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

[nasty daddy]

http://blog.mlive.com/fullcourtpress/20 ... heave.html

Piston fans have seen the Detroit media explain how trading Alex Acker improves Joe Dumars' ability to make a bigger splash this Summer, but has the Detroit media checked if Acker was signed for next season? There are various reports when the signing took place reporting that Acker signed a 1-year deal, while others have Acker signing a two-year deal. Patricia Bender and HoopsHype both also have Acker playing on a 1-year deal. While Storytellers Salary has Acker's contract with a team option next season. Which would make trading Acker this season irrelevant to any cap space Joe Dumars would have had in the Summer.

[nasty daddy]

http://blog.mlive.com/fullcourtpress/20 ... heave.html

Yahoo is also reporting that Acker's contract runs through next season, and they also report that Joe Dumars is now in the drivers seat in targeting a big man free agent.

When the Detroit Pistons sheered nearly another $1 million in salary-cap space with the trade of Alex Acker to the Los Angeles Clippers this week, GM Joe Dumars further solidified his franchise as the favorite to sign Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer as a free agent this summer. The Pistons expect to have nearly $23 million available to spend this summer on free agents. Boozer has said he will likely opt out of his contract with the Jazz this summer. Most believed that Boozer was destined for the Miami Heat, but Heat president Pat Riley chose to take on Jermaine O'Neal's $22 million contract for the 2009-10 season. The Jazz and Boozer have grown tired of each other, and league executives believe Utah is more inclined to re-sign power forward Paul Millsap to a long-term contract. Boozer has played just 12 games this season with a knee injury. His inability to stay on the floor has clouded teams' opinions about him, but Boozer makes sense as the replacement for pending Pistons free agent Rasheed Wallace.

If Boozer is healthy, he can be a steady big man who can put up 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. The main problem with Boozer has been staying healthy, missing large portions of three of the 5 seasons he's been in Utah.

[nasty daddy]

http://blog.mlive.com/fullcourtpress/20 ... heave.html

Piston fans may remember Trent Plaisted, Detroit's 2008 middle second-round pick that was supposed to play this season in Italy. After some back troubles and going to Provo, Utah for rehabilitation, Trent is ready to resume trying to have a place in professional basketball.

In a year that has sent him from Provo to Detroit, from Detroit to Italy, and from Italy back to Provo, former BYU center Trent Plaisted has had an exciting start to his professional basketball career... After all his travels, Plaisted ended up back in Provo finishing his rehabilitation from a recent back surgery. His greatest goal is to get back on the court and show he can contribute in the NBA like he did when he sparked the Cougars for three seasons... "I was excited about it," Plaisted said. "I got on the phone with Joe Dumars from the Pistons. He called me and said 'Hey we're happy to have you aboard.' I was happy to be there."...

The team sent Plaisted to play Italy for the season to improve some of his skills, including his jump shot. Plaisted averaged five points and two assists in two games in Italy before returning to the states after re-aggravating a herniated disc in his back...During his recuperation, Plaisted finished his last two economic classes to graduate. The current timeline for his recovery is about another month, after which he plans on flying back to Italy and getting back on the court.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/02/18/bull ... index.html

Bulls to land Salmons, Miller for Nocioni, Gooden

The Sacramento Kings are the latest NBA team to engage in cost-cutting moves that will pare money from the team's books next season. The Kings agreed on Wednesday to a trade that sends forward John Salmons and center Brad Miller to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for forwards Drew Gooden and Andres Nocioni, according to league sources. The deal will reduce Sacramento's obligations next season, saving the Kings millions on the salary cap and keeping them well under any potential luxury tax payments. Gooden, making $7.15 million this season, will likely come off the team's cap after this year, and now, the team is free of the $5.4 million due to Salmons in 2009 and the $12 million due to Miller in '09.

Sacramento will absorb the remaining four years and $28.4 million on Nocioni's contract, but Nocioni's contract actually goes down after next season, when he's scheduled to make $7.5 million, to $6.8 million in 2010 and $6.6 million in 2011 before going back up to $7.5 million in the final season -- a season that will be the Kings' option to pick up.

