Tag: jason kidd

Categories
New Jersey Nets

Around the Rim: Jason’s still a Net, no Kidding!


1. Devean George is not a Jersey kinda guy
The Dallas Mavericks were just about to give away half their roster for Jason Kidd, but then Devean George decided to go `Kobe’ on the league and nix the trade. As it turns out, George has a loop hole in his contract giving him ultimate approval of any trade. This doesn’t mean the deal that would send Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop, Maurice Ager and George (plus $3 million and two future first-round picks) going to New Jersey for Kidd and Malik Allen is completely done, but it will need to be tweaked. According to reports, the Mavs might replace George with Eddie Jones and Nick Fazekas or Jones and Juwan Howard. The Nets were so sure this deal was done they sat Kidd against Toronto on Wednesday. And as fate would have, they lost big.

2. Never doubt Dwight Howard

Stan Van Gundy called out his star player for wanting to score more than play defense. Against the Nuggets, Dwight Howard proved he can do both. Howard exploded for 23 points, 24 rebounds and a pair of blocks in a 109-98 Magic victory in the Magic Kingdom. Rashard Lewis threw in 25 for Orlando while Hedo Turkoglu and Brian Cook added 18 points apiece. The Nuggets were in the game for about a half; unfortunately, it was the first half. Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points before fouling out in the fourth and Allen Iverson put in 21 points on a horrible 5-of-16 shooting performance.

3. GINOBILI!!!!
About a month ago the Cavaliers got a measure of revenge against the Spurs, winning a close one in San Antonio after being swept out of last year’s Finals. On Wednesday, the Spurs returned the favor, beating Cleveland 112-105 on their home floor. And they didn’t even miss Tony Parker thanks to an outta-his-mind performance by Manu Ginobili. The Argentinean drilled a career-high eight 3-pointers en route to a season-high 46 points with eight assists, five rebounds and three steals. Ginobili was money in the final period, connecting on all four 3-point attempts for 18 points in the period. For the game, San Antonio shot 12-for-20 from behind the arc. Oh, and according to the box score, there were a couple of All-Stars on the court as well. Tim Duncan did his usual double-double thing, scoring 23 and grabbing 13 while LeBron James had himself a humdinger of a contest with 39 points, six rebounds and nine assists.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Manu Ginobili @ Cleveland 40 min, 46 pts (FG: 15-20, 3FG: 8-11, FT: 8-9), 5 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk

Thursday’s Game to Watch: Dallas (35-17) @ Phoenix (36-16)
We know Jason Kidd won’t be in the lineup for the Mavericks and it’s doubtful that Shaquille O’Neal makes his Suns debut against Dallas, but there are still plenty of reasons to watch. It’s always a track meet when these two hook up and it usually goes down to the wire. Dirk Nowitzki should love not having to deal with the pesky Shawn Marion in this rivalry anymore, but Steve Nash is still around and so is some young stud named Amare Stoudemire. It should be interesting to see how the Mavs react with a roster full of players they tried to cut ties with less than a day before.

Buzzer Beater: Gilbert Arenas is thinking about changing his last name to East after realizing the fashionable perks it would bring.

That’s going to be the coolest jersey ever though … that David West jersey for being a Western Conference All-Star … West on the front, West on the back. That’s going to be the bomb jersey.

Categories
Seattle Supersonics

Around the Rim: Sonic blast!


1. When it rains, it pours
Things just keep getting worse for the Spurs. The defending champs have been withering away before our eyes for close to two months now, but San Antonio hit rock bottom on Tuesday, first losing their point guard indefinitely and then losing a heartbreaker gutstomper soulcrusher to Seattle. Yup, Tony Parker is out for an unknown amount of time with a bone spur in his heel and, yup, they went on to lose 88-85 to 14-losses-in-a-row Seattle. It was the first win of 2008 for Seattle and the Spurs third consecutive defeat. Kevin Durant stepped up big for the Sonics with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists and Chris Wilcox had 16 points and 10 boards. San Antonio had a three point advantage entering the fourth quarter, but gave up big shots down the stretch, ruining perfectly good performances from Tim Duncan (27 pts, 12 reb) and Manu Ginobili (29 pts, 7 ast).

