Via the big lead comes this great clip of Craig Sager interviewing Chris Webber’s father and then afterward realizing that it was his AAU coach and then having to interview the real Mayce Webber instead.
Two things. 1) It’s a shame that it was Webber’s AAU coach and not just some random guy in the stands. 2) Too bad the guy didn’t look like Sugar Ray Leonard.
1. He’s Got An Outside Shot
The All-Star festivities are now complete as the NBA has announced the participants of the league’s 3-point shootout. At the top of the list are a couple of the best players in the game as Gilbert Arenas and Dirk Nowitzki agree to work double duty by participating in the long bomb competition and the actual All-Star game. In addition to the All-Star duo, Jason Terry, Jason Kapono, Mike Miller and Damon Jones will participate. While Dirk is having a great campaign so far, he might be getting a bit of preferential treatment when it comes to his outside proficiency. Good thing he’s the defending champion because, although his percentage is spectacular, he has only connected on a total of 46 treys. That’s 39 fewer than Jones’ 85, which is the fewest amongst the other five competitors. Oh well, get ready for more Larry Bird comparisons than you can shake a stick at.
2. Seamless Transition
The integration between Chris Webber and the Detroit Pistons is reaching completion. C-Webb has become a vital contributor with an all around effort that has helped Detroit climb to the top of the Eastern Conference. The Pistons are on a five game winning streak after knocking off the Lakers last night as Webber put up one of his most complete efforts as a modern day Bad Boy. During the team’s hot streak, Webb has averaged a solid 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists to compliment Detroit’s other high profile stars. Since being inserted into the starting five, the Pistons have gone 9-2 as Webber’s presence opens passing lanes, giving his teammates open shots. But the assist has to go to Philly for letting go of Detroit’s newest role player.
3. Disappearing Act
The Wizards have been struggling since Antawn Jamison went down with an injury. In fact, Washington has only been able to win one game out of four after sitting atop the Eastern Conference during most of December and January. In the three losses, the average margin of defeat is 17.7 points. Apparently, Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler shouldn’t have been receiving all of the glory during the team’s hot streak. Jamison was playing some of his best ball before the injury, averaging 19 points and eight rebounds. Right now, the Wizards are just looking to pick up some wins before Jamison returns, which is scheduled to be by the end of the month.
Thursday’s Player of the Day: Ruben Patterson @ New Orleans 49 min, 28 pts (FG: 10-23, FT: 8-10), 16 reb, 3 ast, 5 stl
Friday’s Game to Watch: Houston (31-17) @ Dallas (40-9) The Mavericks are running away from their home state competition and Houston is currently sitting at third in the Southwest Division, nine games behind Dallas. Houston has won six of their last seven games thanks to a rejuvenated Tracy McGrady who has been carrying the Rockets during the absence of Yao Ming. The Mavs have an impressive 23-3 record at home, while racking up a remarkable 26 wins in their last 28 games. Dirk Nowitzki is an early MVP candidate after leading the Mavericks to the league’s best record.
Buzzer Beater: Chris Paul is good, he’s really good. The Hornets have gone 4-2 since Paul returned to the team after sitting out with injury for the past month. New Orleans is even winning some close games since Paul came back. After pulling out a two point victory over Denver in overtime on Wednesday, the Hornets took down the Bucks in a double overtime affair last night. And even though Paul struggled from the field (3-17), he dished out 10 assists that contributed to six other players scoring in double digits. Amazingly, the Hornets are only 1 ½ games away from moving into the playoff picture. The Clippers and Nuggets had better watch their backs.
1. Numbers Game
Chris Webber officially signed with the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday and will be paid approximately $650,000 this year on a prorated contract for the veterans minimum, but that’s wasn’t the odd part of the press conference. The head scratcher came when C-Webb held up a Pistons home jersey with the number 84 stitched onto it. The unusual number was chosen for Uncle Chris by one of his nephews. Now, Webber joins Gilbert Arenas (0), Ron Artest (93) and the league’s most notorious weirdo of all time, Dennis Rodman (91), with some of the more abnormal numbers. But regardless of the digits he wears, Webber will be a valuable asset to the Pistons this season, despite what his first game might imply (17 minutes with 2 points on 1 for 5 shooting).