[nasty daddy]

http://pistonsnationblog.com/2009/02/18 ... e-peat-za/

Pistons go for three-peat-za!: Instead of recapping another crap performance by our beloved Pistons I’d like to share a this gem I found while going through some old boxes of mine.

It’s a newspaper clipping of a Pizza Hut advertisement from 1991 when the Pistons were hoping for a championship trilogy.

Left to right: Scott Hastings, James “Buddah” Edwards, “Big Daddy Rich” Chuck Daly, The Worm, & Wayne “Tree” Rollins Apparently Joe and Isiah preferred Domino’s

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3916786

Rockets coach Rick Adelman lashed out at Tracy McGrady after practice on Wednesday for not informing the team he will undergo surgery on his left knee. Adelman said he only learned that McGrady was out for the season when he read it in a newspaper in the morning.

"There should be a protocol, there should be a procedure where we have a chance to sit down and talk about the situation and not be announced in the press," Adelman said. "I don't know why that happened, why he did that. Certainly, that is not the way things should be handled."

The star forward said on his Web site Wednesday that the pain has been persistent and he will have microfracture surgery. He's confident he'll return next season.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/sp ... 19745.html

According to numerous league sources, a trade sending Kings players Brad Miller and John Salmons to Chicago in exchange for Andres Nocioni, Drew Gooden, Michael Ruffin and Cedric Simmons has been agreed upon and is pending league approval.

In a separate deal with Portland, fourth-year forward Ike Diogu comes to the Kings for Ruffin. The Kings are also expected to receive approximately $1 million in the trade with Portland.

The trades put their roster at 17 players, and it is expected that they will waive newly-acquired point guard Sam Cassell and third-year guard Quincy Douby. They will need to make an additional cut as well to trim the roster to a league-limit 15.

[nasty daddy]

http://need4sheed.com/2009/02/the-pisto ... -date.html

The Pistons are like a Blind Date
I came to the conclusion last night that the Pistons are like a blind date. Just bear with me here.As Pistons fans (some say) we are spoiled. Our team has enjoyed great success over the past few years and quite frankly we aren’t used to dealing with them struggling (other than in the playoffs).

Blame it on Dumars.
Blame it on Curry.
Blame it on a new DAILY lineup change.
Blame it on Allen Iverson for stealing our floor general and captain.
Blame it Rasheed for his technicals and three point affinity.
Blame it on the rotation or lack thereof.
Blame it on Rodney Stuckey for being put in a position to run the team when he’s just learning how to be a point guard in the NBA.
Blame it on chemistry.
Blame it on Kwame Brown, who hasn’t seen enough time to make it count or not count.
Blame it on turnovers.
Blame it on David Stern.
Blame it on the Officials.
Blame it on Amir Johnson, who hasn’t had the chance to develop in the helter-skelter thing we would call “a system.”
Blame it on the lack of play of Jason Maxiell.
Blame it on Walter Herrmann’s hair.
Blame it on Flip Saunders (who right now is probably enjoying all of this).
Hell blame it on Darko…..

Lay the blame wherever you want, but it will do you no good. It’s a free fall that none of us were prepared for when this season started. As Pistons fans, do yourself a favor. Go into each game like you would if you were going on a Blind Date. Expect the worst and if your date ends up with teeth, no unpleasant, unidentifiable odor, no visible open sores and the ability to speak the same language that you do it’s a plus. And if they actually turn out to be nice, normal and not a stalker….it’s like putting a W in the win column. Expect nothing and when you find your Prince Charming/Cinderella it makes the win that much better.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/truebluepistons.html

