'Nasty News - Traversing Time & Space' Vol:12

[nasty daddy]

http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazer ... iteme.html

One of Europe's biggest basketball stars, Fernandez will now get that chance regularly as a member of the Trail Blazers. Months after signing with the team, Fernandez was greeted by a throng of cheering fans on Monday when he landed at Portland International Airport after resting in Spain following his team's silver medal finish in the Olympics.

Blazers management treated his arrival with excitement and reverence similar to that afforded former No. 1 pick Greg Oden. General manager Kevin Pritchard said "we expect big things out of him ... we feel like he is immediate help" while coach Nate McMillan said the 6-foot-5 shooting guard is "a special player." high-energy player on both ends of the court, Fernandez is regarded as an exceptional passer, a deadly long-range shooter, an accurate free throw shooter and a gritty hustler who is not afraid to skin his knees. His weaknesses are strength - he is a slight 185-pounds - and a penchant to play out of control at times. "He's exactly what we want in a player," Pritchard said. "He's a team player, a great kid, and I think he will raise the level of everybody else, and that's probably what we are excited about more than anything."

Because Fernandez plays the same position as Blazers All-Star Brandon Roy, he is expected to come off the bench. However, McMillan said Fernandez is too talented not to play extensive minutes, and he can foresee him playing alongside Roy, when Roy is the point guard or small forward. "I'm going to play that guy as much as I need him," McMillan said. "If he lives up to what he is capable of doing, you know, he will be up there in minutes."

[nasty daddy]

http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.d ... 002/SPORTS

If early indications hold true, the Orlando Magic won't be back in black, but they will be delving into their past with a return of pinstriped uniforms.

The Magic will unveil their new uniforms today at a public event in downtown Orlando, and according to leaked images of the uniforms, the new home and away gear will feature wide-paneled pinstripes.

The NBA shot down the Magic's initial plan of bringing back black jerseys and the team will instead continue to wear blue for road games. The Magic wore black road uniforms from 1989 through 1997, but switched to a blue model for road games for the 1998 season.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.wnba.com/games/20080923/INDDET/recap.html

Deanna Nolan scored 21 points, Katie Smith added 15, and the Detroit Shock advanced to the Eastern Conference finals for the third straight year with an 80-61 victory over the Indiana Fever on Tuesday night. The Shock, who led by as many as 31 points in the first half, will face the Liberty in the conference finals, with Game 1 on Friday in New York. Detroit has home-court advantage in the series, but due to a scheduling conflict, it will play its home games at Eastern Michigan University, about an hour from its normal home at the Palace of Auburn Hills. Tammy Sutton-Brown led the Fever with 20 points and Tamika Catchings scored 15.

The Shock came into the game angered by an incident in Game 2 that saw star forward Plenette Pierson suffer a dislocated shoulder after being flipped to the court by Indiana's Ebony Hoffman. Hoffman was fined by the league, but not suspended. That meant she was on the floor for Tuesday's opening tip while Pierson was on the Detroit bench with her right arm in a sling. It didn't matter. The Shock scored the game's first 12 points, led 30-7 at the end of the first quarter and continued to pour it on in the second period. The half might have been summed best by the final 20 seconds. Indiana held the ball for a last shot, despite trailing by 30 points, and Sutton-Brown hit a layup with 7.1 seconds to play. The shot turned out to be meaningless, though, as Nolan dribbled through a static Indiana defense and hit a buzzer-beating jumper that gave Detroit a 49-19 lead at the break.

Nolan, Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Smith combined for 34 points in the half, while Indiana's trio of Katie Douglas, Tamika Catchings and Hoffman were scoreless on 0-for-12 shooting. The Fever made their first serious run in the third quarter, starting the period with a 22-5 surge to cut the margin to 54-41. During one stretch, Douglas had breakaway layups on three straight possessions as the Shock began to look rattled. Detroit moved the lead to 60-43 at the end of the period, then scored the first five points of the fourth and cruised to the victory.

[nasty daddy]

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports ... swing.html

The Magic will take 16 players into training camp next week, adding small forward Jeremy Richardson and power forward-center Dwyane Jones to the roster.

Jones, 6 feet 11, 250 pounds, finished last season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, participating in five playoffs games as a backup. Jones, 25, has played 74 NBA games over three seasons.

