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

[nasty daddy]

Link to volume 25: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=876966&p=18545865#p18545865

This thread will contain Pistons news, injuries, free agent signings, trades and news throughout the NBA, plus scores from both the NBA and college.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/ ... e_for.html

Allen Iverson, who is among a handful of Detroit Pistons who have been under the weather lately, was not at the team's shootaround this morning.

Pistons coach Michael Curry said Iverson, Will Bynum and Ryan Hoover, Detroit's director of player development, all have been sick lately. "We'll see," Curry said. "Arnie (Kander, Detroit's strength and conditioning coach) will get him (Iverson) some medication and we'll see if he can go tonight."

If Iverson doesn't play, Richard Hamilton will likely start.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/2009/allstar2009/02/ ... index.html

Mayo, Johnson, Durant in All-Star H-O-R-S-E game
Rookie of the Year Kevin Durant and O.J. Mayo, a favorite for this season's award, highlight the field for a H-O-R-S-E competition during All-Star Saturday night.

Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson is the other competitor in TNT's special event, the network announced Tuesday. Johnson will play in the All-Star game, while Durant and Mayo were selected for the rookie challenge. The contest will take place outdoors at the NBA's All-Star Block Party on Saturday in Phoenix before TNT televises the All-Star Saturday night festivities.

If a player makes a shot in H-O-R-S-E, the next competitor must make the same shot or receive a letter. A player gets an 'H' for his first miss and is eliminated once he has all five letters of the word. Players will have 24 seconds to execute their shots, and an NBA referee will rule if they're done properly. Dunking won't be allowed.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 00448/1127

Pistons' Iverson bothered by flu: The flu bug has infiltrated the Pistons' traveling party.

Allen Iverson was excused from shoot-around Tuesday morning. His status will be determined at game time tonight (8:30 p.m.).

Reserve point guard Will Bynum made it to shoot-around, but there wasn't much pep in his step. Both of those players, as well as director of player development Ryan Hoover, were being treated by strength and conditioning coach Arnie Kander.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=3388

Frederic Weis signs in Spain: The Hoop (a trusted fan blog which quotes official sources) reports: Menorca announced the signing of french center, Frederic Weis (2.18-C) who was recently released by Bilbao, until the end of the season. Weiss will add power and height to the frontcourt of Menorca and he also has 8 seasons of experience in the ACB as a player of Malaga and Bilbao.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... TORY_16331

The moment Timberwolves center Al Jefferson was helped to the locker room Sunday night in New Orleans, bad news was expected. Further evidence was the cancellation of a community event featuring Jefferson on Monday morning, then seeing seldom-used big men Mark Madsen, Jason Collins and Calvin Booth putting in extra work at the end of practice.

Finally, coach Kevin McHale broke the news. Jefferson, the team's heart and soul on and off the court, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee when he landed awkwardly with 27.2 seconds remaining in Sunday's loss to the Hornets. It's likely he will have surgery to repair the tear in the next week to 10 days, ending his season and putting into question whether or not he will be ready for the start of next season. "I feel terrible for Al," McHale said. "Al's really, right now, devastated. He feels terrible about it. But I said, 'You know, things all happen for the reason.' It's hard for me to figure out what this reason is, but somehow he's going to have to make the best of it and rehab and get better."

McHale admitted standard operating procedure within the NBA on such damning news is to get a second opinion. However, the diagnosis from the MRI on Monday morning was pretty clear-cut -- just as it was for the ACL tear suffered by forward Corey Brewer in late November. Brewer's injury was season-ending. "[Jefferson] will have surgery and then ... I have no idea," McHale said of Jefferson's timetable. "We'll find out after the surgery."

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/allstar20 ... id=3897494

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Mo Williams has been named by NBA Commissioner David Stern to replace injured East All-Star forward Chris Bosh (sprained right knee) of the Toronto Raptors in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix. Williams will be making his first All-Star appearance.

The NBA All-Star Game will air live on TNT, ESPN Radio and in 215 countries and territories, and in 44 languages worldwide at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 15.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/0 ... index.html

Almost no one has picked up on the real story behind the shopping of Amar'e Stoudemire in Phoenix, and Tyson Chandler in New Orleans, and the impetus of many teams to be active before the Feb. 19 deadline. It has nothing to do with basketball, no matter what you hear about Amar'e's lack of defense and Chandler's history of injuries.

This year, the trade deadline is being influenced like never before because owners who've lost millions in the plunging U.S./global economy are determined not only not to be luxury tax payers, but to cut costs as much as possible as quickly as possible, with no intention of allowing their team's salaries to ever rise near the tax threshold in the foreseeable future.

In the last week, I've heard of a half-dozen owners whose personal fortunes have been slashed significantly by the recession.

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/allstar20 ... id=3897494

Mo Williams will play in the All-Star Game after all.

Williams wasn't chosen by Eastern Conference head coaches as a reserve, then was bypassed by Stern in favor of Boston's Ray Allen when Orlando's Jameer Nelson had to be replaced because of injury. The Cavaliers were upset that they were the only top-five team that didn't get multiple All-Stars. LeBron James called Williams' omission a "total smack in the face."