Duncan: a superstar toiling in obscurity
Two weeks ago, San Antonio won in overtime on a Monday night at Golden State. The next night in Denver, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich sat his three All-Stars for the entire game. San Antonio still put up a fight, losing by eight. That game could wind up deciding which of those teams gets home-court advantage in the second round of the playoffs – Denver is 36-17, San Antonio 35-17 – so it seemed an especially curious decision. “Tremendous luxury,” Michael Curry grinned when he was asked about it the following day. Four days later, the Pistons won a tough overtime game at Milwaukee, then came home to host the Phoenix Suns 24 hours later. Curry didn’t rest a soul. Popovich has put himself in rare company among NBA coaches with the four titles he’s led the Spurs to since taking over for Bob Hill midway through the 1996-97 season. Those four titles make decisions that would be labeled reckless or worse had they come from coaches with lesser resumes seem visionary. Only Popovich and Phil Jackson, really, have the latitude to get away with such boldness among today’s coaches. So that was most of what Curry was talking about when he called Popovich’s maneuver a “tremendous luxury.” But some of it, just maybe, had to do with Tim Duncan. Life is largely about timing, and Popovich is as good an example as any. (Though Jackson, who had the good fortune of being Doug Collins’ chief lieutenant in Chicago when Collins rubbed the Bulls’ emotions raw and got canned, is right there with him.) Six months after Popovich slid over one seat in San Antonio, the Spurs beat long odds to win the lottery, forever altering the course of Rick Pitino’s life, among many others, in the year Duncan’s Wake Forest eligibility finally expired.

Now, none of this is meant to disparage Popovich. He’s proven his mettle as a handler of big personalities, a molder of teams and a strategist of the first order. But the story of San Antonio’s decade of dominance begins with Tim Duncan. He makes his annual visit to The Palace on Thursday night – the first of a seven-game stretch against a murderer’s row of opponents that will shape the Pistons’ season – and, at 32 going on 33, there might not be too many more chances to see him here in his prime. The guy has been nothing less than the NBA’s dominant player of his era, and he’s the biggest reason – apologies to Robert Horry – that the Pistons don’t have a fourth NBA championship banner waving over The Palace floor. He’s also the least appreciated superstar of his era, for reasons that say far more about American mass media culture than about Duncan’s ability or impact on his sport. If Duncan had half of Shaq’s effervescence or Kobe’s dramatic sense, his jerseys would be as ubiquitous as theirs have been over the years, his commercial endorsements as coveted. It doesn’t help his case that he plays in small-market San Antonio, beyond the fact that it probably contributes to his well-being in that the market better suits his temperament. As the Pistons, clawing to break from a 5-13 malaise that has them teetering on the precipice of .500, prepared Wednesday for their seven-game onslaught of playoff opponents, Curry talked about San Antonio’s enduring success. He started by saying this: “They’ve added some really good players. They have their core guys, but Bruce Bowen has been a fixture for years and he doesn’t play nearly as many minutes any more. A lot of times they’re playing Roger Mason Jr. and (Matt) Bonner a ton of minutes. So they’ve added some youth and those guys are playing really well …”

And then he got to the punch line: “But you’ve got Duncan. Any time things get off track a little bit, he can get you back on track. Whether they have injuries or added youth to their lineup, when you’ve got Duncan, that’s a rock to stand on.” Understand that Duncan’s value only begins with his numbers, but his numbers are jaw-dropping. Consistency is his hallmark. It’s tough enough to put up 20 and 10 for one season. Duncan has done it for nine of his 11 NBA seasons – heck, his career averages are 21.6 and 11.8. He’s been a double-digit rebounder for every one of those seasons. In the two years he didn’t average 20 points, he got to 18.6 and 19.3. He’s a near-lock to keep his streak alive, too, averaging 20.9 and 10.6 this season. And, remember, San Antonio has been an elite defensive team annually, typically playing games in the 90s. Devoid of ego, but not competitive fire, Duncan has been perfectly happy to let Manu Ginobili or Tony Parker carry the offense – until the closing minutes of close games, at least. San Antonio has built its model on Duncan, surrounding him with 3-point shooting role players to take advantage of the double teams he demands. In a league where the average player shoots about 45 percent, Duncan, facing all those double teams, is a 51 percent career shooter. When Ginobili began the season recuperating from ankle surgery and then Parker suffered a severe ankle sprain, Duncan kept the depleted Spurs afloat. Yet the Spurs are in solid shape to win the tough Southwest Division and make a run at the fifth NBA title of the Popovich-Duncan era. Make that the Duncan-Popovich era. A great player is, indeed, a tremendous luxury.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/pistons/community/hi ... 90216.html

