K. Kittles exchanged to Clippers for second rounder and cash: Ok, now I’m really confused with what the Nets and the Clippers are doing. If the Nets were going to get rid of Kittles, why didn’t they resign K. Martin? What is going on here? Are the Nets just trying to get rid of all of their players? Yeap, that is 3 questions in a roll because I just don’t get it anymore.

Well, this is what Clippers and Nets could have had

Clippers..........................Nets
C: Okafor........................C: K. Martin
PF: E. Brand..................PF: S. Rahim
SF: C. Maggette.............SF: R. Jefferson
SG: K. Bryant................G: L. Harris
PG: M. Jaric...................PG: J. Kidd

Instead they got this.

Clippers..........................Nets
C: C. Kaman...................C: J. Collins
PF: E. Brand..................PF: A. Williams
SF: C. Maggette.............SF: R. Jefferson
SG: K. Kittles.................G: L. Harris
PG: M. Jaric...................PG: J. Kidd

NBA takes away Sura's triple-double: I know this is old but I just ran into it again and I just thought it was hilarious.

"The NBA took away Bob Sura's third straight triple-double Tuesday, ruling he shouldn't get credit for one rebound because he intentionally missed a shot just before the buzzer. Sura thought he was the first NBA player since Grant Hill in 1997 to have three straight games with double figures in scoring, rebounding and assists. But the NBA said his tactics in Monday night's 129-107 win over New Jersey violated the rule that states, "A field goal attempt is a player's attempt to shoot the ball into the basket for a field goal."

Since Sura wasn't trying to make the shot, the NBA said, he shouldn't get credit for a field goal attempted. Therefore, there was no rebound.
The journeyman guard had 22 points and 11 assists when he intentionally missed a layup just before the buzzer so he could get his 10th rebound.
"Actually, the ball slipped," Sura said, laughing and not making any pretense at being serious. "All the guys on the team were screaming at me to do it. It was kind of a reaction thing. I just did it."
His intentional miss rekindled memories of Ricky Davis' blatant attempt to pad his stats last season.

Davis, then with Cleveland, was roundly criticized when he tried to finish off his first career triple-double by shooting at the wrong basket, missing and getting the rebound. Before it could happen, a Utah player wrapped his arms around Davis and was called for a foul. Davis was fined by the Cavaliers, and the league pointed out a rule barring players from trying to score for the other team. At least Sura was shooting at his own basket when he missed, but the NBA said it didn't matter.

Sura picked up the first triple-double of his eight-year career on Friday, when he put up 12 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds at Chicago. The following night, he had 15 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds against Boston."
                                                   -Paul Newberry, AP Sports Writer

Hassell to Portland: I agree that Hassell is a vital key to Minnesota’s defense. Without him things will probably get really messy. In saying so, Hassell is only a defensive player and he better pray that the Wolves match Portland’s offer. Defensive players are only useful on teams that have chemistry and are loaded offensively. Being on a team like Portland where they’re struggling with both, it’s going to be hard for him to find his position. Which means, he won't probably start unless Miles signs with a different team and Portland absolutely has no other option. Or they find a way to score with him in the line-up. He's a specialist and being on a team like Portland is like M. Curry in Toronto. Staying in Minnesota is like Bowen with the Spurs. Plus, why would Hassell want to leave Minnesota and the M.V.P. K. Garnett? K. Garnett can bring you a ring and we all know Portland is not going anywhere for awhile. Portland was already messed up; adding Exel makes them even more messed up. What is Hassell smoking? Doesn’t he know that Portland is the place where dreams die? Just look at Stoudamire, Anderson, Pippen, and Rahim. In the long run, he would probably make more money if he didn't take Portland's offer and just stick with a lesser contract in Minnesota because his value would stay more consistant and his carreer would be much longer.

The US Olympic team is finally complete:

C: T. Duncan
PF: A. Stoudemire
SF: S. Marion
SG: A. Iverson
PG: S. Marbury
C: C. Boozer
PF: E. Okafor
SF: C. Anthony
SG: L. James
PG: D. Wade
SF: R. Jefferson
PF: L. Odom
Coach: Larry Brown, Gregg Popovich

Strength: We got size and toughness. Boozer, Okafor, and most of these players are muscle players so we should be able to push everyone else around.  Scoring: not a problem at all.  The majority of the players are 20+ ppg so we are loaded offensivly.  Rebounding: we should be able to win on the board easily. Every player averaged 4+ RPG. Defense: Very good defenders, teams are going to have a hard time scoring against us.
Weakness: 3-point shooting. S. Marion seems to be our best 3-point shooter and that is just sad. Passing: We have no true point guard on the team. Experience: It’s the first time for most of these player so let’s not be too confident. Remember what happen the last two trips. Overall, I expect nothing less than gold but I don’t know. I think the lack of shooters might hurt us.