2. Kidd and play

Jason Kidd might want a trade, but the Nets sure like having him around. New Jersey was riding a nine-game losing streak into their contest against Milwaukee on Tuesday, but Kidd’s 11 assists helped the Nets to an 87-80 victory. Vince Carter finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and five assists and Richard Jefferson scored a game-high 20 points. And it’s a good thing Jefferson was stroking it because Kidd and Carter combined to shoot 7-of-28 from the floor. But in the eyes of the Jersey faithful, Kidd can do no wrong. After telling the world that New Jersey basically doesn’t have a chance in hell of amounting to a hill of beans, he gets a standing ovation from the crowd. It might sound strange, but this is exactly what should happen for a guy who carried his team to NBA Finals…twice. Pat yourself on the back Jersey.

3. Antawn holds down the fort
No Gilbert Arenas, no Caron Butler, no chance; right? Wrong! Antawn Jamison shouldered the load usually distributed evenly among the big three and had to put in some overtime to get the job done but, after a long night’s work, the Wizards knocked off the Raptors 108-104. Jamison recorded 24 points and 20 rebounds, offsetting some Jurassic efforts from the Raptors. Chris Bosh had 37 points, 12 rebounds and three steals while Jose Calderon went bonkers, scoring 23, dishing 13 and grabbing six boards, but in the end it just wasn’t enough. Luckily for them, they get another crack at the Wizards tonight as the home-and-home series shifts to Toronto for part deux.

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: Yao Ming vs. Golden State 40 min, 36 pts (FG: 11-19, FT: 14-15), 19 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk

Wednesday’s Game to Watch: Golden State (27-19) @ New Orleans (32-12)
The Warriors are coming off a loss to Houston on Tuesday, but it’s no biggie; after all, they just inked C-Webb to a contract through the end of the season. So, all is good in the Albaland. And even though New Orleans is rolling like never before, the Warriors average 10 more points per game than the Bugs and they have a pretty decent point guard in Baron Davis who should put on a show against his counterpart Chris Paul.

Buzzer Beater: Some great quotes came out of Tuesday’s game between the Celtics and the Heat. It’s a good thing too because Miami certainly didn’t give the home fans a reason to be interested in the 117-87 spanking.

When asked how long Kevin Garnett’s strained abdominal muscle could keep him sidelined, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers didn’t have an exact answer.

“You know Doc’s a nickname, correct?” deadpanned the coach, whose given name is Glenn.

But Rivers wasn’t the only Glen with nickname news.

With Garnett — “The Big Ticket,” as he’s known — sidelined, [Paul] Pierce gave Glen “Big Baby” Davis a new nickname before the game. “He’s ticket stub now,” Pierce said.

Categories
New Orleans Hornets

Around the Rim: Buzzzing right along


1. It’s a nice view from above
If you’re anything like us then you probably have to slap yourself every morning when you see New Orleans sitting atop the Western Conference. But the Hornets recent swarm appears to be legitimate after winning their ninth consecutive game by annihilating the Nuggets 117-93. Chris Paul came up one rebound shy of recording a triple-double with 23 points, 17 assists and the aforementioned nine boards. This game was over for Denver before the first quarter buzzer even buzzed and by halftime they were staring up from a 23 point hole. The Nuggets had a good excuse though with Carmelo Anthony riding the pine.

2. Same faces, new places

There’s about to be a few very excited real estate agents thanks to the recent decisions of several nomadic NBAers. The biggest news comes out of New Jersey where the human triple-double Jason Kidd confirmed the rumors that he wanted a trade before the Fed. 21 deadline. Dallas and Denver already inquired about obtaining the All-Star’s services. Next up is the news that Don Nelson and Chris Webber will be reuniting in Golden State 15 years after things went horribly wrong between the duo in C-Webb’s rookie campaign. Talk about a whacky, whacky world! If time has mellowed these guys then this experiment could pay off come playoff time. Last but not least, we’ve got the buyout of Damon Stoudamire’s contract with the Grizzlies. The Spurs appear to currently be atop the long list of possible new zip codes for the former Rookie of the Year.

3. Rode-oh-no road trip
The slumping Spurs began their annual extended road trip on Monday in Utah and things didn’t go according to plan for the champs. San Antonio fell behind early, trailing 27-19 after the first quarter, and spent the remainder of the game chasing the Jazz. The Spurs made it close late as they drew within three points with a minute remaining in regulation, but Utah got a timely 3-pointer from Kyle Korver to help secure a 97-91 victory. Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer scored 23 apiece and Deron Williams finished with 11 points and 14 assists. Utah made an astonishing one-day leap from not being in the playoffs to owning a home court, first round seed (No. 4)! For the Spurs, it’s one down and eight to go. D’oh!