Richardson, 6 feet 7, has played 33 NBA games since 2006, finishing last season with the Atlanta Hawks. He has played for the Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs. The 25-year-old out of Delta State is a scorer, averaging 25.3 points in 12 games last season with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Developmental League. Richardson and Jones join point guard Mike Wilks, point guard Anthony Johnson and shooting guard Mikael Pietrus as the Magic's new players.

[nasty daddy]

http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/c ... _s_14.html

When the 2008 playoffs ended, the Spurs bid farewell to one Stoudamire. It appears they are now poised to wave hello to another. Salim Stoudamire told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he has reached a two-year deal that would bring him to San Antonio. The second year of that contract is believed to be at the Spurs' option. "Gregg Popovich called me and told me how much he wanted me to come to San Antonio, and we came to an agreement," Stoudamire tells the newspaper in Tuesday's editions.

Stoudamire, a 25-year-old guard who spent each of his three NBA seasons with the Hawks, is poised to pick up his career where a relative's left off. Damon Stoudamire, Salim's older cousin by nine years, played in 31 games for the Spurs last season after arriving via mid-season free-agent signing. The Spurs have yet to officially announce their deal with Salim Stoudamire. The younger Stoudamire would look to fill a similiar role the Spurs had hoped his older cousin would: Namely, supplying a scoring spark off the bench. Scouts have described Salim, at 6-foot-1, as a shooting guard in a point guard's body. His best season came as a rookie with Atlanta in 2005-06, in which he averaged 9.7 points in 61 games.

UPDATE: Just got off the phone with Salim, who is in Atlanta preparing for a flight to San Antonio later this afternoon. He confirmed what he told the Atlanta paper, and re-iterated his excitement about trying to revive his career in South Texas. "It's a second chance and maybe a last chance," Stoudamire said. "I'm fully engulfed in that reality. I understand was the circumstances are, and I can't wait for the season to start."

[nasty daddy]

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... ut_arenas/

The prospect of a month or two -- or who knows how long? -- without Gilbert Arenas has not dimmed the expectations of the men who run the Washington Wizards. Sitting side by side Tuesday, president Ernie Grunfeld and coach Eddie Jordan made clear they expect their team to make the playoffs for a fifth consecutive season. Grunfeld's stated goal is to earn home-court advantage for the first round.

"We don't have a time frame for when he's going to be back," Grunfeld said. "It's a process. We expect him to be back and be an outstanding player in this league. This, for us, is not a two- or three-month proposition. We're looking at the long term here. He's only 26."

Last week, Arenas wrote on his blog under the heading "My Return Date": "I know time frames are dicey, but they said anywhere from mid December to January 1, I'll be back by then at 100 percent. I should be, if everything goes well."

[nasty daddy]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/s ... ngelo.html

After building an Olympic gold medal-winning team, Jerry Colangelo might make a run at another championship with USA Basketball. "I'm kind of leaning toward continuing, but we still have some things that we're talking through just in terms of organization," Colangelo said Monday at a luncheon benefiting the Special Olympics of Arizona. "I'm kind of inclined to continue because it is my connection" to basketball.

Colangelo, the former Phoenix Suns owner, took over as USA Basketball's managing director in 2005. He appointed Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski to lead the team and, in a change of policy, required players to make a three-year commitment. The Americans swept the gold medal in Beijing, their first in a major international tournament since 2000. "It's my call whether I want to continue and get ready for London in 2012," Colangelo said. "You know what's really great? The infrastructure is in place for USA Basketball going forward."

Colangelo said he's not sure if his duties would change. The U.S.' next major competition is the 2010 world championships in Turkey.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/200 ... exercised/

The Washington Wizards announced Monday they picked up coach Eddie Jordan's contract option, keeping the D.C. native under contract through the 2009-10 season.

Jordan, who enters his sixth season at the helm of the Wizards, signed a three-year extension in the summer of 2006. The deal, worth approximately $12.5 million, had a team option for a fourth season, which was exercised by owner Abe Pollin and team president Ernie Grunfeld. “Eddie has done an outstanding job and has been instrumental in making us a perennial playoff team, so we are pleased to reward that success by picking up the option on his contract,” Grunfeld said in a statement released by the team. “We are very excited about the upcoming season and feel that this team is ready to progress to another level under Eddie's leadership.”

