Where Are They Now, 2009; Part 2
December 31st, 2008
– Chris Alexander re-emerged as an interesting prospect last season, despite being 28 years old, after a campaign that saw him average 11.6 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks a game in the D-League for the Sioux Falls Skyforce. He turned that into first a contract in the Philippines, and then a training camp contract with Oklahoma City. As Alexander is a centre, he must have fancied his chances on the length-crazy Thunder, but he didn’t make the …
Liquorice Allsorts
December 25th, 2008
1) As you may know, Houston traded Steve Francis, a 2009 second-round draft pick and cash to Memphis for a conditional 2011 second-round pick. Memphis’s end of this is simple – they got their pick back for free. Houston gave them Francis, enough money to pay him for the rest of the year (or most of it, at least), and Memphis’s own second-rounder next year, which they’d previously given to Houston while moving up in the draft this summer. …
Bonzi Wells signs in China
December 15th, 2008
If things had worked out slightly different, Bonzi Wells would be earning about $8 million this year from the Sacramento Kings.
As it is, he’ll be earning about $40,000 in China.
Bonzi, pictured here playing an invisible trumpet, famously was reported to have turned down a five-year, $38.5 million extension from the Kings on the advice of his agent, Williams Phillips. Phillips seemingly thought that Bonzi could get more money from elsewhere. He was wrong, though. He was very …
Grizzlies sign Darius Miles, screw up rival’s plans
December 14th, 2008
Grizzlies sign Darius Miles
Free agent forward Darius Miles arrived in Memphis early Saturday morning and signed a nonguaranteed contract with the Grizzlies following a physical examination.
I’m hungry. Anybody in the position I’m in, and has been through what I’ve been through the past two years, if he’s not hungry he shouldn’t waste anybody’s time,” Miles said. “I’m hungry. I ain’t quitting. I feel like I can still do this. I wouldn’t even waste the Grizzlies’ time if I
…
Some bonus Rodney Rogers
December 5th, 2008
Upset as we are about the news of Rodney Rogers’s accident and paralysis, there’s only one way to tribute the man, and that’s with a Rodney Rogers Highlight Montage.
Unfortunately, I don’t have one. But I do have this awesome clip, of Rodney Rogers scoring 9 points in 9 seconds back in his days with the Denver Nuggets. This clip has been kind of forgotten over the years, as Reggie Miller’s 8 in 18 seconds and Tracy McGrady’s 13 …
Rodney Rogers paralysed in accident
December 4th, 2008
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3744237
Former NBA and college basketball star Rodney Rogers is paralyzed as the result of an all-terrain vehicle accident, his college coach told the News & Observer of Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
Dave Odom, who coached Rogers when he earned All-America honors at Wake Forest and was the 1993 ACC Player of the Year, said Wednesday that his former star is paralyzed from the shoulders down, according to the report.
Those of us that used to play the Rodney Rogers game – …
Preview Sort Of Thing: Chicago Bulls
October 23rd, 2008
The Bulls are, quite possibly, the hardest team in the league to gauge right now. Every one of their significant players is a question mark. Other than predicting Larry Hughes will shoot a pull-up 18 footer on 85% of the fast breaks that he’s involved in, there’s nothing that you can say with any conviction about this current Bulls roster. It’s a poser.
Theoretically, they could be great. This is still, essentially, the same 49-win second round team of the …
Preview Sort Of Thing: Milwaukee Bucks
October 23rd, 2008
The Milwaukee Bucks and their new head coach Scott Skiles are an eclectic mix. Recent Skiles-free Bucks teams have been capable of repeated instances of really bad defence, whereas recent Skiles-led Bulls teams (last year excluded) have been one of the best defensive units in the NBA. Make no mistake about it – Scott Skiles can coach defence. He really can. He even made Michael Sweetney and Eddy Curry into decent defensive players, briefly.
