basketball person I talk to says the same thing: That was so dumb. People have reacted to the reports by accusing the players violated everything from common sense (partying at the League's big "you're a professional now" confab?) to basic pot smokers' etiquette (you mean they didn't learn about the towel-under-the-door thing in college?)

What's more, Darrell Arthur's public dressing down from the powers that be in Memphis has already begun.

Fines and suspensions are a hassle. But a global condemnation of your judgment -- that lasts a lot longer. They have a lot of work to do to restore that championship glow.