Earlier this summer, the Wizards extended Jordan's assistants through this season and according to team sources had planned for some time to pick up the option on Jordan's contract. “I'd like to thank Abe Pollin and Ernie Grunfeld, my assistants and the players for their confidence in me and for putting the pieces in place for us to continue to build on what we've already accomplished,” Jordan said in a statement.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=1727

Sacramento Kings’ forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim today announced his retirement from the NBA as a player due to a reoccurring knee injury.“First of all, on behalf of the entire organization I want to thank Shareef for his contribution to the Kings and NBA both on and off the court,” said Kings’ President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie. “He has had an exemplary career as a player and citizen. It is unfortunate for any productive career to be felled by injury. However, no one can ever doubt Shareef’s effort, commitment or desire to excel. It is our intention to find a new role for Shareef with the organization as he begins the next phase of his professional life.”

Abdur-Rahim enjoyed 12 seasons in the NBA with four different teams (Vancouver 1996-97 to 2000-01, Atlanta 2001-02 to 2003-04, Portland 2003-04 to 2004-05 and Sacramento 2005-06 to 2007-08), amassing career averages of 18.1 points (.452 FGs, .297 3FGs, .810 FTs), 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game through 830 outings. His most productive season, statistically, occurred during the 1998-99 campaign in Vancouver when he averaged 23.0 points (.432 FGs, .306 3FGs, .841 FTs), 7.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game through 50 contests (NBA Lockout season). The following season (1999-00), Abdur-Rahim averaged double figures in both points (20.3) and rebounds (10.1) per game, in which he played in all 82 contests for the Grizzlies.“I’ve been in a situation where I’ve been trying to get healthy over the last year and a half,” explained Abdur-Rahim. “I came to grips with the fact that, health-wise, I won’t be able to get back to the condition and level that is needed to play in the NBA. My right knee has become arthritic over the years and is to the point where it won’t allow me do the things and play at the level in which I’m accustomed to playing. As tough as it is to come to grips with, it’s the reality.”

Abdur-Rahim was a member of the gold-medal winning United States Olympic team in 2000 while still with the Vancouver Grizzlies. He was selected to the Eastern Conference NBA All-Star Team where he scored nine points in 21 minutes as a member of the Atlanta Hawks in 2002. “Regarding my career, I’ve been really blessed and fortunate,” said Abdur-Rahim. “I’m thankful that I had basketball and was able to play in the NBA. There aren’t a lot of people who actually get to do what they grow up dreaming about doing. I’ve had that opportunity and I’m really thankful for that. I’m also thankful for the coaches, trainers, owners, front office people and friends I’ve made through my time in the NBA. It was a tough decision, but in no way am I bitter. I’m just really thankful and happy that I was given the opportunity to play in the NBA.” On December 28, 2002, Abdur-Rahim became the sixth-youngest player in NBA history to reach the 10,000-point plateau when he scored 18 points at Washington at age 26, trailing only Kobe Bryant, Bob McAdoo, Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with that distinction. He scored a career-high 50 points (including a career-high 21 field goals made) versus Detroit on November 23, 2001, becoming the first Hawks player to hit that mark since Dominique Wilkins poured in 52 points in 1991. Selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies (now Memphis) as an undergraduate out of California with the third pick of the 1996 NBA Draft, Abdur-Rahim has a long-standing history of community service involvement. He was named by The Sporting News as the NBA’s Number 1 Good Guy for 2004 after funding the Reef House in Atlanta through his Atlanta-based Future Foundation with the purpose of assisting at-risk and underprivileged youth.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=1728

The Phoenix Suns announced today that the club has signed Slovenian guard Goran Dragic (GORE-on DRAG-itch) to a multi-year contract. “It has been a lengthy process, but we’re happy to announce the signing of Goran Dragic,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr. “He is a talented young point guard who we believe has a very bright future.”

Dragic’s rights were acquired by the Suns on June 26, 2008, in a draft-day deal with the San Antonio Spurs, who selected him with the 45th overall pick (second round). Phoenix sent San Antonio the draft rights to 48th overall selection Malik Hairston, as well as a 2009 second-round pick and cash. The 2009 pick was obtained from the Golden State Warriors on Jan. 3, 2005, in exchange for Zarko Cabarkapa. Just 22 years old, Dragic joins the Suns with four years of international professional experience. Most recently, the 6-3, 190-pound point guard spent the 2007-08 season with Union Olimpija in Slovenia and helped to lead his club to both the Slovenian League Championship and Slovenian Cup. Against top competition in Euroleague play last season, Dragic averaged 9.7 points, 3.1 assists and 1.2 steals in 13 games. Likewise, he tallied 12.0 points, 3.1 assists and 1.7 steals in 28 Adriatic League games. A quick guard with a knack for getting to the basket, Dragic shot 60.9 percent from the field in Euroleague play and 61.0 percent in the Adriatic League.