2. Packin’ Jackson
There were some rumors floating around that Mike Dunleavy Jr. could be joining his old man in Los Angeles on the Clippers, but those rumors can be squashed now that Dunleavy Jr. was involved in an eight player deal that sent him to the Pacers along with Troy Murphy, Ike Diogu and Keith McLeod. In return, Golden State picked up Al Harrington, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Josh Powell and the problematic Stephen Jackson. The Warriors were desperate for another complimentary player to line up beside Baron Davis and if they are willing to put up with the headaches, this could be a perfect fit for Golden State. And should Harrington ever live up to his potential, this trade could be a giant step toward making noise in the playoffs for the Warriors.
3. Party Pooper
A man is walking down the street with a 2 ft. by 2 ft. birthday cake in his hands at 1:45 in the morning wait, is this a gag? Nope. It might sound like the set up to a shoddy joke but it’s not. Close to 2:00 a.m. on Saturday, Alexander Martinez left his birthday party with a $190 cake and ran into Lakers forward Ronny Turaif who agreed to pose for a B-Day photo. About that time, Kwame Brown walks out of a club, grabs the chocolate cake and throws it at Martinez before leaving the scene in a white limo. Further down the street, Martinez ran into Lamar Odom and confronted him about Brown’s behavior but a man believed to be Odom’s bodyguard shoved Martinez into the street and yelled at him to stay away from Brown. A police report was filed 12 hours later but Brown has yet to comment on the incident. Now it’s obvious why Gilbert Arenas didn’t invite Kwame to his 25th birthday bash.
Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Kobe Bryant @ San Antonio 36 min, 34 pts (FG: 12-19, 3FG: 0-2, FT: 10-11), 6 reb, 8 ast, 1 stl
Thursday’s Game to Watch: Los Angeles Lakers (25-13) @ Dallas (32-8) The last time these two teams met up was in Los Angeles on January 7, when the Lakers put an end to the Mavericks 13 game win streak. But this time the Lakers won’t have a home crowd to take advantage of. The Mavs are currently riding an eleven game home winning streak as Dirk Nowitzki continues to make his push for the M.V.P. Dallas is probably one of the last teams anybody wants to play in the second game of a back-to-back, but that is exactly the situation L.A. is facing after winning against the Spurs last night, 100-96.
Buzzer Beater: Just when it looked like Tracy McGrady was healthy again and back to his former high-scoring self, he misses another game with soreness in his back. Since returning from a stint in December where he missed seven games because of back spasms, T-Mac had averaged 26.8 points per game with eight games over 30. Tuesday night, McGrady lit Dallas up for 45 in a 109-86 loss. With the loss of Yao Ming already hobbling the club, McGrady’s pain in the back is becoming a serious pain in the butt of Jeff Van Gundy.
1. Home Sweet Home
It took 14 seasons as Chris Webber spent time with four different teams before he finally made his way home. C-Webb will clear waivers today at 2:00 p.m. ET and could possibly be signed by the Pistons later in the day. The last time Detroit brought in a malcontent player it worked out all right as Rasheed Wallace helped bring a title to the Motor City. And just like Sheed in 2004, Webber could be the missing piece that propels the Pistons through the Eastern Conference and into The Finals. But Webber’s presence didn’t help his future teammates any when he sat in the crowd during yesterday’s overtime loss to the Timberwolves.
2. Undercover Brother
In typical super-spy fashion, Agent 0 easily made his way through all the barriers put in his way en route to calmly taking out the bad guy right before he got away. With 48 points already in his back pocket, Agent 0 waited for the most dramatic moment in the game to take his total over 50 for the third time this season; and with the final buzzer sounding, a 24 foot three-pointer swished through the net. His name is Arenas. Gilbert Arenas. But to the 15,524 in attendance at the MCI Center for the 114-111 win over the Jazz, he was simply referred to as “M.V.P.” While his mission of bringing a championship to Washington might seem impossible, Arenas has been achieving the unbelievable all season long. The only other person to score 51 points in that building was codenamed Air, and yesterday marked the seventh time Arenas has put up over 40 points.
3. Synthetic Ball on the Rebound
It took two months, but the players finally convinced David Stern to replace the old new ball with the new old ball (???). However, like cockroaches, just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there. All teams in the league were told to keep at least two dozen of the synthetic balls on hand, leaving the door open to the idea that Stern might be looking to bring the ball back at some point. But it will probably take a different form before hitting arena floors across the Association. Looks like Spalding and the NBA have actually decided to question a number of players before attempting to make the next version of the composite ball. Brilliant!!
