'Nasty News - Traversing Time & Space' Vol: 54

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http://twitter.com/InsideHoops?utm_camp ... rce=follow

Ron Artest Lakers logo haircut pic: http://twitpic.com/n4eaf

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http://www.nba.com/2009/news/10/27/celt ... index.html

Celtics' Davis out indefinitely after surgery on right thumb
Boston Celtics forward Glen "Big Baby" Davis had surgery on Tuesday to repair his broken right thumb after fighting with a childhood friend while riding in an SUV less than two days before the season opener.

A police report identified Davis as the victim and said his friend, Shawn Bridgewater, appeared to be intoxicated.

Davis is expected to miss at least six weeks, though the Celtics said he also could be suspended for his behavior.

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http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=4932

Glen Davis out six weeks after attack from `friend`
The Boston Celtics had a nice off-season, adding Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels and Shelden Williams. But power forward Glen Davis is still one of the team’s most important players, even if his minutes may decrease this season. Unfortunately, due to an off-court incident, Davis won’t be playing basketball at all for a while. The Celtics announced today that forward Glen Davis underwent successful surgery to reduce and fix a right thumb fracture. The surgery was performed by Celtics Team Physician, Dr. Brian McKeon and was assisted by Dr. Hervey Kimball and Dr. Drew Terrono at New England Baptist Hospital. Davis is expected to miss the next six weeks. “I would first like to apologize to my fans, teammates, coaches and the entire Celtics organization. I am extremely disappointed that this incident occurred and that it will prevent me from starting the season with the rest of my teammates. My teammates and the entire Celtics organization are extremely important to me and I will do my best to expedite the healing process and be back on the court as soon as possible,” said Davis.

Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reports: Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday that he will be sidelined six to eight weeks after breaking his right thumb while trying to protect himself from a friend who slugged him. Davis said the incident happened early Sunday morning when Davis’ girlfriend, Jenna Gomez, one of her girlfriends and one of his high school friends were returning to his West Boston home after celebrating Gomez’s birthday. Davis said he and his high school friend got into a heated debate over some “personal issues,” and the friend, who was driving their vehicle, threw a punch at Davis. Davis retaliated by throwing a punch back that broke his hand. Davis underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair the thumb at a Boston suburban hospital. “I was defending myself,” Davis said in a phone interview with Yahoo! Sports. “I wasn’t just fighting. I feel like I let my team down by breaking my hand. I let my team down trying to defend myself. I have to make better decisions on how I choose my friends.”

Whoever the guy is that fought with Davis, obviously the word “friend” should no longer apply.

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http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=4931

Blake Griffin out up to 6 weeks
Los Angeles Clippers’ rookie forward Blake Griffin suffered a non-displaced stress fracture of his left patella during the Clippers’ last preseason game vs. the New Orleans Hornets on Friday, October 23rd.

Griffin, who underwent an MRI yesterday which confirmed the diagnosis, was examined by both team physician Dr. Steven Shimoyama as well as specialist Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Based on communication between the two physicians, it has been determined that Griffin will be sidelined for approximately six weeks. During this time Griffin will receive bone stimulation and PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) treatment.

Griffin originally suffered a bruised left patella during practice on Thursday, September 24th and was eventually cleared to resume full basketball activity. Griffin, the first overall selection in the 2009 NBA Draft, averaged 13.7 points, 8.10 rebounds and 28.0 minutes in seven preseason games played.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=14150

Is It Cap Space Or Breathing Room? There could be as many as 14 NBA teams under the 2010 salary cap, even if it drops to $50 million. There could be as many as 140 NBA free agents looking for deals this summer. Everyone assumes that teams like New York and New Jersey are going to open the bank vault this summer and change the NBA landscape and that very well could happen.More and more league sources point to the dismal economic picture for the NBA over the next two years and say that until a labor deal is reached the odds all of the teams with possible cap space spend it are pretty slim. One source said 2010 may be the one time in the NBA when teams can reverse the trend and get smart about their businesses.