In theory, therefore, a union of …
Preview Sort Of Thing: Portland Trail Blazers
October 20th, 2008
I write this post while speaking from inside a pair of Portland Trail Blazers shorts. It’s not the smartest choice of garb right now, given that it’s essentially snowing outside. But I’m wearing them anyway, because I’m a maverick, who doesn’t play by the rules, a Mad Max gone maniacal, a man whose killing expertise and suicidal recklessness make him a Lethal Weapon to anyone he works against. Or with.
I own these shorts for two reasons:
1. As a
…
Preview Sort Of Thing: Sacramento Kings
October 20th, 2008
As an aspiring GM with no qualifications or career prospects to speak of, and whose sole outreach into the world of the NBA is this distinctly amateur and unattractive site full of mild slander, I enjoy certain advantages. One of those is the ability to do what I want, to a half-baked standard, and then to abandon it prematurely. This explains what happened with last year’s “30 teams in 30 or so days” series of predictions, where I started well, …
Third Prize Is You’re Fired (2008 NBA Training Camp)
October 6th, 2008
“Anybody wanna see second prize?”
“Second prize is a set of steak knives.”
– Milwaukee signed Ron Howard, T.J. Cummings, Matt Freije and Kevin Kruger for camp. If you’re wondering who Ron Howard and T.J. Cummings are…well, you have yourself a valid question, but both are represented by Elfus-Siegel Management, an agency quite adept at landing their players places on training camp rosters. (If you were wondering, this is how Garth Joseph rolled up on the Bulls training …
Second Prize Is A Set Of Steak Knives
October 5th, 2008
I should have written this note before I did. But you’re not the boss of me. Unless you are the boss of me. In which case, hey. Sorry I’m late. Traffic was bad.
These are the camp battles that we are to watch with captivated interest. If you’re not even slightly interested, then don’t worry, because I’m intrigued enough for the both of us.
– Atlanta re-signed Mario West, and signed Marcus Hubbard, Frank Robinson and ShamSports.com …
September Still Hasn’t Ended
September 25th, 2008
Part 1!!!!!!!!
Now part 2!!!!!!!!
Minimum salary deals:
Atlanta signed Randolph Morris for two seasons, giving themselves both the opportunity to develop a talented young centre and the opportunity to lose him to restricted free agency. They also signed Othello Hunter and Thomas Gardner for training camp. My lame ill-informed prediction: Hunter makes it if Solomon Jones gets traded. (Readers note: they haven’t signed Dalibor Bagaric, despite it reputedly being a done deal almost a month ago.)…
Wake Me Up When September Ends
September 25th, 2008
John Hollinger wrote a long old piece two weeks ago in which he opines upon pretty much every transaction made this summer.
Well, if he can, I can. From the people you know about, to the insignificant ones you couldn’t give a Keith Closs about. That’s how I want it, so that’s how it’s going to be.
If you’re the kind of person who is annoyed by long posts, then the length of this post will annoy you. It is …
….But It’s Zach Randolph?
September 6th, 2008
ESPN: Knicks suggest dealing Randolph to Memphis
The Knicks have a trade proposal on the table with the Memphis Grizzlies that would see Darko Milicic and Marko Jaric dealt to New York in exchange for Zach Randolph.
OK, I get it. I do. I really do.
“Here, take Zach Randolph! Take this extremely talented player who just so happens to play at your weakest position! Nooooooo, we don’t want anything back! You just take him!”
I get that. When …
Won’t somebody PLEASE think of Quinton Ross?
August 6th, 2008
There follows a list of the remaining unsigned NBA free agents, and what they’re currently rumoured to be doing about their jobless selves. Most of these players are marginal, because we’re over a month into free agency now. Yet this list may still serve as a useful resource if you’re sifting through the remaining chunks of free agency vomit, looking for gold dust and/or your brand new watch, relentlessly apologising for ruining the whole party and vowing never to mix …
Joey Dorsey loses a game that he wasn’t in
July 23rd, 2008
Down one in the closing stages of a summer league game, new Washington Wizards guard Dee Brown fouls Uruguay’s finest, the insatiable Gustavo Barrera, sending him to the line. Barrera hits both foul shots, putting Houston up by three.
