'Nasty News - Traversing Time & Space' Vol: 26

[nasty daddy]

http://postingup.2dogs.com/member/blogt ... q=1&page=0

They have become timid and are not able to finish games. They have no vision and are rudderless and being washed away into the rest of the NBA.

[nasty daddy]

http://my.nba.com/thread.jspa?threadID=5700032836

AI looks forward to free agency
Allen Iverson is in no rush to leave Detroit, but does admit that his impending free agency is appealing. “This summer I’ll be able to do what I want to do and be where I want to be,” Iverson said today.

His goal wherever he lands is just to be happy. In the same breath he says of his time spent with the Pistons, “I’m ecstatic. I love this organization and the guys I’m around.”

The Pistons (27-24) hit the All-Star break slumping and in an uncharacteristic seventh in the Eastern Conference. And though AI will have choices, the former Sixer and Nugget isn’t looking to add his current team to that list. “I honestly hope I end up being a Detroit Piston for the rest of my career,” Iverson said. “We’ll see.”

[nasty daddy]

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2 ... star-move/

Just as Allen Iverson has scouting reports for games, he had one for Friday’s All-Star media session. The guard was as prepared for questions that would be fired his way as he would be when facing Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. Why has the Nov. 3 trade in which the Nuggets dealt Iverson to Detroit and got point guard Chauncey Billups appeared so lopsided in Denver’s favor? What the heck is wrong with the Pistons?

How much does Iverson, 33, have left? “I felt that I would have to come in this weekend and answer these questions,” said Iverson, an East starter Sunday in the NBA All- Star Game at the US Airways Center. “That’s just the way it is. I can’t cry over the first half of the season.” But while one debates how many tears are being shed in Detroit, there is joy in Denver. The Nuggets are a surprising 36-17, including 35-14 since Billups’ arrival. As for the Pistons (27-24), they’re 23-24 since Iverson first donned a uniform for them. Yikes. “I hate to see it,” Billups said of the downfall of a team he helped lead to six straight East finals, a period that included the 2004 title and a 2005 Finals appearance. “They’re my brothers. I hate to see them struggling the way they’re struggling.”

While Billups, averaging 18 points and 6.2 assists, is a worthy West All-Star, Iverson even being here is a tribute to his longtime popularity with the voting fans. He’s averaging a career- low 18.2 points. “I’m probably a little bit more surprised with the Detroit falloff than actually Denver coming up, because (Billups) brought something to their team they had been missing: stability at point guard,” San Antonio All- Star Tim Duncan said. Duncan said it’s a matter of Billups being a better fit for Denver than Iverson has been in Detroit.“That’s the way it looks,” Iverson said. “That’s the way it is. I’m not the point guard in Detroit just like I wasn’t the point guard in Denver.”

[nasty daddy]

http://postingup.2dogs.com/member/blogt ... q=1&page=0

hey JOE WHAT YOU KNOW?sure would like to see tracy mcgrady in a DETROIT PISTON uniform.have love his game for years.if we cannot have kevin garnett,or bosch could you please consider T_MAC?

[nasty daddy]

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2 ... star-move/

Nothing works in Detroit: Iverson initially started at point guard for the Pistons, with Richard Hamilton at shooting guard, but that didn’t work. Now, Rodney Stuckey is starting at point, with Iverson at shooting guard and Hamilton coming off the bench. It’s still not working. “It’s weird,” Billups said. “It’s not like they lost me and didn’t get anybody. They got one of the greatest players of this era. ... But sometimes it’s about the mix. ... A.I. is a great player and he can still average 30 points if he wanted to, but that’s not what that system calls for. So it’s really not fair to him that people look at him and say, ‘They can’t get it done with him.’”

Fair or not, the records don’t lie. The Nuggets have the third- best mark in the West and Detroit is tied for No. 6 in the East. “(Billups has) been great on and off the floor for that young Nuggets team,” Dallas All-Star Dirk Nowitzki said. “He’s been a great leader for that team. “(The Pistons) have a tough setup as a team. They don’t know who’s coming off the bench now. Maybe they’re not all that satisfied with their roles.”

Iverson sure doesn’t sound satisfied. “Even when I was in Denver, with (Carmelo Anthony), at the end of games, the ball was in my hands or Melo’s,” Iverson said. “It’s been times this year when I had no control over having the ball in my hands. “(Barack) Obama’s the president now. Change. Change. Life changes. It’s different. But, believe me, I think in my heart me being the focal point of an offense gives us the best opportunity to win.”Iverson is trying to stay optimistic. He said he wants Detroit executive “Joe Dumars to look good for making the trade.”