Monday’s Player of the Day: Chris Paul vs. Denver 38 min, 23 pts (FG: 7-20, 3FG: 1-2, FT: 8-8), 9 reb, 17 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Atlanta (18-22) @ Phoenix (32-13)
Phoenix hasn’t lost to an Eastern Conference foe since Dec. 10 when the Heat somehow grabbed a road win in the desert. Yea, the Suns are still scratching their heads over that one too. Their only other loss to the East came in Atlanta when former Sun Joe Johnson was horrid from the field (3-17 FG), but Marvin Williams and Josh Smith both recorded double-doubles, leading the Hawks to victory. Last time Johnson visited Phoenix, he racked up 17 of his 32 points in the fourth and the result was a nine point Hotlanta victory. The Hawks have lost five of their last six, but they have way too much talent to be counted out.

Buzzer Beater: Hedo Turkoglu and Al Jefferson’s time in the spotlight has finally arrived. The duo became perhaps the oddest duo to ever combine for the NBA Players of the Week awards. Jefferson deservedly won the award for the West while playing on the worst squad in the league and Turkoglu won the East honor by somehow becoming the biggest offensive threat on a team with Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis. Anyways, nobody shined brighter so, congratulations fellas, you’re having the Best Week Ever!!

Turkoglu guided Orlando to a 3-1 week, including wins over Eastern Conference leaders Detroit and Boston. Leading the Magic in scoring in all four games, Turkoglu averaged 25.5 points on .492 shooting from the field and .500 shooting from three-point range. Turkoglu tallied a game-high 27 points, including the game-winning three-pointer as time expired in Orlando’s 96-93 win over Boston on Jan. 27.

Jefferson led the Timberwolves to a 3-1 week, averaging 28.8 points and 12.8 rebounds. Minnesota defeated three playoff teams from a year ago and its lone loss came by one point at Boston, owner of the NBA’s best record. Jefferson posted three point-rebound double-doubles, including a 40-point, 19-rebound effort in Minnesota’s 98-95 win over New Jersey on Jan. 27.

Categories
Houston Rockets

Around the Rim: Eyeing a comeback


1. Rockets taking off without McGrady
The Rockets are finally getting used to playing without Tracy McGrady. In fact, Houston won their third consecutive game by beating Washing 92-84 on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, T-Mac might be back in uniform for Friday’s game at home against the Timberwolves after being sidelined since Dec. 23. Hopefully for Houstonians, McGrady adds to the team’s current success instead of devolving the chemistry. Led by Luther Head’s 24 points, three Rockets reached double-figures against the Wiz, including Yao Ming who finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. With the win, Houston (18-17) jumped above .500 for the first time since being 12-11 almost a month ago.

2. Are you Kidding?

Jason Kidd racking up a triple-double is nothing new, but do it three games in a row and, now, we’ve got something to talk about. On Tuesday, Kidd became the first player since Grant Hill to record a triple-dip in a trio of consecutive games by scoring 13 points, grabbing 11 boards and passing out 12 assists against the Bobcats. And if Kidd hadn’t come up two assists shy in a game against Orlando, he would be looking at four straight triple-doubles. The last person to do that was, you guessed it, Michael Jordan who had seven consecutive way, way back in 1989. Oh, and if you care about things like team play and scores then you might be interested to know that Charlotte defeated the Nets quite easily, 115-99.

3. Fancy meeting you here
LeBron James didn’t have to go pro. Kevin Durant didn’t need to go to college. But regardless of their individual paths, the two superstars (one established and one in the making) met on the hardwood for the first time Tuesday night. Durant played one of the best contests of his rookie campaign, scoring a game-high 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting and grabbed six rebounds before spraining his ankle late in the game. Despite the early exit, Durant won the one-on-one offensive battle against LBJ, but his team lost the war with the Cavs. James finished with 22 points and Cleveland cruised to a 95-79 home victory.