Rockets forward Joey Dorsey – watching the game from the sidelines due to an ankle injury – briefly breaks away from his spontaneous “Who Can Wear The Worst Stripey Polo Shirt” competition with Rafer Alston, and decides to say something. …
Giving Away Marcus Camby Should Not Be The Sum Total Of The Plan
July 16th, 2008
The Denver Nuggets traded former DPOY Marcus Camby to the L.A. Clippers yesterday, for, essentially, nothing. The Nuggets got no more than the right to swap second-round picks with L.A. in 2010, a year in which the Clippers will have the lower pick anyway, meaning that Denver won’t be exercising the option. That’s it. That was their return. That was what they got.
That was what they got for Marcus, freaking, Camby.
Marcus Camby is a former DPOY award winner. …
2008 NBA Draft Night Diary, Part 2
June 27th, 2008
Part 1
– Pick 16: The awesomely-named Marreese Speights goes to the Sixers. But I missed this pick, too, due to more connection difficulties. Hmmmmm. I should probably move to America if I’m going to take Stu Scott’s job. This whole streaming thing isn’t getting it done.
– Pick 17 is made by Toronto for Indiana, as a part of the Jermaine O’Neal deal, which is now being reported as “done”, even though it isn’t. (I’d like …
2008 NBA Draft Night Diary, Part 1
June 27th, 2008
I have a confession to make. I have an addiction.
It took an intervention of sorts, but I am willing to admit it: I am addicted to the NBA. Even when it’s boring. Even when it’s corrupt. Even when my team sucks. Even though I’m in the wrong continent. Even when doing so is to the direct detriment of my sleep pattern and general health. I am addicted to suckling every molecule of informative fecal matter from the grand protruding …
It turns out defence does indeed win championships
June 18th, 2008
In the unlikely event that you hadn’t noticed, defence wins championships.
In the six games of this NBA Finals series, the Celtics ran about two perimeter isolation plays, not including ones at the end of quarters. They didn’t need to run any. The offence took care of itself from running only the simplest stuff. All they had to do was push the ball off of Laker misses and turnovers, occasionally post up Kevin Garnett, have the shooters run to …
2008 NBA Finals Talk
June 10th, 2008
By unpopular demand, I won’t talk about baseball. Instead, I’ll talk about basketball. I shall retread the observations of the hundreds of other writers who are covering the subject, while adding no unique spin. It’s how we roll around here.
1) There’s no reason why Lamar Odom shouldn’t be able to defend Kevin Garnett better than he does. None whatsoever. He has the length to bother his jump shots as well as anyone can bother them, the athleticism to prevent …
The Juan Carlos Navarro Experience
April 29th, 2008
After the completion of the Grizzlies’s second consecutive poor season, Spanish guard Juan Carlos Navarro immediately returned to his native Spain.
Immediately.
And why wouldn’t he? A free agent this offseason, Navarro has been roundly stiffed by Memphis, who have managed to mismanage his situation rather spectacularly, in the way that only they know how. Let’s recap:
1: Memphis traded a protected first rounder to Washington for the draft rights to Navarro.
2: They then sign Darko Milicic to a …
2008 NBA Offseason Preview: Charlotte Bobcats
April 18th, 2008
The second in a new series of posts detailing teams financial outlooks for the upcoming free agency period, what cap room they have, what exceptions, what draft slots, etc. Should be fascinatingly fascinating, if you’re easily pleased.
No information is 100% guaranteed accurate, but unless you’re privy to hitherto unknown information, or just better at this than I am (highly possible), then it’s probably more accurate than you’ve seen before.
To be completed in an order best described as “Random”.…
2008 NBA Offseason Preview: Chicago Bulls
April 17th, 2008
The first in a new series of posts detailing teams financial outlooks for the upcoming free agency period, what cap room they have, what exceptions, what draft slots, etc. Should be fascinatingly fascinating, if you’re easily pleased.
No information is 100% guaranteed accurate, but unless you’re privy to hitherto unknown information, or just better at this than I am (highly possible), then it’s probably more accurate than you’ve seen before..
To be completed in an order best described as “Random”.…