Monday’s Player of the Day: Gilbert Arenas vs. Utah 41 min, 51 pts (FG: 14-29, 3FG: 7-12, FT: 16-17), 3 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl
Tuesdays’ Game to Watch: Houston (25-13) @ Dallas (31-8) Dallas is really good, but unfortunately for the Rockets they’re even better at home. The Mavs are 17-3 when playing in Dallas as they hope to make Houston the next victim in a long line of fallen opponents. But Houston is no pushover simply because Yao Ming isn’t in the lineup. Behind Tracy McGrady’s high scoring performances, the Rockets, like the Mavericks, are riding a four game winning streak into the Texas showdown. And 40 year old Dikembe Mutombo is pulling down rebounds like a spry Denver rookie from 1992.
Buzzer Beater: Congratulations are in order for the Atlanta Hawks. This once proud franchise is now reduced to celebrating the rare occurrences of back to back wins. Following a shocking defeat of Detroit on Friday, the Hawks pulled out a close win over an equally pathetic Boston club on M.L.K. Day. This marks the first time since early in November that Atlanta can claim a two game win streak. Now, losing streaks on the other hand are much more common for the Hawks as they have already amassed five such marks. “Welcome to Atlanta where the playas play”? Well, it’s not exactly like Ludacris makes it sound.
1. New Orleans Hor-nots
The Hornets started off the year looking like a team that was determined to make the playoffs. Now, they look more like a team that is simply determined to get off the trainers table. Chris Paul twisted his ankle on Tuesday against Seattle and is expected to miss two more games. Paul is just the latest Hornet to be bitten by the injury bug. Peja Stojakovic is scheduled to miss at least two months after having surgery on his back and David West is expected to miss anywhere from two to eight weeks after surgery on his shoulder. But losing three starters just isn’t enough for this team. Sixth man Bobby Jackson is out until next month due to a cracked rib. The problems continue to mount for the team with no home as they have lost three in a row and eight of their last ten.
2. The Waiting Is the Hardest Part
Now that Allen Iverson has been traded to Denver, who is going to be the next big star to don a new uniform? The answer might be in California where it appears Corey Maggette is ready to leave the Clippers. Recently, Maggette was quoted as saying, “Me and coach Dunleavy, we don’t see eye to eye.” Apparently the team is talking with Sacramento about a trade involving Ron Artest. It is certain that Maggette’s days are done in L.A. but finding a proper trade has been difficult for the team. The Kings want more for Artest and the Clippers don’t want to lose too much of their current squad. This could turn into another waiting game as the Clippers continue to search for a reasonable trade. But at 12-16 and sitting at the bottom of their division, time is definitely not on L.A.’s side.
3. 20/20 Vision
Jason Kidd was fined $20,000 after referring to the referees in New Jersey’s game versus Detroit as “three blind mice.” The comments came after a questionable no-call at the end of the game when Vince Carter and Rasheed Wallace made contact as Carter took what could have been a game-winning shot. Net’s coach Lawrence Frank was not fined after he yelled at the referees after the game. Kidd did not back down from his comments after being fined by the league. Perhaps he had yet to review the tape as it appeared that Carter was more responsible for the contact as he pushed-off of Wallace. Maybe Kidd should be the one to schedule an appointment with an optometrist.
Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Gerald Wallace vs. Washington 42 min, 40 pts (FG: 15-27, 3FG: 0-2, FT: 10-11), 14 reb, 6 stl, 4 blk
Thursday’s Game to Watch: Phoenix (19-7) @ Dallas (21-7) It’s a battle between up-tempo and really up-tempo. Dallas is 12-3 at home and has won seven in row while the Suns are attempting to start a new streak after having their 15 game win streak snapped by Washington. Steve Nash returns to Dallas with two consecutive MVP awards as former teammate Dirk Nowitzki is hoping to take the trophy away from his buddy this season. Expect a barn-burner tonight in Big D.
Buzzer Beater: Chris Webber returned to Sacramento last night but there was certainly no home-coming party. Webber struggled throughout the game and ended the night with a pathetic four points on 2-9 shooting in 26 minutes. It seems like Webber would be motivated to step-up his game with A.I. gone and his old team on the schedule. But the poor performances just continue to mount for the former double-double King.