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: Dwight Howard @ Sacramento 38 min, 29 pts (FG: 11-13, FT: 7-8), 15 reb, 1 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Wednesday’s Game to Watch: Detroit (26-8) @ Dallas (23-11)
The Pistons have been off since Saturday and in that time, you know the Bad Boys have been stewing over their loss to East’s glitzy favorites, the Beantown Celtics. Unfortunately for the Mavericks, they’re next in line and the Pistons are dying to get back to their winning ways. Before the loss to Boston, Detroit won 11 consecutive games and 18 out of 20, but Dallas is finally catching fire as well. After bouncing back and forth between wins and losses, Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs seem to have found some consistency, winning four straight and nine of their previous 11 contests. Since scoring a season-low seven points against New Orleans on Dec. 14, Nowitzki has topped 19 points in the last ten games, scoring 30 or more four times.

Buzzer Beater: Losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves is pretty much the lowest of low, even for the lowly Miami Heat. But that is exactly what happened on Tuesday when the T-Wolves picked up their fifth win of the season by spanking the Shaqless Heat 101-91. After the game, Dwyane Wade made the understatement of the year.

We’re not exactly 28-5 this year,” Wade said of his 8-27 Heat, who have the worst record in the Eastern Conference. “We’re one of the worst teams in the league as well.

Categories
Atlanta Hawks

Around the Rim: Birds of a different feather


1. The Hawks are flying high
Portland is currently running away with the “Overachievers of the Year” award, but the Hawks are quietly still in the race. Joe Johnson poured in 26 points and handed out 11 assists to give Atlanta a 107-95 home victory over Indiana, but, perhaps even more importantly, it gave the Hawks their first five-game winning streak since 1999. Atlanta is now 15-12 on the year, good for the Eastern Conference’s fourth best record, giving the Hawks a legitimate chance of making the playoffs for the first time since 1998-99. In addition to Johnson’s offensive firepower, Josh Smith is having an awesome year, averaging 17.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.92 steals and 3.12 blocks per game. The Hawks can now sit back and somewhat enjoy the fruits of their labor; they don’t play again until Saturday when they travel to Dallas and after that, Atlanta is off until next Wednesday when they head to Cleveland for a contest against King James and the Cavs.

2. Boston looks mean in green

The Celtics headed West for the first time this year on Wednesday when they traveled to Sacramento for a contest against a struggling Kings team. The result for Boston was the same on the west coast as it was on the east coast, an easy victory. The Cs cruised to an 89-69 win behind 47 points from the big three and 13 from the trio’s sidekick Rajon Rondo. Boston is now 23-3, marking the fourth time in franchise history that the Celtics have started with a 23-3 record. Two of the previous three times it was done Boston went on to win the NBA title (1963-64 and 1961-62). After playing in only their 11th road game of the year, the Celtics continue their road test when they head to Seattle tonight, followed by back-to-back road games against the Jazz and Lakers on Saturday and Sunday.

3. Jazz build a lead, blow a lead and get a win
Utah managed to take a 16-0 lead against Dallas on Wednesday and then gave it all right back as they went into halftime up just a single point. Luckily, the Jazz finished like they started, outscoring the Mavs 52-44 in the second half and held on for a 99-90 victory at home. Dirk Nowitzki kept his squad in the game down the stretch, but Carlos Boozer came up big for the Jazz in the closing minutes, scoring six of the team’s final seven points, giving him 21 for the night. Deron Williams finished with 17 points and 12 assists to match Andrei Kirilenko’s offensive output. With the loss, Dallas falls to 6-8 on the road while Utah improves to 10-2 at home. The Jazz desperately needed the win after losing nine of their previous 11 games and falling behind Portland in the Northwest Division standings.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Chris Paul @ Memphis 36 min, 40 pts (FG: 17-25, 3FG: 5-8, FT: 1-1), 5 reb, 9 ast, 5 stl

Thursday’s Game to Watch: Cleveland (13-16) @ Dallas (19-10)
Dallas still hasn’t regained the form that earned them their top seed in the playoffs last season; at least not on the road. But inside the friendly confines of the American Airlines Center in Dallas, it’s a whole other story. The Mavs are 13-2 at home despite Dirk Nowitzki’s sub par performances of late. On the other side of the court, there is nothing sub par about LeBron James this year. James is averaging a league-best 29.3 points to go along with 7.2 rebounds and 7.7 assist per contest, but the King’s court has been extremely inconsistent. For the past six games Cleveland has alternated wins and losses, their most recent contest being a 96-82 Christmas day beating of the Heat. The up and down trend could continue tonight as Cleveland is a pathetic 5-10 away from home.