There will be some teams that spend and there is a belief that the NBA increased the minimum share for NBA teams from $49 million to $60 million this season to insure its teams don't go "nuclear winter" in 2010 and derail the ongoing labor talks. While the cap sace may be there for some teams to spend and when the rubber hits the road, most of the owners will cave to their competitive nature and spend some of it, the days of NBA teams continuing to play and have payrolls in the $70 million range are dying daily.

Next year more than half the league will have to make it work at or just above the salary cap, so expect a big course correction next summer more than uber spending. Some teams will capitalize on space; other teams will stop the bloodletting and be ready to embrace a tighter labor model in 2011.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=14157

No Surgery For Raja? Charlotte Bobcats starting shooting guard Raja Bell has decided not to have surgery – at least for the moment – on his left wrist for a torn ligament. He suffered the injury in a preseason game and missed the final two games. Bell will not play Wednesday against Boston while hoping the wrist will continue to get better. "I'm going to [sit out] for another week to see if it continues to progress as it has, then I'll probably wind up playing," Bell said after participating in practice with his non-shooting hand heavily taped. "If it doesn't, then we'll go back to the drawing board."

Over the course of the last week or so, when it was looking like surgery was the likely answer, Bell said the injury seems to have gotten better. "I'm pretty encouraged," Bell said. "It's feeling a lot better than it did. I still have some hurdles to clear with it, but I feel good." Still, there are things he's not going to be able to do with an injured wrist. Sure, it's not his shooting hand, but you have to be able to use both hands on defense, to rebound, and to make crisp, accurate passes. That doesn't even address any kind of awkward fall Bell may experience where common reflex is to put out your hands to stop yourself. "Defensively, it's tough. It's hard to kind of put your hand on people, it jams it," Bell said. "Taking a charge would probably be a scary thought for me right now. And it gets so heavily taped that passing and dribbling, anything to my left, is a problem. That really hinders your game. ... I have to be able to play with a little less tape to be effective."

Is hoping it gets better really the right answer? It's likely just the wrong movement or fall will put him right back at the beginning, and surgery will have to happen anyway. It's admirable Bell wants to play through the injury – the second opinion doctor said it was fine as long as he could deal with the pain – but if he can't defend and pass effectively, is he hurting the Bobcats more than helping them? Keep an eye on this.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=14157

International Flavor: The NBA would like you to know there are 83 international players on teams' opening night rosters, including some from countries never before.The 83 players represent 36 nations and 27 of the league's 30 teams have at least one. (Can you name the three who don't have any?)

The Milwaukee Bucks roster features the most international players with seven. The Charlotte Bobcats, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors each feature five international players. Omri Casspi (Israel) of the Sacramento Kings, Jonas Jerebko (Sweden) of the Detroit Pistons, Serge Ibaka (Congo) of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Hasheem Thabeet (Tanzania) of the Memphis Grizzlies are representing their countries for the first time on an NBA roster. France has the strongest representation with a record 10 players.

I think it's about time someone did a cookbook… Think that wouldn't sell, each international player contributing one or more of their favorites recipes from home? Heck, I'd buy one. It could have interviews with each player about why the food is important to them.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=14157

Suspension Coming For Davis: Not only will Boston Celtics forward Glen Davis be out a significant period of time with his hand injury (reportedly a broken thumb and out about eight weeks) following a fight with a friend, but he might be out some cash too. Davis, who signed a two-year, $6.3 million deal this past summer as a restricted free agent, has not exactly pleased the Celtics with his actions. "We'll deal with it," Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck told WFXT TV in Boston. "I'm not going to call him 'Big Baby' anymore. He's Glen. He needs to act like Glen. We'll decide what to do once I talk to him, once we talk to him today." "It's very likely he'll be suspended. And he'll have some time to think about it. It'll be a message, a teachable moment for the rest of the guys on the team."