Nba Live 2005:  I was going to post about Live 2005 but the post ended up being so long that I've decided to just create an additional blog for it.  I know I will be posting future things about the game when it actually comes out so I figure I'll just post it there instead of here to save space.  Check it out at NBA Live 2005.

Shaq is full of crap and Kidd, I got your back man: The other night I saw Shaq promise Miami that he will bring them a ring. I have never heard so much bull shit before. Am I the only one who is tire of hearing Shaq talk all this crap? “Shaq is the mack, I am the daddy and the diesel” and whatever. I think Shaq has lost it. He is starting to refer to him in third person again. Come on Shaq, you’re in denial. You’re in Miami; you’re no longer in L.A. Start dealing with reality and just stop talking so much shit. We all know you’re not going to bring a ring to Miami! Everyone is getting on Kobe’s back but at least when he was asked if he will win with the roster that he has, he respond, “I don’t know. The West is tough. I don’t’ know if we can win.”  A honest response by a man who is unsure of what honesty is.

I understand where J. Kidd is coming from. Last season, when he was a free agent, he had the option of signing with the dominate Spurs and playing along side Duncan. He turned it down because he wanted to help build New Jersey. This year, they let go of K. Martin. What a kick in the face. There goes J. Kidd’s dream.  I feel for you Kidd.  If you want to leave, you got my blessing man.     

My main man Greg Ostertag is in, K. Malone is out:  People said, the only thing Ostertag is good for is to be dunk by Shaq, but what’s up now, Shaq?  Looks like he’s going to win a ring before you will again!  Just incase anyone is interested, you can buy Ostertag’s final Utah jerseys at Star Pulse.  :)
 
So this means that Divac is definitely going to L.A.  I actually like Divac in L.A.  I think he is going to do well there.  Statistic shows the Lakers are now slightly above the Heat. 

 

The Lakers were hoping that K. Malone would return but signing Divac pretty much means that K. Malone is no longer an option.  Dallas are also interested in K. Malone.  He would be a good fit since they lost Jamison and plan on trading Walker.  Come on Cuban make this happen! 

Reality Basketball:  There is Last Comedy Standing, Next Action Heros, American Idols, but why isn’t there a reality T.V. show about basketball?  Travel around the United States…oh and Canada too, allowing people to come and showcase their skills.  Bring the one that is good to Hollywood and have contests, like 3-point shoot-out, one-on-one, 5-on-5, slam-dunk contest and let viewers choose who they think should move on.  Then whoever is the winner wins the right to be in the next draft.  Man, I can already see the drama, the lost dreams, and the family in tears when the person gets drafted at draft night.  Hell, maybe even David Stern and the rest of the fans might stay for the 2nd round just to see if this guy gets pick.  But whoever the winner is, I bet he's going to be drafted higher.  That would be one draft night!  There has got to be someone out there who is dam good at basketball but hasn't got the chance.  Maybe the person can’t afford to go to college, is living in isolated bad neighborhoods, or just never thought much about playing professionally? 
 
The other day, I went to the park to shoot some hoops.  This Arabian guy came over and asked if he could shoot with me.  He didn’t really ask me.  I wasn’t sure if he spoke any English.  He just clapped his hand like he wanted me to pass him the ball so I did.  I grew up playing basketball, I play high school, I was the captain of my team, even got chosen to go play for the city in which we went around completing in tournaments.  We never took less than 2nd place.  So I got game.  O.K. back to the Arabian guy.  We decided to play one-on-one.  I figure it would be an easy match.  First to  21 wins.  I took it easy on him because I was like, “Arabian people don’t play basketball.  Who has ever seen an Arabian person play basketball before?”  False stereotype!  The first game he beat me 21-19.  Man, he was good; this skinny dude was kicking my butt in a sport that I played all my life.  I was making 75% of my shots but he was making like 90% and he only spent 5 min. warming up.  I think he missed like two shots only.  We played another game in which I play much harder and beat him 21-0.  I made six 3’s in a roll.  Then the third game I again beat him 21-15.  Even though I won  2/3 of the matches, he surprised me.  He didn’t look like a basketball player at all and yet he had mad skills.  The only reason I beat him was because I was coached and he wasn’t.  What I am trying to say is that there are people out there who got games and no one knows about it.  Come on Mark Cuban, make this reality basketball happen!