The lefthander began play in Europe’s top leagues in 2004-05 with Geoplin Slovan and was named the 2005 Slovenian League Newcomer of the Year. Dragic also received All-Star recognition in 2008 in the Adriatic League as well as 2006 in the Slovenian League. The newest Sun has been a member of the Slovenian Senior National Team since 2006. Dragic’s play during the 2007 European Championships in Spain included 28 minutes of action in the Slovenian’s upset victory over Tony Parker and France to win Group D of the tournament. He was also a member of the Under-20 National Team in both 2004 and 2005.

[nasty daddy]

http://blogs.jsonline.com/bucks/archive ... ation.aspx

Bogut arrived in Milwaukee on Sunday night from Melbourne and said he would be ready for the start of training camp on Sept. 30. He indicated he has been working out for the last two weeks, after taking some time off to heal a sprained left ankle he suffered during the Beijing Olympics. "I've been training the last two weeks, and no hiccups," Bogut said. "I've been going full speed for the last week and a half to two weeks."

Bogut was injured while playing for Australia in the quarterfinals against the U.S., and he feared the worst when he landed on Kobe Bryant's foot and had to leave the game. "I heard it click, so that's what kind of scared me," Bogut said. "The pain was bad and it swelled up real quick. It was pretty disappointing. I was never really at 100% for the whole (Olympic) campaign, including the warmup games."

But tests revealed it was only a sprain, to the relief of both Bogut and the Bucks.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/126406

Goran Dragic’s long and winding road to Phoenix finally ended Monday when the finances of his contract with Tau Cerimaca of Spain were completed and he signed a four-year contract with the Suns – three years and a team option.

The NBA gave the official clearance in the early afternoon. Dragic will take part in his first scrimmage with the Suns Tuesday morning before flying back to Slovenia to finalize his work visa and gather his belongings. Suns president Steve Kerr said he expects that process to be done in time for Dragic to head to Tucson with his teammates for training camp next Monday.“We’re excited to have all the other stuff behind us and to know that Goran will be with us,” Kerr said. “We said we would be willing to wait (a year) but this is what we were all hoping for. We feel like we’ve added a very good player.”

Dragic, 23, is penciled in as the backup to point guard Steve Nash and an immediate member of the playing rotation.

[nasty daddy]

http://blog.newsok.com/nbainokc/2008/09 ... ning-camp/

Can you believe it? NBA media day is one week from today. It will be the first team appearance for your new Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder will then begin training camp with the first day of practice one day later on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

The Thunder has also finalized its training camp roster, which could be announced as early as Tuesday. The team didn’t invite any “fringe” players to camp, so the roster you see is what you get. NBA teams can open the regular season with only 15 players but can carry more on the roster throughout the preseason. The Thunder is likely to enter the season with 14 players under contract, so it would have been unlikely that a training camp invite would have actually made the team.

Mike Baldwin also reports today that the uniforms will be unveiled next week and the road uniforms will be sky blue.

[nasty daddy]

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Basketball/NB ... 66-ap.html

More than 100 fans welcomed Spanish guard Rudy Fernandez to the Portland Trail Blazers upon his arrival to the city with chants of "Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!" "It was a good surprise," Fernandez said. "When I arrived, I say, 'OK, let's go practise now. Let's go."'

The six-foot-six Olympian arrived at Portland International Airport on Monday and was whisked to the Rose Garden, where the Blazers held a news conference to introduce him. "He's a team player. He's a great kid," general manager Kevin Pritchard said. "I think he'll raise the level of competition for everyone." Fernandez played for Spain in Beijing, scoring 22 points in the gold medal game against the United States. The U.S. team won, 118-107. Portland coach Nate McMillan was an assistant coach for the U.S. team. He and some of the other coaches went to watch Spain during the competition, with Kobe Bryant tagging along. McMillan recounted how Bryant said to him: "He's your kid, huh? He's pretty good." Pritchard said the team would give Fernandez time to acclimate to Portland and find a place to live. The Blazers would work on getting him a tutor to help him with his English.