Davis, for his part, is contrite. He released a statement through the Celtics today. I would first like to apologize to my fans, teammates, coaches and the entire Celtics organization. I am extremely disappointed that this incident occurred and that it will prevent me from starting the season with the rest of my teammates. My teammates and the entire Celtics organization are extremely important to me and I will do my best to expedite the healing process and be back on the court as soon as possible. There shouldn't be an issue here with Davis being suspended. From the team's standpoint they are now losing money to a player who made a stupid decision while away from work – and eight weeks will put him out of action until about Christmas. That's 27 games the Celtics will be paying him for to recover from a broken bone, a full third of the season. They have good reason to be a little put out here.

I'm also a big fan of the 'Big Baby' moniker going away. It's cute for awhile, but Davis really does seem to have outgrown the nickname. From now on it will be Glen here too. Just curious, though – who on the team does the owner feel needs to be shown a teachable moment by management? Isn't this the veteran team ruled by Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen? Who added veterans like Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels in the offseason? I'm all for sending a message, but doing that on this Celtics team – from this perspective – seems odd.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=14151

Davis Out Indefinitely
If you're a fan of great baseball movies you may recall some extremely valuable advice Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) once gave Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins). LaLoosh had just been called up to The Show, and a drunk Davis had mixed feelings about it, largely because LaLoosh didn't take the game seriously enough. Davis provokes LaLoosh to the point that Nuke finally punches him in the mouth. As he picks himself up off the ground, Davis - ever the teacher - asks LaLoosh if he punched him with his pitching hand. His advice to the rookie: Never throw a punch with your pitching hand.

Another Davis in another sport would have done well to heed that advice. Glen Davis, the Boston Celtic, reportedly got into a fight on Sunday and injured his hand. Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald has the story: Glen Davis' season has taken a bad turn in an entirely regrettable incident. The third-year forward could be lost to the Celtics for an extended period after injuring his right thumb in a private altercation with a friend, according to sources. The Celts were saying officially yesterday that Big Baby had suffered an undetermined hand injury and had been sent for X-rays. But sources said there is some type of fracture in the thumb and that he will have to undergo further testing with specialists to determine whether there is greater damage that could necessitate surgery. The injury occurred Sunday night during the incident between Davis and a former teammate, who had flown up from Louisiana, sources said. According to sources, Davis was defending himself at the time.

The Boston Celtics have issued the following statement: "We are aware of Glen Davis' injury. We are gathering all information regarding the injury before making any further comments." More on this as it becomes available . . .

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... TORY_22201

Batum Could Be Out Past All-Star Break
The Trail Blazers' season of great expectations was dealt a sobering dose of adversity Monday, roughly 24 hours before the start of the first game, when the team announced that Nicolas Batum would undergo surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

Officially, a timetable for Batum's return will be established after his surgery on Friday. But after practice Monday, Batum said he had been told he would miss between three and five months, putting his return no sooner than the beginning of February.

"This is a big disappointment for me," Batum said. "I think it's the worst thing for a basketball player to go sit on the bench and watch your teammates and your team play, and play good. It's going to be tough for me."

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... TORY_22201

Flynn, Ellington Out of Opener With Flu?
Al Jefferson returned to practice today and scrimmaged regularly on the Target Center main floor, but teammates Jonny Flynn and Wayne Ellington were missing because they went to the doctor with flu-like symptoms.

Flynn and Ellington will be evaluated daily. Their availability for the opener remains uncertain.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... TORY_22201

Jefferson: 'No Doubt' Playing in Opener
When Al Jefferson takes the court Wednesday -- and he is determined to -- he will wear a black sleeve over his left lower leg to help loosen up a sore Achilles' tendon. The aching tendon kept him from practicing for about a week, but he scrimmaged Monday at Target Center with no problems.

Wolves coach Kurt Rambis said the team will have to monitor Jefferson's injury into the season, which was relayed to Jefferson. "I guess so," he said. "I'm still playing on Wednesday, regardless."