Living the Dream
The election of U.S. President Barack Obama, the first African-American to hold the nation’s highest office, has made this February unlike any prior Black History Month. It has been cause for celebration, stirred debate about how far black Americans have come since slavery and prompted questions about what barriers remain. For Rick Mahorn, as it was for many black parents, election night 2008 was a chance to show his children that pop culture won’t dictate their future. “I woke them up to show them they don’t have to be an athlete. They don’t have to be a rapper,” Mahorn told more than 150 high school students at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn Feb. 5. “They could be a nerd and be the president of the United States.” At the fourth annual Pistons and Shock “Know Your Black History” event, presented by Mahorn and Rock Financial, President Obama was frequently mentioned during a panel discussion including prominent community members and students from Detroit Kettering, Detroit Ferguson Academy and Henry Ford Academy. Thanks to President Obama, the message to students about following their dreams rang a truer than it ever had before. “That’s the one job, where never before had we seen anybody but a certain type of person hold that position,” said Ronda Walker, WDIV Local 4 news anchor.

Advice for the next generation : Walker told the students she takes pride in saying “President Barack Obama” when reporting the news on Local 4’s morning broadcast. She is encouraged by how his ascendance to the presidency will teach black youths that nothing is beyond their reach. Walker too pursued a seat traditionally dominated by white men – not in the Oval Office, but rather behind the television anchor desk. “For me in my business, when I was born, there were no black news anchors, male or female,” she said.Walker called abolitionist Harriet Tubman her biggest role model for risking her life after escaping slavery in Maryland to return and help other slaves find freedom. “To me, I admire that so much because she did so much for other people, and I think that’s a responsibility that we all have,” she said. It’s a responsibility Rock Financial President and Chief Operating Officer Patrick McInnis takes seriously. The Flint native was honored in October by the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Flint, which named their Community Hero Award after him for his extensive involvement with the organization. Remembering where he came from was a lesson McInnis learned from his mother, who survived the ordeals of World War II in Italy before emigrating to the U.S. Shock forward Cheryl Ford choked up when talking about her mother, Bonita Ford, who held two jobs to support her four children by herself. Ford’s emotional outpouring surely touched the hearts of the dozens of students from Ferguson Academy, a Detroit high school for teenage mothers.Mahorn, who has been a father figure to Ford since he joined the Shock coaching staff in 2005, was also raised by his mother. He didn’t let being a “welfare child” confine him to a life on the streets of Hartford. Conn. His basketball prowess helped him attend Hampton University, then known as the Hampton Institute, a historically black college in Virginia. “I grew up in the hood,” said Mahorn, who played 18 NBA seasons. “You can only ‘keep it real’ for so long because all of a sudden you’ve got to get a job. And the next thing you know, you’ve got bills.” Mahorn credited his mother for teaching him manners, work ethic, and for giving him an overall sense of what it would take to lead a productive life outside of basketball. “To get these jobs, they’re not going to hire anyone with their pants hanging down. Believe that,” he said. “But if you’re creative enough, pull your pants up, keep your shirt tucked in, trust me, you’ll get a lot more than just trying to ‘keep it real.’” Bill Luse, a Detroit native who is IBM’s senior state executive for Michigan, said he sees the scarcity of black professionals when he walks into meeting rooms, where sometimes he’s the only man of color. To change that, Luse said, African-Americans need more than a professional appearance; they need to sound the part as well. He used Obama’s election to highlight the importance of being a skilled communicator, capable of reaching many audiences, regardless of race. For African-Americans, it means being “bilingual” – speaking grammatically correct English in a professional setting and reserving a more casual tone for family and friends. “I speak a certain way in the office and I’ll tell you what, when we were watching the Super Bowl the other day, it was a completely different conversation,” Luse said, prompting laughter from students and adults alike. Some of those conversations with family should be about black history, said Brian Stevenson, a public relations executive for Fathead.com. He emphasized that each family has its own history, and thereby has contributed to black history. He encouraged the students to do “homework” on family members and learn about their experiences as African-Americans.