[nasty daddy]

http://postingup.2dogs.com/member/blogt ... q=1&page=0

So miami heat has now got Jermaine O'Neal and we still have AI(lol) OH! and a brand new losing streak, maybe we can watch billups and Stuckey all-star wk end at least they deserve to be there.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 129S46.DTL

Oft-injured Portland center Greg Oden was a late scratch with a sore left knee after bumping into Golden State's Corey Maggette on Thursday night. Though he was drafted two years ago, Oden was a member of the rookie team because he missed last season with injuries.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.freep.com/article/20090214/S ... Star+Games

Piston MVPs in All-Star Games
1974 – Bob Lanier: West 134, East 123 at Seattle: Lanier scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to lead the West. Seattle’s Spencer Haywood (Detroit Pershing/U-D) added 23 points for the West. The East was led by New York’s Dave DeBusschere (former Piston player/coach) with 16.

1984 – Isiah Thomas: East 154, West 145 (OT) at Denver: Thomas scored all 21 of his points in the second half and dished out 15 assists as the East overcame a 14-point halftime deficit. Philadelphia’s Julius Erving was the game’s leading scorer with 34 points. The Lakers’ Magic Johnson (Michigan State) had 22 assists for the West.

1986 – Isiah Thomas: East 139, West 132 at Dallas: Thomas scored 30 points and had 10 assists as he won his second All Star Game MVP in three years. The Celtics’ Larry Bird added 23 points for the East. The West was led by the Lakers’ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 21 points, and Johnson had 15 assists.

[nasty daddy]

http://postingup.2dogs.com/member/avvie ... 61&t=b&v=2

Joe Dumars Q&A - Part I

Questions and Answers with JD in the link above^.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2 ... star-move/

Search likely to continue: Iverson went so far as to say he wouldn’t mind re-signing with Detroit next summer as a free agent. But it seems unlikely the Pistons will want him back, and Iverson later said he will seek a team that fits the “style of basketball I’m accustomed to playing.”That sure doesn’t look to be Detroit.

As for Billups, a Denver native, it has been one big love affair since he arrived for his second stint with the Nuggets. Billups, who played in the past three All-Star Games for the Pistons, will become the first player from Colorado to play in one for the Nuggets. “I had three great ones coming here and representing Detroit,” Billups said. “Now I’m representing my own city that really is not a basketball city and not basketball rich. Me being able to represent them on a professional level is self-gratifying.” Billups hopes his selection can help “cultivate” the rise of basketball in Colorado. As for Iverson, he’s trying to stave off a fall of basketball in Detroit. “(Billups is) doing a wonderful job out there and those guys are doing a great job as a squad, collectively,” Iverson said. “We’re not playing well collectively as a squad. But we will get it together.”

Iverson, who has been selected to 10 straight All-Star teams and will start for the ninth time, insists he hasn’t lost a step. He shrugged off a question about whether this could be his final All-Star Game. “Last year, they asked that question and the year before they asked that question and the year before,” Iverson said. “I know (reporters are) going to ask. You’re doing your job. That is what you get paid to do: ask dumb questions.” Evidently, Iverson had that question on his scouting report. As for all the questions the Pistons are asking themselves about how to get back on track, they’ve been much harder to figure ou

[nasty daddy]

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=3448

Nate Robinson to be KryptoNate in dunk contest
Nate Robinson, who this week revealed he has an alter ego known as “KryptoNate,” will try to sap the powers of “Superman” tonight in the All-Star Weekend’s Slam Dunk competition. The 5-foot-7½ former Slam Dunk champ has been in hiding in Phoenix for most of the past two days, practicing a mysterious Kryptonite dunk he feels will take down Dwight Howard. The Magic’s 6-foot-11 “Man of Steel” is the reigning dunk champ who captured the world’s imagination by flying through the air like a bird, like a plane, jamming home a superhuman slam that overpowered his enemies… “It’s something new I just thought up,” said the popular Knicks guard, who already has put forth a superhero effort in winning the 2006 dunk title. “I did my homework. You have to see. I’m not giving out no secrets. I’m not telling nobody nothing. I just have a kryptonite dunk. That’s all I’ll say.”

[nasty daddy]

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=3447

Chauncey Billups remembers All-Star snub
on the Nuggets point guard remembering not making the All-Star team in 2005, when the weekend was held in his hometown of Denver: The point guard the previous season had led Detroit to the NBA title was named Finals MVP. And Billups was in the midst of a season in which he would lead the Pistons back to the Finals. Nevertheless, he wasn’t chosen for the game at the Pepsi Center. “I came home and everything and I wasn’t going to go to the All-Star Game, man. ‘I can’t believe I’m not in it,”’ Billups said. “My wife (Piper) was like, ‘Don’t be like that. Still go.’ So I went and I sat there the whole time. I don’t think I said one word the whole time. I was sitting there like, ‘I can’t believe I’m not in this.’ That’s just another one of the pains that fuels my fire. Try to get in next year.”