Buzzer Beater: Jason Kidd tallied 13 assists in a loss to Detroit on Wednesday, moving him into sixth place on the all-time list with 8,972 career dimes. Kidd passed the Glove who now sits at seventh with 8,966. 14 years into his career, the passing machine should be pretty close to the NBA’s greatest assist men in history, right? Wrong. Kidd is still 6,834 assists short of reaching John Stockton’s mark of 15,806. With a career-average of 9.2 assists per game, it will take Kidd about 743 more games to set a new milestone. In other words, Kidd needs another nine seasons at that pace to accomplish what Stockton did in his 19 years with Utah.

Categories
Miami Heat

Around the Rim: The Miami Meek


1. Even the Blazers are punking out Miami
The Heat were easily extinguished by the Blazers last night as the Portland upstarts came through in the crunch. Meanwhile, the vets on Miami just let another game slip through their fingers, their fourth consecutive botched contest. Pat Riley appears to have finally accepted the fact that his squad is pitiful, 4-14 pitiful to be exact. Dwayne Wade did all could, coming up one assist short of a triple-double, but Brandon Roy torched the Heat for 25 points while Travis Outlaw chipped in with 20 off the bench to go with one humongous slam dunk in the 112-106 victory. Shaq’s performance continues to decline in the twilight of his career, but he still managed to give a facial to Portland center Joel Przybilla, just not in the manner you’d think. Less than a minute into the game, Shaq sent Przybilla to the floor and then proceeded to smash the ball into his face, bloodying his nose, as the Diesel stumbled over the top of the fallen Blazer. Enjoy this face-smashing view from the cheap seats.

2. They just got (everybody now) MIC’D UP!!

The Nuggets and Mavericks got together last night for a contest that saw Denver take a 122-109 victory, giving Dallas their sixth loss in nine games. But the play on the court was only half the story, coaches Avery Johnson and George Karl became the guinea pigs for the NBA’s latest experiment. The coaches in general don’t seem too happy about the league’s decision to mic up coaches, which is mandatory, and players, which is optional. So, how exactly does the average fan benefit from the latest multimedia move? Well, you get tremendous insight that you never had access to before. Besides the newly implemented and binding media timeout interview with coaches, there are all sorts of other juicy sound bites for your pleasure. Check out this stuff and just try to keep your mind from melting.

Soon after, TNT showed a montage of audio collected from the microphones.

“Let’s go, enjoy this thing,” Karl said at the start of the game.

“Good hustle men, keep it up,” Johnson said during a timeout.

“Let’s go. Let’s go, let’s go,” Stackhouse said, clapping his hands on the court.

“Way to go, Stack,” Johnson was later shown saying following a basket by his microphone-wearing swingman.

3. Now Jason Kidd probably has a headache
Wait, wait, wait; you mean to tell us that Jason Kidd might have actually had a migraine headache on Tuesday? That’s not possible, it was a power play to highjack the Nets’ cash or to get traded. Remember, he was “on strike.” Or maybe not. Kidd laid out his side of the story and, guess what, it makes sense. He had a headache and he didn’t play, simple as that. Give the guy a little credit, he’s a veteran and a professional when it comes to the game of basketball. Heck, the guy is 34 years old and he’s 1.3 rebounds away from averaging a triple-double for the sorry franchise. We don’t doubt that he might want out of Jersey, nobody could blame him for that, but Kidd has never given any indication of being a complete numbskull like, oh we don’t know, Stephon Marbury.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Josh Smith vs. Minnesota 45 min, 28 pts (FG: 11-19, FT: 6-7), 7 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 7 blk

Friday’s Game to Watch: Utah (13-6) @ San Antonio (16-3)
Less than a week ago things were looking grim for the San Antonio Spurs after Tim Duncan was carried off the court by his teammates. Four days and a huge win over Dallas later, Gregg Popovich is saying the Big Fundamental has a 50/50 shot to be in the starting lineup against the Jazz. Duncan’s return only adds to Utah’s uphill battle. The Jazz are 13-6 and went to the Western Conference Finals last season, but the franchise hasn’t won a game in San Antonio since Feb. 28, 1999 – 19 consecutive losses. But you can’t count out the Jazz based on history alone because even if Duncan logs some minutes, he’ll have his hands full trying to stop the NBA’s player of the month for the West. Carlos Boozer averages 24.9 points, 11.4 boards and 2.9 assists for the Northwest Division leaders.

