Around the Rim: Responsi-Ball

Animal, not player friendly

1. Rocket Power
Rumor has it that the wife of Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander could be to blame for the change from leather basketballs to the new composite balls. Supposedly, Nanci Alexander is good friends with the wife of NBA commissioner, David Stern. Nanci, an animal rights activist, voiced her concerns about the old ball to Stern’s wife who passed the message along to the commish. And just like any smart husband, Stern decided to avoid sleeping on the couch and make his lil’ lady and her best friend happy. League superstars like LeBron James, Ray Allen, Steve Nash, Shaquille O’Neal and Jason Kidd have all complained publicly about the new ball but to no avail. However, when it comes to the happiness of an owner’s wife, the NBA really does cares.

2. Dream Chaser
Yao Ming is rapidly moving up the list of Houston’s most prolific shot blockers. On Saturday, against Cleveland, Yao blocked his 586th rejection which moved him into third place on the list of the team’s all-time greats. Unfortunately for Yao, the man who leads the Rockets in blocks is the same man that leads the league in career blocks, Hakeem Olajuwon. The Dream blocked 3,740 shots during his career. The meat in the middle of the Hakeem-Ming sandwich is legend Moses Malone with 758 swats. At his current pace, Yao can catch Olajuwon in 1, 705 games or about 21 more seasons.

3. Arenas vs. Arena’s
Everybody prefers to play at home but Gilbert Arenas seems have become a bit too comfortable in D.C. In Washington, Arenas is averaging 33.7 points per game but on the road his scoring drops to 17.6. That’s a swing of 16.1 points! As of now, this is the single greatest difference between home and road scoring in the history of the league. Some of Arenas’ more memorable home games include outputs of 40, 44 and 45. On the road, he’s put up miserable games of just three and seven points. And as Gilbert goes, so goes the team. At home the Wizards have gone 7-2, but on the road they are 0-8.

Monday’s Player of the Day: Carlos Boozer vs. Milwaukee 39 min, 30 pts (FG: 12-18, FT: 6-10), 13 reb, 4 ast

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Dallas (12-5) @ New Jersey (7-9) Dallas comes into this game off of a loss to Washington last night. But winning 12 out of 13 isn’t too bad. New Jersey is on a two game winning streak and leads the Atlantic Division, not at all an impressive feat this season. Still, the Nets have an explosive starting five that can run with Dallas to a certain degree. However, the battle of the benches is where Avery Johnson’s team has a distinct advantage.

Buzzer Beater: Eddie Griffin is the epitome of great talent that is simply thrown away. This guy had so much promise coming out of college that Houston traded away Jason Collins, Brandon Armstrong and Richard Jefferson for Griffin. But since joining the league, he has missed an entire season due to alcoholism, he’s spent time in jail, he beat and shot a gun at his girlfriend, and he was involved in one of the most bizarre car accidents you will ever hear about (DVD porn, alcohol and driving don’t mix). On the court, his game has been progressively declining since he entered the league. At the young age of 24, his career has smashed into a brick wall. At least it didn’t happen when Griffin was behind the wheel.