”Take it to the next level”: Dr. Darrius, a radio personality for one of Detroit’s most popular hip-hop stations, FM 98 WJLB, revealed a rather surprising inspiration for his broadcast career: longtime Pistons announcer George Blaha. Dr. Darrius admired Blaha’s vivid imagery of Pistons games. “He’s sitting right there, but it’s actually like you’re sitting in the third row at the Palace,” Dr. Darrius said, “so that kind of got me into it.” The revelation by Dr. Darrius struck on a larger point: black men and women need not look only to other black men and women for their role models. “Learn who’s done what you’re doing, so you can say, ‘I want to be better than this person,’” Dr. Darrius said. “Take it to the next level for someone else to come behind you and open a door for someone else to walk through.” As Ronda Walker pointed out, if African-Americans aspired only to emulate those of their skin color, barriers would never be broken. And America might never have seen President Barack Obama. “Black history teaches me to never give up,” Walker said, “and also teaches me anything is possible.”

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/02/18/nets ... index.html

New Jersey Nets forward Sean Williams was arrested at Boston College last weekend for allegedly violating a no trespassing order.

The former BC player was arrested Sunday shortly before the Eagles played Duke for violating an order issued in May, according to the campus police report. Police did not say why he was barred from campus. Williams' Boston-based lawyer, Howard Fisher, said the player was invited to Sunday's game by a member of Boston College's coaching staff and blamed the arrest on "lack of communication" between the staffer and campus police. The police report said Williams was belligerent when police tried to arrest him and wrote obscenities instead of his name on the fingerprint card and trespass warning. "Maybe it's just human nature to act that way when someone is invited to an event and then placed under arrest," Fisher said.

Williams posted $40 bail but failed to show for arraignment Tuesday. Prosecutors asked the judge to issue an arrest warrant, but the arraignment was rescheduled for March 5 -- the day after the Nets play the Celtics in Boston. Williams and Nets coach Lawrence Frank had no comment in Houston, where the Nets played Tuesday night. The 6-foot-10 Williams was dismissed from the Boston College team in January 2007 for multiple rules violations that included an arrest for marijuana possession in 2005. That charge was dropped after he completed a rehabilitation program. Williams was the Nets' first-round pick in the 2007 NBA draft.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/truebluepistons.html

Curry is mindful not to increase the already significant pressure on Rodney Stuckey to perform, but he didn’t duck questions about Stuckey’s slump at Wednesday’s practice.

“Rodney is the key to our team, period,” he said. “I’m not blaming him, so make sure no one says we’re blaming Rodney for anything. It’s just a fact. We’ve had other guys play well and it doesn’t affect everybody. When he plays well, everybody else gets a chance to play well. “We’ve got to find a way to get Stuckey on track. He ignites everybody else. I talked to him about some things we can do to keep him aggressive. I think he spends a lot of time trying to make sure everybody else is OK on the court, but his natural instinct is to be aggressive and we just want him to be himself.

“Most young point guards are going to go through it if they haven’t when they come in this league. It can be overwhelming at times. It’s overwhelming for a coach, at times, so I can imagine for a young point guard. But the reality is, you just go out and play extremely aggressive and do the things he can do best for us to win and let us put everybody else in position to be successful.”

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/pistons/news/truebluepistons.html

The next seven games – San Antonio, at Cleveland, at Miami, at New Orleans, at Orlando, at Boston, Denver – come against teams with a cumulative record of 253-113, a winning percentage of (gulp!) .691.

“It’s crazy,” Rip Hamilton said of the Pistons’ struggles and the upcoming stretch of games. “If you look at our record now, we’re – what, 27 and 25? That’s kind of insane to me. Especially losing a game last night (against Milwaukee) where we needed to get one because we know what type of schedule we’ve got coming up. So we’ve just got to take one game at a time and hopefully get a win tomorrow.”