1. Wallowing Wallace
Ben Wallace is usually a hard working, no-nonsense kind of guy, but it seems like something has been bugging him since joining the Bulls. His numbers aren’t career lows but they are down across the board from what he averaged during his time in Detroit. He is averaging lows in minutes (33.9), points (5.5), rebounds, (9.2) and blocks (1.5). Wallace is currently tied for 17th in the league in rebounding, sandwiched right between Andris Biedrins of Golden State and Chris Wilcox of Seattle. Not the usually company that Wallace keeps. And in 13 games, Wallace has posted three games of only five rebounds, one of seven and one of eight. Oh, and he had the worst night of his career as a starter in Philadelphia on Friday when he failed to record a single point, rebound, block or steal in only 20 minutes of play. Throw in a 4-9 record that includes a recent six game losing streak and the benching of Wallace by coach Scott Skiles for refusing to remove his headband during Saturday’s win over the Knicks, and Chicago might be starting to regret their $60 million off-season decision.
2. Suns Rise
It took the Suns nearly a month, but for the first time this season Phoenix has a winning record after they went to Portland and defeated the Blazers 119-101. With the win, Phoenix moves to 7-6 on the season and the team has now won six out of seven, including their current four game winning streak. The team chemistry is finally developing now that Amare Stoudemire is close to 100 percent and beginning to return to his All-Star form. The byproduct is that the team is able to pull out the close games they were losing earlier this season, in fact all but two of the Suns games this year have been decided by ten points or less. Having a winning record is a long awaited accomplishment for the team, but they are still sitting at fourth in a very tight Pacific division. Phoenix is off until Wednesday when they begin a three game home stand against the Rockets. However, after that the team will head to the east coast for a grueling road trip consisting of five games in seven days.
3. Coach Cassell
Sam Cassell has expressed great interest in becoming a head coach once his playing days are over and he could only hope to replicate his career as a player. The alien-faced point guard has been a winner everywhere he’s played; he won championships in Houston, took Milwaukee to the Eastern Conference Finals, took Minnesota to the Western Conference Finals and has been instrumental in turning around a once floundering Clippers franchise. The 37 year old veteran signed a two-year, $13 million contract with the Clippers this past summer and says his playing future is uncertain after that. It’s obvious that Cassell knows the game, and his experience would prove valuable to any team. He’s basically a coach on the floor right now and he has absolutely no problem getting into the face of any teammate that isn’t pulling their weight. Cassell possesses all of the tools needed to become a great leader on the sidelines. If it’s any indication, point guards have faired pretty well as head coaches. Current PG’s turned HC’s, Isiah Thomas, Doc Rivers, Avery Johnson, Scott Skiles and Maurice Cheeks have all taken teams to the playoffs at some point in their coaching careers, unfortunately they have a combined record of 45-63 in the post season.
4. Who He?
There have been several players to emerge from nowhere for their teams this season but none more so than Monta Ellis and Kevin Martin. Ellis was drafter 40th overall by the Warriors and only played in 49 games during his rookie year, starting three. In his sophomore campaign, he is averaging 17.6 points, 3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He also posted back-to-back 31 point games earlier in the month. Division opponent Sacramento has their own relatively unheard of guard. Martin began to make his presence felt in the league last season when he averaged 10.8 points and had an impressive run in the first round of the playoffs against San Antonio. This year, Martin leads the Kings in scoring at 24.9 points per game. That’s good enough for 14th in the league, ahead of names like Kobe Bryant (23.8), Tim Duncan (22.8), Kevin Garnett (21.5), Tracy McGrady (19.2) and Jermaine O’Neal (18.2). Not too shabby for a kid that averaged 6.9 points over his first two seasons.
Sunday’s Player of the Day: Raja Bell @ Portland 41 min, 30 pts (FG: 10-19, 3FG: 7-12, FT: 3-3), 2 reb, 4 ast, 1 stl
Monday’s Game to Watch: Orlando (10-4) @ Utah (12-2) It’s a clash between the conferences two best teams. Orlando is only 3-3 on the road but is currently riding a three game winning streak behind the defensive prowess of Dwight Howard and the back court production of Grant Hill and Jameer Nelson. Utah is a perfect 7-0 at home and will be looking to bounce back from a road loss to Golden State. It’s going to be a battle of young studs when double-double machines Howard and Carlos Boozer match up in the paint.