No doubt? "No doubt," he said.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... TORY_22201

Davis to be Suspended?
Davis and a former LSU teammate were involved in a scrap on Sunday, The Boston Globe reported. The newspaper did not provide details. Davis will have surgery Tuesday to repair his right thumb, a Celtics spokesman said.

"We'll deal with it," Grousbeck told WFXT. "I'm not going to call him 'Big Baby' anymore. He's Glen. He needs to act like Glen. We'll decide what to do once I talk to him, once we talk to him today."

"It's very likely he'll be suspended. And he'll have some time to think about it. It'll be a message, a teachable moment for the rest of the guys on the team."

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/chat.asp?chat_topics_id=550

Kevin in Riverview, MI:
Any chance the Pistons move Prince or Hamilton during the season?

Eric Pincus:
Sure - but it's too early to get into that. As I mentioned above, it's evaluation time. I don't expect any significant deals until at least 20 games in.

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http://www.971theticket.com/pages/3824327.php

Pistons' Kuester gets 2nd chance
The last time John Kuester was a head coach, he went 1-27. Not to put too fine a point on it, but: One. And. Twenty-seven.

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http://www.nba.com/2009/news/10/27/inte ... index.html

Season opens with record-tying 83 international players
The start of the 2009-10 NBA season will mark 83 international players from 36 countries and territories on official rosters (active and inactive), matching the record of international players on opening night rosters (2006-07). Twenty-seven of the 30 teams have at least one international player.

The Milwaukee Bucks roster features the most international players with seven. The Charlotte Bobcats, Sacramento Kings and Toronto Raptors each feature five international players. Omri Casspi (Israel) of the Sacramento Kings, Jonas Jerebko (Sweden) of the Detroit Pistons, and Hasheem Thabeet (Tanzania) of the Memphis Grizzlies are representing their countries for the first time on an NBA roster. France has the strongest representation with a record ten players. At the end of the 2008-09 regular season, the NBA featured 77 international players from 33 countries and territories on team rosters (both active and inactive). In comparison, the NBA had 36 international players from 24 countries and territories in 1999-2000.

Full list of international players in the NBA next season in the link above^.

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http://www.nba.com/2009/news/10/27/bobc ... index.html

Bobcats' Bell will try to play through torn wrist ligament
Raja Bell wants to tough it out without being a liability. The Charlotte Bobcats likely need their starting shooting guard if they want a realistic shot at the playoffs.

Tuesday was a day of optimism for both sides, with Bell hopeful he'll be able to play this season with a torn ligament in his left wrist and put off surgery that would sideline him up to four months. "I'm going to (sit out) for another week to see if it continues to progress as it has, then I'll probably wind up playing," Bell said after participating practice with his non-shooting hand heavily taped. "If it doesn't, then we'll go back to the drawing board."

Bell will sit out Wednesday's season opener in Boston, leaving the Bobcats short-handed because Ronald "Flip" Murray hasn't been cleared to return from a stress reaction in his left shin. Coach Larry Brown said Stephen Graham will start against the Celtics ahead of rookie Gerald Henderson.

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http://pistonspoint.blogspot.com/

Hamilton misses Tuesday's practice
Richard Hamilton missed practice Tuesday with what coach John Kuester called personal reasons. "He was excused," Kuester said. "He'll be here tomorrow." The Pistons open the season Wednesday at Memphis.

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http://pistonspoint.blogspot.com/

Iverson, Hamilton address last season
The Memphis Commercial Appeal ran an intriguing story on Allen Iverson in Tuesday's paper. Iverson addresses his season with the Pistons and in typical Iverson fashion doesn't hold himself accountable for any of it.

