Posted on Thu Aug 02, 2007 at 10:25:02 AM EST in NBA
More on: Stephon Marbury, Kevin McHale, Sebastian Telfair, Knicks, Celtics (all tags)

Kevin Garnett getting dealt to the Boston Celtics is the biggest trade, both literally (7-for-1 deal) and figuratively, to go down in a long, long time. And most people tend to believe that the deal is a positive for everyone involved, including the Eastern Conference and NBA as a whole. Well, everyone except for Stephon Marbury of course.

Marbury recently opened his mouth and, as usual, a whole bunch of smack talk came gushing out of his pie-hole; mostly dogging Minnesota GM Kevin McHale. Apparently, Starbury has unpleasant memories of McHale and he's not too happy that his equally mentally unstable cousin, Sebastian Telfair, ended up with the Timberwolves as a result of the blockbuster trade.

When I do speak to (Sebastian) I'll wish him good luck and tell him to be careful around Kevin McHale," Marbury said.

"As far as my little cousin, I wish him all the best because he's got to deal with Kevin McHale," Marbury said. "I wouldn't want to play for Kevin McHale. When I left, all of a sudden I became a bad person from his standpoint. I became selfish and jealous of Kevin.

We really can't blame Marbury for not liking McHale; after all, he is possibly the worst GM in the history of GMs, but we don't see where he's coming from when he starts blabbering about how his Knicks have a leg up on the new look Celtics. Yeah, ok.

On paper, they're a really good team with guys who can really play, but they still have to get on the court and do it," Marbury said. "Chemistry is everything. We look good on paper, too, and we have a year under our belts.

"I'm not thinking about Boston," Marbury added. "I'm only thinking about the New York Knicks. Our new nickname is nice and nasty. That's how we're coming.

"Nice and nasty"???? Considering the rap sheets and erratic behavior of the Knicks club, we think that "drunk and high" is a much more appropriate moniker.

Links:
[NYPost.com]: Steph says don't fear KG, Celts

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Posted on Tue Jun 12, 2007 at 10:32:37 AM EST in NBA
More on: Spurs, Cavaliers, Magic, Billy Donovan, Pistons, Celtics, Sebastian Telfair, NBA, Around the Rim (all tags)

1. Home sweet home
So far, this year's finals have be LeBoring as the Spurs have easily held serve on their home court during the first two games of the series. But as you've heard a million times before, especially from the Cavaliers squad and those windbags at ESPN, Cleveland has been in this position before and they have the an Eastern Conference championship to prove it.

Cleveland Rocks isn't going to just be some stupid city slogan when Game 3 tips off because the walls of downtown establishments will probably actually be shaking from the celebrations and drunken cheers. Home court advantages like that can extremely helpful during the postseason; just ask Golden State and Utah. Both teams had long playoff droughts and their fans treated them like kings in appreciation for their return to glory. Considering that LeBron James has his city hosting a finals game for the first time in their 37-year history, we're guessing it'll probably add up to a Game 3 victory for the home team. It's a lot easier for a young team to hit shots in front of a crowd that is cheering as opposed to booing and if the possibility of falling into a 3-0 hole isn't motivation then nothing is.

But the Spurs are playing like a well oiled machine and in addition to making a run at becoming an NBA dynasty, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are beginning to make a run at the title of all-time best trio in league history. Other than Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale and Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, there aren't too many trios who have been more successful at what they do than the fellas in SA.

2. More Billy Donovan B.S. for the Magic
As if having a college coach accept and then reject their multimillion dollar offer in the pros isn't embarrassing enough, the Magic are now begrudgingly forced to the point of contacting fans who bought season tickets after Billy Donovan's hiring and asking if they're still planning on coming. Turns out that a lot of fans are pissed and don't want to go to the games anymore now that Billy the Kid has shot them in the back, and rightfully so. But there's a catch to getting the refund; the season tickets had to be purchased within 48 hours of Donovan's announcement big fat lie. However, there are some people who still seem to be interested in Orlando's Stan Van Gundy era. And who knows, maybe the Ron Jeremy look-alike can take the Magic all the way to playoff success just to spite Mr. Gator.

3. Motown shakedown?
We heard that Flip Saunders wasn't planning on leaving Detroit after the Pistons blew a 2-0 lead to the Cavs in the East Finals, but that doesn't really mean a lot in today's NBA. But once the president of basketball operations gets on his side, then that's when you have a reason to feel comfortable. And that's what Joe Dumars did on Monday when he brushed aside rumors of blowing up the team. In addition to reassuring his coach, Dumars also made it obvious that resigning Chauncey Billups is his top priority during the off-season. Rasheed Wallace, not so much. In fact, Gentleman Joe said that he "wouldn't blink an eye about" trading away Sheed if it comes down to it. Sounds like the NY trade rumors could come to fruition after all.

Buzzer Beater: Everyone thought that Danny Ainge was going to have a complete meltdown after Boston slipped all the way to fifth in the draft lottery a few weeks back. And while Ainge might have appeared to be somewhat collected after having his hopes smashed by the bouncing ping pong balls of fate, we now have proof that Danny Boy is suffering through a bit of a mental lapse to say the least. Turns out that Ainge is open to the idea of bringing Sebastian Telfair back, despite the fact he got picked up by the cops with a loaded gun in his car a few months back. Guess if there is no new, young, franchise changing image coming to town then there is no new, young, franchise changing image to ruin with criminal hijinks and shenanigans. And it's that kind of idiotic decision making that is why the Boston Celtics aren't going to be improving anytime soon.