Cuban or not Cuban?: I’ve decided to add Blog Maverick to my blog list. At first I was reluctant about it. While I was taking my college course on blogs, my professor encounter the site. We had a huge debate on weather the blog was actually written by M. Cuban himself. My professor concluded that it was. His main argument was that Mark knows a lot about technologies and having his own blog allow him the opportunity to voice his opinions and not have to worry about it being edited through television. By the comments left on the site, it seems everyone else think it is actually him too. However, I don’t think Mark actually writes the material. I don’t think someone else is falsely trying to be him either. I bet he’s paying someone else to do it for him. Besides my intuitions, owning a blog takes a lot of your time. Some of the posts are long and extensive. I don’t see him having that much free time to invest into a blog. Also, I noticed that none of his posts are credited as written by him. Check out the Nba blog squad, every post is credited, eg. posted by Doc River, Jay Williams, etc. But I guess people can believe what they want to believe. I’m still going to read his blog, I’m just not reading it as though it's actually him.

Utah Jazz, a racist team?: Everyone knows Utah is conservative. J. Sloan said before that he refused to start anyone who is under 21. But this morning, I was pondering if Utah is in fact a racist organization. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate the Jazz. They were my favorite team until K. Malone and J. Stockton left.

1) Last season, they were probably the only team that can potentially start all white players. C. Arroyo, G. Giricek, A. Kirilenko, T. Gugliotta, and G. Ostertag.

2) In the past 10 years, they had more white players on their roster than blacks. Right now 8/15 of their players are white. That’s unheard of in the NBA.

3) For the past 10 or so years, the majority of the starters were white. Eg. J. Stockton, J. Hornacek, B. Russell, K. Malone, G. Ostertag.

4) They kept Ostertag for 9 years, 9 years!

5) They refused to start R. Bell instead of Giricek even though Bell was having his best season ever. They even started Pavlovic over Bell even though he was playing out of position!

6) 5/6 of the coaching staff are white, J. Sloan, P. Johnson, G. Chiesa, M. McKown, G. Briggs, and finally the lone man, T. Corbin. He’s just there because of affirmative actions.

7) Utah favor drafting white players first, 2001 R. Lopez, 2002 they drafted two black players, R. Humphrey and J. Sampson only because they were rights traded to Orlando and Memphis, 2003 A. Kirilenko, and 2004 K. Humphries who people have said is a racist person.

8) Finally if Okur was black, would they even think about offering him $50/6?

Okur: What the hell was the Jazz thinking when they offered Okur $50/6. I can understand Boozer’s $68/6 because the potential is there but Okur? S. Swift would even be a better move. Of course the Pistons have no intention of matching Utah’s offer. No one is going to match an offer like that. Well, good-by Ostertag and welcome to Utah, Okur. I’m actually going to miss Ostertag if Utah don’t resign him. He was funny to watch. He took a lot of shit from Utah. Everyone said he wasn’t worth the money and K. Malone called him the laziest player he ever played with. Talk about lazy, Okur doesn’t even run when he plays. He just walks around like he’s all clam and cool and when the person he’s guarding takes a shot, he’s all surprised and tries to reach for a block, while thinking “man, I’m not guarding you but why the hell you got to shoot it?” I don’t mean to diss Okur but for $50/6, you better be able to handle all the heat if you don’t know how to run? It's a good thing, K. Malone is no longer there.

What are the Knicks doing!: I’m officially declaring the Knicks as the stupidest franchise in the NBA! Even more stupid than the Clippers! Last season they signed K. Thomas to a new contract and a very fair one too. Ever since then, they’ve been trying to trade him. K. Thomas contract is only 5 mil.! What do they want to do? They want to trade him for Illauskas whose contract is 14.6 mil.! The Knicks would also have to throw in another center to meet salary cap which is likely to be Mutombo who is getting 4 mil. They were also thinking about trading K. Thomas for J. Crawford or A. Walker. Why do you even want Crawford when you already got a 14.6 mil. Marbury? Crawford averged 17 ppg. last season, he is not going to be happy coming off the bench. I’m not even going to talk about Walker. There is a reason why all these teams want K. Thomas. The Knicks are stupid and they are trading the wrong Thomas. If anyone, T. Thomas 12.9 mil. is the one that needs to go.