[nasty daddy]

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=3446

Julius Erving dislikes props in dunk contests
(Jeff Rabjohns) reports on what Julius “Dr. J” Erving said: “The more the slam dunk resembles the actions of the mascots, it seems the more the crowd loves it,” Erving said during All-Star weekend. “It seems about playing to the crowd. I guess if I was 26 and I were in it, I would do something that would play to the crowd. “I think that’s unfair that the slam dunkers, as talented as they are, have to resort to that to get favor from the judges or the crowd. “I’d rather see no props allowed; maybe a teammate because I think playing against opposition brings out the best dunks. I think my best dunks were when somebody was trying to block my shot. If you want props as far as resistance, OK. But chairs and ladders and trampolines? That’s turning it too much into a sideshow.”

[nasty daddy]

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=3445

LeBron James gifts his All-Star teammates
LeBron James showed up at Friday’s All-Star media availability session with a Steuben Glass crystal for each of his Eastern Conference teammates. I went on the company website and, by comparing what I saw at the media availability to some of the items for sale on-line, I’m guessing LeBron spent at least $10,000 for the gifts. Boston’s Paul Pierce seemed genuinely pleased about getting a present from the best player on the team that has the best chance of derailing the Celtics’ bid for a second straight title. “That’s what the All-Star break is all about,” Pierce said. “We’re all friends here. Then, we we break, we’re enemies again.”

[nasty daddy]

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=3444

Top stars not entering dunk contest
As impressive as the dunk contest was in New Orleans, the league’s biggest stars continue to not participate. For the sixth consecutive year, Cleveland’s LeBron James will be a spectator instead of a participant. James said he has no interest in competing, which is the same response other stars such as Miami’s Dwyane Wade and Boston’s Kevin Garnett have given. Lakers star Kobe Bryant has not entered since winning in 1997. “It would take more hops,” said Wade, when asked Friday what it would take for him to enter. “That has to be first, along with more creativity. I can’t jump as high as those guys to do what they do. I’m a game dunker.” Hornets point guard Chris Paul said he would enter but only under one condition. “If they lowered the goal to about 8 feet,” Paul said.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=3441

Portland Trail Blazers rookie Greg Oden will not play in the 2009 T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam this evening after experiencing discomfort in his left (non operative) knee.

Oden underwent a precautionary MRI today, which revealed some swelling and a chip fracture of the patella.

Oden, who practiced with the Rookie Team today, felt some discomfort after bumping knees with the Warriors’ Corey Maggette in the fourth quarter of last night’s game at Golden State. He is listed as day-to-day and will be reevaluated upon return to Portland.

[nasty daddy]

http://need4sheed.com/2009/02/no-more-r ... -game.html

No More Rows - AI gets a trim for The All Star Game
After 12 plus years Allen Iverson is braidless. And no, I didn’t Photoshop this photo.

This I didn’t see coming, but I didn’t quite see the AI trade either.

The festivities start at 6 with the HORSE game on TNT and continue on through the night. Don’t forget Arron Afflalo along with Bill Laimbeer and the Shock’s Katie Smith are repping the “D” in the Shooting starts competition. Who do you have in the slam dunk contest?

[nasty daddy]

http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 40418/1127

Empty seats a clear sign of recession's presence
Signs of the recession can be seen in the seats and even hanging on the walls at sports arenas in Michigan, where the economy is stuck in a long and brutal losing streak. The Pistons failed to sell out a game this month for the first time in more than five years. A banner reading "Thanks, Fans!" now hangs inside the Palace of Auburn Hills in place of one that updated the sellout streak, snapped at a franchise record 259 games.

Michigan, hammered by the loss of thousands of auto-related jobs, has had the nation's highest jobless rate for much of the past three years. Unemployment reached 10.6 percent in December, the state's highest rate since late 1984. "We were resigned to the fact we would never make it through the end of the season with the sellout streak because of the economy," said Tom Wilson, Pistons chief executive. "It started when gas went to $4 a gallon."

The Pistons' sellout streak, which began Jan. 19, 2004, ended when roughly 350 seats at the 22,076-seat Palace remained unsold against Miami on Feb. 4. Signs of declining attendance popped up before the streak ended. Some fans who bought tickets for low-profile games have stayed home and watched on TV rather than spend more money on gas, parking and concessions. It hasn't helped that the Pistons have stumbled to a 27-24 record, well below their recent standards.The Pistons had kept the sellout going this season by offering ticket specials and marketing deals. Some promotions tied gas and grocery store gift cards to ticket purchases; another during last year's playoffs offered four seats, four hot dogs and four sodas for $99. "I don't think you can do enough right now," Wilson said. "You've got to do all you can to add value."

[nasty daddy]

http://www.detroitbadboys.com/archives/ ... are-mowed/

AI’s cornrows are mowed
Allen Iverson will return from Phoenix a changed man — the braids are gone! I can’t even remember the last time he didn’t have those.

[nasty daddy]

http://pistonsnationblog.com/2009/02/14 ... -the-rows/

A.I. cut the ‘rows
Check it out, Iverson is now become among the many NBAers who’s forsaken the corn rows for a closer crop. I always wondered how much guys like AI spent annually to get their braids done.

Who does that leave, Ben Wallace?