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Posted on Wed Apr 25, 2007 at 09:31:01 AM EST in NBA
More on: Heat, Bulls, Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, Suns, Steve Nash, Leandro Barbosa, Sam Mitchell, Raptors, Nets, Sebastian Telfair, Celtics, NBA, Around the Rim (all tags)

1. Repeat defeat
Most people seem to think that a team isn't in trouble in the playoffs until they lose a game on their home court. Well, Miami hasn't lost on their home court but they still appear to be in serious trouble after the Bulls ran over Miami for a 107-89 win and took a 2-0 advantage in the series. The defending champions are getting thoroughly thrashed by what appears to be a more complete team unit in the Bulls. Luol Deng continues to abuse defenders as he put together another impressive outing with 26 points and six assists to go along with Ben Gordon's game-high 27 points. But you can't count out the Heat just yet; after all, Miami did drop the first two games of last year's finals before going on to take the title away from Dallas in six games. Chicago, on the other hand, blew a 2-0 lead in the first round to the Wizards two years ago.

2. The Mamba strikes and misses
At the end of the first half of game one it looked like Kobe Bryant was going to carry the Lakers on his back to playoff victory. The past six quarters between the Phoenix and Los Angeles have proven that nothing could be further from the truth. Even if Bryant could string together another batch of 50 point games like he did earlier in the year, it still wouldn't be enough to get this lackadaisical Lakers squad past the first round. The Suns just toyed with LA like a cat with a mouse on Tuesday as Steve Nash dished out 14 assists and newly crowned Sixth Man of the Year Leandro Barbosa put up a game-high 26 points off the bench in the 126-98 win. The odds are definitely going to be stacked against Los Angeles when the series heads to Hollywood and it's going to take a lot of extra rooting from Jack, Denzel, Dyan and the other famous faces in the Staples Center crowd to keep the Lakers from falling down 3-0.

3. Sam's the man
There were lots of worthy candidates for this season's Coach of the Year award, but when it came down time to vote only one man could earn the honor. Toronto's Sam Mitchell was named that man on Tuesday and rightfully so. Mitchell took the award with 394 total points, including 49 first place votes, over other possible candidates like Jerry Sloan (301 points), Avery Johnson (268 points) and Jeff Van Gundy (134 points). Who would have ever guessed that Mitchell would turn around a struggling Toronto franchise that was widely considered to be one of the black holes of the league? Certainly not the players of the Association because last April a Sports Illustrated informal poll amongst league ballers declared Mitchell to be the NBA's worst coach. But nobody is saying Mitchell is a bottom feeder anymore since the Raptors made a 20-game improvement over last year's dismal 27-55 record. And just hours after receiving the award, Mitchell went out and led the Raptors as they evened up their series with New Jersey by defeating them 89-83. Suck on that SI!

Tuesday's Player of the Day: Steve Nash vs. Los Angeles Lakers 25 min, 16 pts (FG: 7-11, 3FG: 2-4), 5 reb, 14 ast

Buzzer Beater: Danny Ainge thought he was getting Boston's point guard of the future last year when he made the trade for teenage phenomenon Sebastian Telfair. Turns out that he got a giant headache instead and after just one season the Celtics have decided that enough is enough and cut ties with the 21-year-old. "I wanted to let you know that we have removed Sebastian's nameplate from his locker in Waltham," said managing partner Wyc Grousbeck in an e-mail to the Boston Globe. Geez, you removed his nameplate; guess there's no turning back now. Telfair was arrested on Friday after a gun was found in his car, but his attorney, Ed Hayes, thinks that Boston's decision to get rid of Telfair is far too sudden and they should reconsider. Save your breath Ed; didn't you hear? They already removed his nameplate, it's over.

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Posted on Fri Apr 20, 2007 at 04:19:04 PM EST in NBA
More on: Sebastian Telfair, NBA, Celtics, crime (all tags)

The NBA season ended on Wednesday, so it shouldn't be surprising that ballers are getting popped by the cops by Friday. And getting the off-season started with a bang is Celtics guard Sebastian Telfair who was arrested around 4:00 a.m. Friday morning in New York after he was pulled over going 77 mph in a 45 mph zone. Now, speeding doesn't usually get someone thrown in the slammer, but packin' heat often will. Officers found a loaded .45 caliber handgun stashed under the front passenger seat and charged Telfair and his thug homey, Al Eden Fuentes, with second-degree possession of a weapon which is a felony. Ouch! Telfair also got slapped with a couple misdemeanors for not having a proper driver's license and speeding.

This is nothing new for the high schooler gone pro because back in October Telfair was allegedly involved in a robbery/shooting/hired hit with rapper Fabolous that ended up with Telfair being investigated while his buddies painted him to be a sweet heart. Stephon Marbury and his lawyer both seemed to think there was no way their boy could be involved. Could it have just been a coincidence? Hell, no! But apparently Telfair is quite the charmer. According to police, "He was very polite and cooperative with our officers."

While he might be polite, we're not being fooled by the baby face and big smile. If he's such a great guy who would never involve himself with criminal activity, then why does he have a loaded gat up under the seat? Call us crazy but we can't imagine Dwyane Wade or LeBron James rolling with a pistol by their side. Carmelo Anthony on the hand...

Links:
[NYJournalNews.com]: Celtics star collared on gun charge on Bronx River Parkway; team has no comment

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