The Trail Blazers open training camp Sept. 30 at the team's practice facility in Tualatin, Ore. The team opens pre-season play against Sacramento on Oct. 7 at the Rose Garden Arena. McMillan said the team would also give Fernandez time to catch up on the NBA style of play. "But once he does, he's going to be a special player," McMillan said. Fernandez has played the past seven seasons for DKV Joventut Badalona of the Spanish ACB League. Last season he averaged 21.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.2 steals for the team, which won both the ULEB Cup and the Copa del Rey. Portland acquired Fernandez in a trade with Phoenix during the 2007 NBA draft. "My dream is to play against the best players in the world and Portland gave me that opportunity," he said. Fernandez is good friends with Blazers guard Sergio Rodriguez, who is also from Spain.

[nasty daddy]

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Basketball/NC ... 11-ap.html

A nephew of Minnesota basketball coach Tubby Smith was stabbed to death during a fight at an off-campus apartment.

Police say 19-year-old William L. Smith, a Becker College student who lived in Scotland, Md., was killed early Sunday. "We lost a special young man last night," Tubby Smith said in a statement released by the school. "The grieving process will take some time for my brother and his family, but I know that they appreciate and will need all the support." William Smith was stabbed once in the chest after a fight involving students and non-students broke out during a house party and spilled into the street, detective captain Edward McGinn said.

McGinn says a weapon was recovered at the scene. No arrests have been made, but police say they interviewed numerous witnesses and were pursuing several leads. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday. Tubby Smith was travelling Monday. He is in his second season with the Gophers after spending 10 years at Kentucky.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=1738

Here’s Washington Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan today, speaking to local media: On having the option picked up on his contract (yesterday): “Ernie called me up to his office to talk about [training] camp, personnel and a few other things, and then he told me that they were going to pick up my option. It was a total shock. I’m very grateful to Ernie and to Mr. Pollin. My assistants and our players contributed tremendously to this happening. Now we’re preparing to go to training camp and that’s the only thing that’s on my mind. We’re in training camp mode. We went on a retreat last week, we’ve been in the office (this week), and we’ve been watching tape. We’re locked in to preparing this team, so my option was totally out of my realm of thinking.”On last season:“One of the things that went well was our leadership. Our leadership was impeccable; it was the engine that really drove the car for us. Caron [Butler] and Antawn [Jamison] are certainly at the top of that totem poll. Antonio Daniels was a big part of that. DeShawn [Stevenson] in his own right was a leader for us, and Darius [Songaila] also. We like the way that Brendan [Haywood] had a career year. Even though Caron and Antawn were All-Stars, I always said that DeShawn and Brendan were the unsung heroes for us because they were defensive anchors for us. They were there for us pretty much every game. [I’m proud of] the way we played, winning 43 games as opposed to 41 the year before, making a competitive series against Cleveland in the playoffs and the fact that we dealt with adversity.”

On Gilbert Arenas: “He is a star, and he’s the straw that stirs the drink. I knew we weren’t going to have him 100 percent for training camp, and I didn’t want to go further than that. We knew he needed more rehab, more strengthening, more rehab during the training camp session. Now, our thinking and our preparation is for (the players that will be participating in) training camp, and we’re working to prepare this team to lay the foundation again.” More on Gilbert Arenas: “I just saw Gil today. I talked to him after his procedure. He feels very confident that having the procedure will enhance his rehab and get him back on the floor during his rehab as opposed to just staying in the training room. When he was on the floor at the end of the summer, [his knee] just bothered him a little bit. The procedure allowed him to clean out a little of the debris, so that will help his rehab and allow him to get back to us pain-free.” On the team: “We feel very confident in the players that we have and the way we played last year — the way we shared the ball and moved the ball, the defense and the way we made the playoffs. But certainly you need a Gilbert Arenas to get to where we want to go. We certainly want to win an NBA Championship.” On the depth of the roster: “I am comfortable with it. We are very comfortable in Antonio [Daniels] and DeShawn [Stevenson] and Dee Brown, who we signed and played in the summer league. We’ve always wanted a guard like Dee who can change the pace and quicken the pace defensively. He’s got some experience under him and he’s relatively young. He’s a tough, hard-nosed kid from Chicago, and we’re very excited about him being on our roster.”