Buzzer Beater: With 2.2 seconds left on the clock following Marko Jaric’s layup, it appeared that Minnesota was about to grab their third win on the season. But appearances can be deceiving, just ask Joe Johnson who nailed a jumper at the buzzer to give Atlanta the slightest of victories, 90-89. While winning is normally good enough, when you barely eek out a win against the most pathetic team in the league, even a buzzer-beater leaves you bummed out.

It’s got to stop sooner or later, man,” he said. “I honestly thought this was a 25-30 point win for us tonight.

25-30 point win? Don’t flatter yourself Joe. You do know that your team’s average margin of victory during its eight wins is just 7.5 points, right?

Categories
New Orleans Hornets

Around the Rim: Changing of the guards?


1. Jason Kidd. Meet Jason Kidd 2.0
It’s hard to say that a guy who misses a triple-double by one rebound is playing second fiddle to a youngster in the point guard department, but last night it was true. Jason Kidd finished with nine rebounds, 10 assists and 14 points, but, like they say, he scores last scores best. At least, that’s the motto Chris Paul is living by after his lay-up with less than three seconds in the game gave the Hornets an 84-82 victory over New Jersey. CP3 has been playing out of his mind over the opening act of the season and last night was just one more chapter in the book. Paul paced his boys with a team-high 29 points to go with six rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

2. The Chosen `One’

The Nuggets proved the old adage of “two is always better than one” again last night as Denver’s dynamic duo combined for 59 points during their team’s 122-100 victory over Cleveland. LeBron James wasn’t the only Cav on the court, but he was doing all the heavy lifting and it didn’t work out to well for the defending Eastern Conference champs. Behind LeBron’s 27 points, Ira Newble was the second leading scorer with 17 and it took him 15 shots to get that. In all, Cleveland shot the ball pretty well, 36-86 for 41.9 percent, but the Nuggets were rolling. Keyword being Nuggets, accent on the s. Anthony finished with 22 points and Iverson racked up a game-high 37. And if three is a crowd then Denver has a fetish for hordes because J.R. Smith came off the bench to chip in 29 more.

3. Those aren’t “Booos,” they’re “Boooz”
Carlos Boozer must be getting coached up by Mike Gundy on the side because there’s no doubt he’s a man! The Booze went off for 32 points and 10 rebounds, giving him his seventh double-double in eight games. Perhaps the most important number of all is the team’s six wins in those eight contests. Last night, Boozer led the Jazz as they savaged the poor Kings 117-93. As if having a 6-foot, 9-inch, 266-pound of man meat at your disposal isn’t enough, try throwing in a side of coach-hating Russians to the mix. The previously disgruntled Andrei Kirilenko almost got himself a triple-dip with 15 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Monday’s Player of the Day: Allen Iverson vs. Cleveland 35 min, 37 pts (FG: 14-20, 3FG: 2-4, FT: 7-8), 3 reb, 8 ast, 2 stl

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Los Angeles Lakers (3-2) @ San Antonio (6-1)
It’s been a while since the LA/SA rivalry was really heated, but make no mistake about it, these two teams still can’t stand one another. Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich might not come out and say it, but they’re still fuming over Phil Jackson’s “asterisk” comment in regards to their 1999 championship which was won in a shortened season. But when you tune into this game, the real animosity to concern yourself with is between Kobe Bryant and Bruce Bowen. Bryant is a point-hungry scoring machine and he’s been known to throw a few cheap shots in order to get his fix. Unfortunately, nobody keeps perimeter scorers jonzing more than Bowen and his tenacious D. These two have exchanged plenty of heated words in the past and both take this match-up as a personal challenge. Bring your cups with you, because this could get testy.

Buzzer Beater: We can kind of understand why Bulls fans would start chanting Kobe Bryant’s name when the Mamba comes to town. After all, it’s not too hard to want a guy who you’re watching him put on a clinic first hand. But what’s up with Chicago fans chanting his name during a game against the … Raptors?

The United Center sellout crowd of 22,467 lost its patience midway through the third quarter. With each turnover and each missed shot, the chorus of boos grew louder. Ditto for the chants of ”KO-BEE … KO-BEE … KO-BEE …” Then in the fourth quarter, the remaining fans passed the time by doing the wave.

Really, there was no other way to react to the Bulls’ embarrassing, humiliating — pick an adjective, any adjective for bad — 101-71 loss to the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night.

Oh, yea; 1-5 record. Right.