“It’s going to be the toughest all year, this schedule coming up,” Tayshaun Prince said.

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3916483

Los Angeles Clippers forward Zach Randolph has been suspended two games without pay by the NBA for striking the Suns' Louis Amundson in the face.

Randolph was ejected in the first quarter of Phoenix's 140-100 win Tuesday. The league said Wednesday he would miss that night's rematch against the Suns and Sunday's game at Portland.

Randolph is the Clippers' leading scorer and is averaging 21.4 points and 10.4 rebounds this season. Randolph forfeits $133,333 per game in salary.

[nasty daddy]

http://t-mac.com/tmac/blogDetail/1519

As some of you may have heard, my season has come to an end. My knee hasn’t been right all year, and we can’t seem to get the pain to go away. We’ve tried just playing through it, taking back-to-backs off, and extended periods of rest, but none of it has really been effective in limiting the discomfort and allowing me to just go out there and play. I’ve met with numerous doctors and gotten a number of opinions, and unfortunately I will be undergoing microfracture surgery on my left knee immediately. Microfracture surgery is a serious procedure, but I’m confident that I will be able to return next season with the same strength and explosiveness you are all used to seeing from me.

It has been extremely frustrating dealing with the knee injury this season. It’s been tough on me both physically and mentally and while we’ve come to this conclusion after much deliberation, we truly feel this is best for both me and the Rockets in the long term. As I’ve said before and will say again, I have the best fans in the world. Thank you for all your continued support through the good times and the bad.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/02/18/oden ... index.html

Bone chip in knee to sideline Oden vs. Grizzlies
Trail Blazers center Greg Oden will sit out Wednesday night's game against the Memphis Grizzlies because of a bone chip in his left knee.

Oden was hurt in a collision during a game at Golden State last Thursday. He was unable to play in the All-Star weekend's rookie challenge. The 7-foot center is listed as day-to-day. Team doctors are expected to evaluate his knee later Wednesday.

Oden, the top pick in the 2007 draft, sat out all of last season after microfracture surgery on his right knee. He missed six games at the start of this season with a foot injury.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/02/18/rand ... index.html

Clippers' Randolph suspended two games for punch
Zach Randolph of the Los Angeles Clippers has been suspended two games without pay for striking Louis Amundson of the Phoenix Suns in the face, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

The incident, in which Randolph was assessed a Technical Foul and was also ejected, occurred with 32.3 seconds remaining in the first quarter of the Suns 140-100 victory over the Clippers at US Airways Center on Feb. 17.

Randolph will begin serving his suspension tonight when the Clippers host the Suns at Staples Center.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/02/18/butl ... index.html

Wizards' Butler sits out practice with sore hip
Washington Wizards forward Caron Butler did not practice Wednesday because of a sore hip but is expected to play Friday against the New Jersey Nets.

Butler landed on his left hip while falling to the court with a rebound late in Tuesday night's 111-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Interim coach Ed Tapscott said it made sense to let Butler rest because the Wizards have an extra day before their next game.

"He's a little sore and we've got two days," Tapscott said, "so there's no sense in beating him up on the first day. Let another day go by, let his body feel better so he'll be prepared to play on Friday."Butler is averaging 20.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.4 assists.

[nasty daddy]

http://blog.nola.com/hornetsbeat/2009/0 ... aking.html

The Hornets traded Chandler, who was the team's best post defender and rebounder, to the Thunder for Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith and the draft rights to DeVon Hardin, the 50th pick in the 2008 draft who is playing in Greece.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... 5YTSSW_T6w

Zach Randolph of the Los Angeles Clippers was suspended for two games by the National Basketball Association on Wednesday after striking Phoenix's Louis Amundson in the face.

The incident took place with 32.2 seconds remaining in Tuesday's first quarter of a 140-100 Suns' home victory over the Clippers. Randolph was whistled for a technical foul on the play and ejected.

Randolph's suspension kept him out of a Wednesday rematch between the Suns and Clippers in Los Angeles as well as Sunday's game at Portland. He will be able to return to the court next Monday against Golden State.