According to the Smoking Gun, the phrase that fanned the flames at the Malace in the Palace was “You can suck my balls”. In an interview by NBA Security investigating the incident, Matt Dobek, the Pistons VP of Public relations stated that’s what he heard Artest say to Ben Wallace as he lay on the scorer’s table. In related news, the fan who threw the cup of beer at Artest has been banned for life from Pistons games. Oh for old times’ sake, let’s take a look at the video again.
In other news…
[AP]: Report: NBA union OKs supplement deal
[Elephant’s In Oakland]: A’s hire Geren as manager
[NY Daily News]: Giants Should have passed on Eli
[Yahoo]: Even though nobody watches the series, Cards get record $20M split
[The Wizard of Odds]: hating on Michigan
[Post-Gazette]: A Texas high school team has started doing the haka (minus the handbags)
How many times do we have to say it? Professional athletes need to stay away from Miami. We know there are scores of hot chicks everywhere wearing bikinis and… shit.. see you suckers later.
Hmm… it turns out sports bloggers can’t afford last minute flights to Miami. Anyway, Dale Davis was tasered for assault on a police officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence on Tuesday. The police were called to a hotel by the staff and when they asked Davis to leave, he refused to do so. Then it got ugly.
Police said they asked Davis to remove his hands from his pockets for officer safety, and Davis complied after asking officers if they were going to shoot him.Davis pulled out money, three cellular phones and credit cards. He put the items back in his pockets and said he’d beat up the officers if they took off their badges and got rid of their guns.
Davis then balled his fists and began walking toward officers in an aggressive manner, and he was warned that he would be hit with a Taser gun if he continued. He didn’t stop, and an officer used the stun gun to hit Davis in the chest and he fell to the ground.
His agent said that they plan on filing a lawsuit against the police. What retarded jury would find for the plaintiff in this case? He was walking towards the officers in an aggressive manner. Davis is lucky they didn’t just shoot him. Also, why does Dale Davis carry 3 cell phones? 1 for his wife, 1 for his mistress, and 1 disposable one for the hos he meets on South Beach? I guess we’ll say it again. Just stay away from Miami.
Links:
[MSNBC]: Miami Beach cops stun-gun Pistons’ Davis
[Detroit Free Press]: Pistons’ Davis considers lawsuit vs. police
In 1989: The Detroit Pistons win their first ever NBA title with a 105-97 victory over the Lakers, completing a four game sweep. It was redemption for the Pistons; after years of just falling short ( including a seven game finals loss to the Lakers the previous year), the Pistons finally break through. Finals’ MVP Joe Dumars led the Pistons, averaging 27.3 pts. per game while playing outstanding defense. The “Bad Boys,” led by Isiah Thomas, Dumars, Bill Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman (pre freak show) would go on to win next year’s NBA title as well.
In 2003: The Yankees Roger Clemens has a truly historic evening as he earns both his 300th career victory and 4,000th strikeout in a 5-2 win over the Cardinals at Yankee Stadium. It took Clemens four tries to finally join the elite 300 win club as the 21st member. The 4,000 strikeout club is much more exclusive, boasting only Clemens, Steve Carlton and Nolan Ryan. The forty-three year old pitcher is still at it, with 341 wins, 4,500 strikeouts and counting.
How many times have you heard that Philly fans cheered when Michael Irvin went down with a spine injury? That happened seven years ago. How long do you think anyone will bring up the fact that Cavs fans cheered when Rasheed rolled his ankle and had to (temporarily) leave the game? That story has the shelf life of about 3 days. Cleveland fans throw bottles onto the field, cheered when their own QB was inured, and, now, cheer opposing player injuries. Yet, somehow, Philly fans are the worst. We’re calling bullshit.
Meanwhile… back to the series. Rasheed and the Pistons couldn’t back up his guaranteed victory in game 4 but that didn’t keep Sheed from guaranteeing a series victory.
Even the sun shines on a dog’s ass. There ain’t no way . . . they’re going to beat us in no series. They beat us tonight, which is good for them. . . . But, nah, they ain’t going to beat us in the series.
You gotta hand it to the guy. In a world of “we’re going to take it one game at a time”, “they are a quality opponent”, and “she said she was 18, your honor”, it’s refreshing to have Sheed in the mix.
Links:
[Cleveland Plain Dealer]: Limping Wallace still running mouth
[Detroit Free Press]: MIRCH ALBOM: No more guarantees because talk is cheap
[Yay Sports]: The Pistons are in denial