Categories
New Jersey Nets

Apparently, Jason Kidd is a chubby chaser and not a very nice one


If the accusations are true then Jason Kidd might be enjoying the bachelor lifestyle just a bit too much. Reports surfaced that Kidd groped a model a while back and now it’s starting to sound like he wanted to throw down with the chick after she rejected his `advances.’

If we got into a fight, who do you think would win?” the 6-foot, 4-inch superstar allegedly said to the plus-sized brunette, the sources claimed.

As The Post reported exclusively, the alleged groping occurred early Oct. 10 at Tenjune in the West Village. Bouncers saw the towering Net and 23-year-old model exchanging words, and intervened to make sure they were seated at separate tables, sources said.

Yesterday, spokesmen for Kidd and the nightclub denied any impropriety on his part. The Nets and NBA declined to comment.

According to sources, Kidd’s hands allegedly wandered over the model’s buttocks and crotch twice, despite her protests.

Detectives are investigating possible charges of forcible touching or sex abuse in the third degree – both misdemeanors that would be written up as a desk-appearance ticket, the sources said.

“This accusation is a complete fabrication and it is sad that someone would make something like this up,” a spokesman for Kidd said.

Now, we’re not completely convinced that J-Kidd would do such a thing, but we’re not letting him off from the accusations either. After all, the guy is single, rich, in a bar, and in reach of a 23-year-old plus-size model, then, to top things off, she has the gall to blow off the All Star. If that’s not the perfect storm of groping/beating up girls then we don’t know what is.

Links:

[NYPost.com]: Kidd now accused of fight threat

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Detroit is going home, and that’s a good thing


1. Detroit makes the East finals, again
Detroit was on the verge of giving up a 3-0 lead to the Chicago Bulls but the Pistons went into Chi-Town for Game 5 and sealed up their fifth consecutive trip to the Eastern Conference finals with a 95-85 victory. In typical Detroit fashion, there was no flash or flare from any one player; it was just nine role players falling into line for the one uniting cause. The former Bad Boy and current Baby Bull Ben Wallace had to be extra disgusted as his old team celebrated in his new arena after he could only muster six points and seven rebounds in the elimination situation. Now that’s one stone cold fro! So, now there’s only thing on Detroit’s mind…

2. Who’s coming with us?

The Cavaliers will have another chance to put away those pesky Nets but this time they are going to have to do it with an arena full of fans telling `em that they suck. Then again, some Cleveland fans were making it rain boos during the fourth quarter as the Cavs shot just 3-of-16 in the period and didn’t make a bucket in the final 6:58 of the game. If Jason Kidd can manage to give another Big O type effort then this series will most likely be headed to the most loved and feared prospect in the playoffs: Game 7. Kidd is just short of averaging a triple-double for the series (14.4 pts, 11.8 reb, 8.8 ast), but don’t feel bad for the guy; after all, he is averaging a triple dip over the entire playoffs. That’s an amazing average of 14.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 11.2 assists over an 11 game stretch! And so we don’t overlook his defensive production, we should also point out that Kidd is also 1.82 steals and .45 blocks per game. He’s a virtual human Swiss Army Knife.

3. And on the other side of the bracket
We know that the Utah Jazz are patiently awaiting the winner of the Phoenix/San Antonio series, but what we don’t know is if we are going to be witness to one or two more big time brawls before the West finals are set. The Suns fans are still pissed about the Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw suspensions for Game 5 in which the Spurs barely escaped Phoenix with victory and a 3-2 series edge, but obviously Mike D’Antoni and his staff are no longer concerned with the past. They can’t be; it’s time to win or go home as the old saying goes. The Spurs have got to be a bit worried after the Stoudemireless Suns almost bucked the odds because Steve Nash now has his favorite target back in the lineup which has got to be giving Gregg Popovich some serious stress headaches. Luckily, San Antonio will have the advantage of playing at home with a raucous crowd yelling at the top of their lungs. We just hope that they can come up with something a little more clever than “Dirty! Dirty!”