What was interesting about the article was the comments from Richard Hamilton, who throws former Pistons coach Michael Curry under the bus. It was common knowledge Hamilton and Curry didn't see eye-to-eye, but the comments were a little surprising. Here is an excerpt from the piece, which can be viewed in its entirety here. "M.C. lied to us a million times," Hamilton said of Curry. "He sat me and A.I. down one time and was like, 'I'm going to lean on both of you the whole year, just don't go to the media. Say you'll do whatever for the team and blah blah blah.' This was a week before he brought me off the bench. He lied. So I feel for what Allen said."He added: "I think the person that we had didn't know how to take advantage of (our roster). Instead of taking advantage of it, he killed it."

Hamilton also discredited the idea that the Pistons, although upset about losing Chauncey Billups in the trade with the Nuggets, were unwilling to accept Iverson as a teammate. Asked if he ever had any problems with Iverson, Hamilton said: "Oh, no, no, no. We loved him, he loved us. We were all friends, we were all brothers. Like I said, certain people make it complicated when it shouldn't be complicated."

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http://www.emptythebench.com/2009/10/27 ... y-kneecap/

The Fallout of Blake Griffin’s Broken Kneecap
The Clippers revealed Monday night that Blake Griffin, their franchise savior and first-overall pick of the 2009 NBA Draft, broke his kneecap, probably from landing after a dunk in a preseason game last Friday. It’s expected to keep Griffin off the court for at least 6 weeks, which covers a span of 20 Clipper games. Here’s where it happened. There are a few things this means for the league and its fans:

1 - Like Greg Oden a few years ago, we don’t get to see what the top pick is capable of for much longer than anticipated. Griffin played pretty well in the preseason—averaging 14 and 8—and clearly was improving as the regular season neared. Now we won’t see him until mid-December, and he probably won’t be at the same level he was at just last week for a while. When will we see the real Griffin? Who knows, but hopefully it’s sooner than how long it’s taking to see the real Oden.
2 - The Clippers are again unbearably bad. They weren’t real good even with Griffin, but now who do they have? Baron Davis, who loves to hang onto the ball, drive into traffic, and throw up bad shots (37% FG last year); he’ll now want to shoot more. At this point in his young career, many people love SG Eric Gordon’s ability to score (16.1 ppg as rookie, improved during season), but he could be overrated considering he doesn’t help teammates score (2.8-2.1 A/TO, worsened during season), or stop opponents from scoring. Centers Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby may actually be the two best Clippers behind Griffin, which can’t excite fans much. LA was 19-63 last year, which they’ll probably be on course to repeat by mid-December. Their slide will begin by going 0-4 before November, playing the Lakers, Suns, Jazz, and Mavericks in the first 5 days of the season. Ouch!

3 - The Rookie of the Year race is now wide open. Whereas Griffin was a virtual lock for the award just last week, the rest of the field now has a chance. I don’t know what sort of stats he’ll put up once he returns, but they probably won’t be as good as they would have been had he started healthy right out of the gate, and he’ll now have 25 percent less time to display them. I think the Thunder’s James Harden, the Spurs’ DeJuan Blair, and the Warriors’ Stephen Curry have the best chance to win if Griffin doesn’t return on fire and obviously improve the Clippers. Harden will score, Blair will do everything (but is sitting behind proven veterans), and Curry will have the chance to score. Sacramento’s Tyreke Evans could be in the mix as well since he will get points and some assists in the Kings’ starting lineup. Minnesota’s Jonny Flynn might have something to say about it, as well.
4 - This gives the Clippers a much better chance of securing a second-straight #1 pick. If they win the lottery again, LA could deep-six the career of another can’t-miss prospect, like uber-athletic PG John Wall (whose undoing is already sort of obvious: his eligibility to play at Kentucky is still up in the air, his half-court decisions are weak, and he relies on his athleticism for everything) or potential Chris Bosh clone Ed Davis (he’s too skinny and doesn’t really have a mid-range jumper, but the UNC sophomore truly could be the next Bosh).
5 - The Kings could move out of the Pacific Division cellar. Or not.