On Nick Young: “For him to average almost 7 points in 15 minutes is a promising foundation for us and for him. We know he is a dynamic and exciting scorer. We want him to be a better player defensively, understand (game situations), (improve) work ethic, maturing and all of that is going to take place. We’re very excited about Nick’s opportunity that lies in front of him.” On Etan Thomas: “[Having him back] improves our depth. We know Brendan [Haywood] had a career year last year. Our depth chart is solid with Etan being a back-up center. If there are any injuries or anything of that nature, we have a veteran guy who can step in.” On Brendan Haywood: “[I’m just looking for] subtle improvement — little things that would mean a lot for us. Certainly his approach and his intelligence are top-notch. He’s one of the most intelligent guys on the team and in the League. He talks on defense, he works on his body. He maintains his body to be big and strong. His defense has improved greatly. There are some subtle things, like maybe some more passing to cutters, screening and stuff you guys don’t really see in games. Overall his improvement was huge for us this year, and we continue to see him work on his body and on his game. He’s not a core scorer for us, but he knows when to be aggressive for us. Again, because of his intelligence he knows when he needs to pick up some slack. If Caron [Butler] is not on the floor, then we throw the ball to Brendan.”

[nasty daddy]

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Basketball/NC ... 11-ap.html

The Orlando Sentinel (Brian Schmitz) reports: The Magic will take 16 players into training camp next week, adding small forward Jeremy Richardson and power forward-center Dwyane Jones to the roster… Richardson and Jones join point guard Mike Wilks, point guard Anthony Johnson and shooting guard Mikael Pietrus as the Magic’s new players.

InsideHoops.com editor says: Unlike most training camp signings, both of these guys are on the radar of a bunch of teams and could wind up with a small deal eventually.

[nasty daddy]

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... o_retire/#

The Knicks are reportedly trying to convince Jerome James to retire for medical reasons.James appeared in just two games last season due to chronic injuries to both knees.

But James has shown up in Greenburgh with the intention of going with the team to training camp in Saratoga Springs.

If James agrees to retire, insurance will pay a portion of his remaining salary.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=1736

Julius Hodge is a versatile player, but he’s primarily a shooting guard who can’t shoot. This presents a problem and is why he fell out of the league so quickly. His best days were probably his college days.

But, he’s in Nets training camp, and the only real opening the roster has is possibly at the third-string point guard spot, behind Devin Harris and Keyon Dooling. Though, since both of those guys are good players, unless someone gets hurt I can’t imagine the third stringer gets more than a few minutes per game at the most. So, to try to make the Nets, Hodge may have to pretend to be a point guard. But while he has the ability to pretend to be one, he isn’t one, and isn’t really going to create from that position. And while he can slash, he probably isn’t going to penetrate past other point guards. Plus, he can be left open from outside.

He’s not a fit for the Nets and should find a team that can use a multi-talented shooting guard off the bench. Or, he should just try to star in Europe.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=1735

Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that the team has signed free agent guard Juan Dixon. Per team policy, terms of the contract were not released. But both local Washington papers had been reporting that the offer was a minimum salary deal and the contract wasn’t guaranteed. “Juan is a proven NBA player and we like what he brings to our team,” said Grunfeld. “He is a tough, hard-nosed competitor who can score and his familiarity with our system is an added plus.”

Dixon (6-3, 165) was originally selected by Washington with the 17th overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft out of the University of Maryland, where he led the Terrapins to the NCAA title and captured Most Outstanding Player honors at the 2002 Final Four. During his first tenure with the Wizards, the Baltimore native averaged 8.2 points and 1.6 assists in 176 games over three seasons (2002-03 through 2004-05). “I’m excited to return to the area and to resume my career with the Wizards,” said Dixon. “I’m looking forward to the start of training camp and I’m ready to step in and contribute wherever Coach Jordan and the team sees fit.”

The six-year veteran has seen action with the Wizards, Trail Blazers, Raptors and Pistons and holds NBA career averages of 8.9 points and 1.7 assists per game. Last season, Dixon averaged 5.0 points and 1.8 assists in 53 games between Detroit and Toronto. The Wizards’ training camp roster now stands at 18 players. The team will hold camp from September 27-October 3 at the Siegel Center on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.