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Rasheed Wallace @ Chicago 39 min, 16 pts (FG: 7-14, 3FG: 2-8, FT: 0-1), 13 reb, 4 ast, 2 blk

Buzzer Beater: First the USA Basketball committee tried to put together a team of NBA superstars who were supposed to razzle-dazzle the international competition, but instead they just got exposed for the selfish hot dogers they were. So, then the masterminds decided that they would go after the hungrier, grittier ballers who weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty against the scrappy Euros and other quickly acclimating squads. That’s a much better strategy than trying to assemble another Dream Team except for when those hardnosed guys decide to turn you down. Recently crowned defensive player of the year Marcus Camby told USA Basketball that although it was a great honor, he would not be able to accept their invitation to participate in the qualifiers for the 2008 Olympics. So, now where does the red, white and blue look for their presence in the middle? None of the superstars are walking through that door, to steal a phrase, and the lower tier Cambys and Brad Millers of the league have other agendas (family, rehab, vacation, rolling in money) and don’t want to be part of the humiliation that has become USA Basketball. That gold medal is just becoming more and more unrealistic with every day that passes.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Now that was some smooth Jazz styling



Carlos Boozer is at the edge of his
first conference finals appearance.

1. The City is becoming a ghost town
After the Warriors eliminated the Mavericks from the playoffs, the Golden State faithful celebrated to a point that even Joakim Noah thought was a bit over the top. Well, after the Warriors lost Game 4 to fall down 3-1 against the Jazz, the largest crowd to ever see a basketball game in the state of California (20,679 to be exact) reacted as if they had just seen their precious Warriors for the last time this season. And they were right. Golden State is a completely different team at home than they are on the road and in Game 5 the supportive sea of yellow that cheers insistently for the Warriors’ excessively ridiculous 3-point attempts will now become a baby blue lagoon of venom and hate for any and all outsiders. Especially Jason Richardson after he delivered a hard, flagrant foul to Mehmet Okur in the late moments of the game that got him sent to the showers a bit early. But it didn’t really matter at that point; Utah already had the game well in hand and J-Rich was having a horrendous shooting game (3-12 FG) anyways. And after mesmerizing the nation with a dunk of John Starks over Michael Jordan or Kevin Johnson over Hakeem Olajuwon proportions, Baron Davis also struggled (6-16 FG) when it came time to draw the series even. Guess the motivation of having Jessica Alba in the crowd has to wear off at some point.

2. No mo’ “fo’ fo’ fo'”

Remember the Luol Deng that exploded onto the postseason scene during Chicago’s first round sweep of the defending champion Heat? Well, after virtually disappearing in the first two games of the Pistons/Bulls series, it seems safe to say that Deng is back on track and Chicago can finally remember how it feels to win because of it. After putting up 21 points and 14 rebounds in Game 3, Deng had another outstanding performance with a game-high 25 points to go along with a baker’s dozen off the glass. That’s 13 for all you non-pastry chefs out there. But Detroit still has a 3-1 advantage in the series and it is doubtful that starters Rasheed Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Chris Webber and Richard Hamilton have a repeat of their pitiful shooting performance (13-of-45 FG) when Game 5 takes this rivalry back to the hardwood at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

3. Spurs/Suns saddle-up for Game 4
After Game 1, Steve Nash had a gash on his nose and Tony Parker had a bump on his noggin. After Game 2, Amare Stoudemire called Bruce Bowen “dirty” because he says that Bowen tried to purposely injure him. That’s about as physical as it can get, right? Wrong, because in Game 3 Manu Ginobili got a nice sized mouse under his left eye thanks to an inadvertent Shawn Marion poke and Nash took a knee right to the jewels when he tried to guard Bowen a bit too tight. But in the end it was San Antonio who grabbed a 108-101 victory in the game and a 2-1 advantage in the series. Phoenix is now facing, for all intensive purposes, a must-win situation for Monday’s Game 4 in SA because the Suns do not want to be looking at a scenario in which they must win three straight against a team as good as the Spurs. Put your mouthpieces in because this series is turning out to be the championship caliber slugfest that we never got to see between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather.

Sunday’s Player of the Day: Carlos Boozer @ Golden State 44 min, 34 pts (FG: 13-19, FT: 8-11), 12 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk

Buzzer Beater: The Cleveland Cavaliers had been quietly and effortlessly making their way through the playoffs until New Jersey finally knocked them off their high horse and handed the Cavs their first loss of the postseason. In a statistical abnormality, the Nets were led in scoring by not one, not two, but three players who finished the game with 23 points apiece. Oddly enough, Vince Carter, Richard Jefferson and Jason Kidd weren’t the only players to finish with 23 points as Larry Hughes racked up the night’s magic number as well. LeBron James finished the contest with just 18 points even though he’s got the number 23 on his jersey. Oh, well, it’s not like it would have mattered; the Cavs would have still lost by six points even if James had reached the 23 point plateau.