Gary Payton wants out of Lakers too: GP wants a contract buyout if the Lakers trade O’neal. Finally someone doing something smart! I don’t even know why GP resigned with the Lakers. He can get a better contract else where. There are other teams out there who are desperately looking for a good PG. Just look at S. Nash’s new contract. Gary is still the best defensive PG the NBA has and I expect him to get pick up fast if his buyout does go through.

Note: Just added Doc Rivers to my blog list because he agrees with me on GP.

I may be in the minority on this one, but I have no doubt that Gary Payton is still a fantastic player. It's a great example of a guy who's played a certain way his whole career and has had offenses designed to fit around him and then go to a different system that he's not the focal point, how difficult that adjustment is.

I hear people say Payton is done, he can't play any more. I'm in the minority, I disagree. I think Gary Payton, you put him on another team -- like the Pistons -- where the point guard handles the ball, he could play. But the focal points with the Lakers are in a different place and for Payton it's been very difficult and that's what you see.

Ginobili resigns with the Spurs: Manu Ginobili is possibly the toughest SG next to AI and the best driver in the league today. He doesn’t expect a lot of money and he is going to be worth every penny. He is a Kobe without the legal problem and well, without the fade away too. Positive is that he can create his own shots and a good defender. Negative is that he tends to turn the ball over and sometime plays out of control. Surprised! Spurs offered him $50-55 mil. for six year. I was sure he was heading over to Denver. Orlando offered Turkoglu $39 mil. and then the Spurs offer Ginobili $50-55 mil. Come on Spurs, make up your mind! Who is going to start, who do you want, Turkoglu or GInobili?

Boozer a Jazz?: Utah is just spending money like it is Christmas over there. Man, they must be so so so so so so so overjoyed and so dam relieve to be done with Ostertag and Gugliotta’s contracts. If the Cavs let Boozer go, well they pretty much can’t afford to let him go. But dam, they can’t afford to keep him either. They can try matching Utah’s offer but it seems the Cav’s got a bad poker hand here. No matter how much they put in, the Jazz are just going to bid higher. I figure they were going to try to get Boozer. A hard worker and stands for everything that Utah is. K. Martin’s got too much attitude and Utah is too conservative to sign Kobe. What about Ginobili, what’s wrong with Ginobili?

Bryant or Ginobili: Denver is trying to sign either Ginobili or Bryant. So far they seem to favor Bryant over Ginobili. It seems Spurs are not making much attempts to resign Ginobili either. I am assuming it is because they are also thinking about signing Bryant. I don’t think Bryant wants to go to Denver. He still wants to win so I think he will sign with the Spurs. Spurs have the salary to sign him and Duncan is the type of unselfish player that can make room for Bryant. Ginobili will probably end up in Denver. J. Barry is a free agent and they’re not going to resign him and Denver will eventually come to an agreement with Ginobili once they know that Bryant is not interested. But we will see, you never know what's going happen anymore.

Shaq or Dirk: When it comes down to it, it won’t just be Shaq or Dirk. It will be Shaq or Dirk and Walker. Dallas does not want Walker anymore. It would be nice to get rid of Walker’s contract but since Jamison is gone, I would stick with Dirk and go with Walker for another year and then either waive him or sign him to a lower contract. Knowing Dallas and the many trades that they have done in the past, I won't be suprise if they do trade for Shaq. Not because it's a better trade but Cuban just likes to have new toys now and then.

S. Nash is moving to Phoenix: Phoenix agreed to pay S. Nash 13 mil. a season. I am not sure if Nash is worth that much. This is more than twice of what S. Nash was getting in Dallas and more than what S. Marion is getting now. The Suns must be very desperate to fill the PG position left by Marbury. Now maybe S. Nash will have enough money to get a hair cut. They are also very weak at the C position but Okur seems to be the only decent C free agents out there. At least this shows that Cuban is keeping his words when he said that D. Harris will be the future PG in Dallas. It is about time that Dallas got someone who can play some defense.

I am back: I plan to post regularly but I will see how things get. Also changed the bg to one of the new ones tha blogger offers. I kind of like the blueness to it.