Williams, who is averaging 17.1 points, will make his first All-Star Game appearance.Bosh injured his knee in the loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 4. He was averaging a team-leading 22.7 points and 9.5 rebounds for the Raptors. The All-Star Game is Sunday in Phoenix.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.detroitbadboys.com/archives/ ... djustment/

Rip’s adjustment:Believe it or not, he’s actually averaging two more points in seven fewer minutes since the move — he’s up to 18.8 points in 27.7 minutes as a reserve compared to 16.7 points in 34.7 minutes as a starter. Not surprisingly, much of the difference can be attributed to increased efficiency — he’s shooting 49.2 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from beyond the arc as a reserve, up from 44.8 percent and 35.1 percent, respectively, as a starter.

He’s actually led the Pistons in scoring five times in nine games, including two monster games this weekend: He set the franchise record for points off the bench with 38 in an overtime win in Milwaukee on Saturday followed by a team-high 27-point effort the next night at home against the Suns. As Michael Curry told reporters before Sunday’s game, he’s not surprised by Hamilton’s success, predicting Hamilton will “have a few more 30-point games coming off the bench” this year, especially as Hamilton’s nagging groin injury continues to heal. And despite his recent scoring outbursts, Hamilton admitted after Sunday’s game that his groin is still a serious issue. “It’s still sore, it still hurts,” Hamilton said. “I’m still trying to figure out a way to get through the game.”

Hamilton has done a good job figuring it out, but Curry doesn’t mistake his success with being content. “I don’t think he’s accepted it,” Curry said. “I’m not going to ever think that, he’s never going to want to just come off the bench.

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3897558

Philadelphia 76ers forward Elton Brand will need six months of recovery on his surgically repaired right shoulder and should be ready for the start of the 2009-10 season. "He's got a 95 percent chance of returning as good as he is or was before," said Brand's surgeon, Dr. Craig Morgan.

Morgan repaired the torn labrum in Brand's right shoulder on Monday. Brand, who dislocated his right shoulder against Milwaukee on Dec. 17, needs a sling and can start range-of-motion exercises in about four weeks. Morgan said on Tuesday that Brand could start shooting and dribbling in about three months, and needs an additional three months to return to full strength.

Brand averaged 13.8 points and 8.8 rebounds in only 29 games for the Sixers in the first season of a five-year, $80 million contract.

[nasty daddy]

http://wdfn.com/pages/DETROITPISTONS.html

A-I Might Miss Game Versus Bulls: Allen Iverson, who is among a handful of Detroit Pistons who have been under the weather lately, was not at the team's shootaround this morning. Pistons coach Michael Curry said Iverson, Will Bynum and Ryan Hoover, Detroit's director of player development, all have been sick lately. "We'll see," Curry said. "Arnie (Kander, Detroit's strength and conditioning coach) will get him (Iverson) some medication and we'll see if he can go tonight. If Iverson doesn't play, Richard Hamilton will likely start.

[nasty daddy]

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

Signs point to a Rip-AI identity emerging
About six weeks after the Allen Iverson trade, Joe Dumars said he was watching a team that was trying to find itself. You’d be branded a hopeless optimist to suggest they’ve successfully ended the search as we sit on the eve of the All-Star break. But in the process of trial and error, progress can at least be measured in the discarding of experiments that come up short of expectations. So the Pistons gave their small-ball starting lineup an honest shot before Michael Curry ultimately decided the negatives outweighed the positives – at least where using that unit to start games was concerned. But the trend in the NBA still tilts toward teams going small when it matters if that means grouping their five best players together, and there will be times the Pistons will respond with a lineup that has Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton at the two forward spots. They’ll be better for the experience of having played that way for five weeks or so, minus the time Hamilton missed with a groin strain. They tried starting Hamilton and Iverson together on the belief that the overwhelming individual strengths of each would complement the other despite their contrasting styles simply for the pressure they put on defenses. But when the styles proved difficult to meld, they made the best of it by bringing Hamilton off the bench to give both greater latitude to fly solo for longer stretches.

The results are still under review, but recent signs are encouraging. And that’s where it gets interesting. Because nothing – with the notable exception of Rodney Stuckey’s gradually but constantly expanding responsibility – is of greater importance to the Pistons’ playoff viability than that: How do the Pistons get the best out of both Rip Hamilton and Allen Iverson? The key is getting them both in their comfort zone, or in the parlance of the moment, allowing both to find their rhythm. Maybe the Pistons are getting closer to finding that, as the 32.5 points Hamilton and the 26 points Iverson have averaged in their last two games heading into a Chicago-Atlanta back-to-back that leads to the All-Star break suggests. Maybe this is to be the Pistons’ formula: Have Stuckey focus on getting Iverson going in the first eight or nine minutes of the first and third quarters, before Hamilton comes on for Stuckey. Then, with Iverson rolling, the ball shifts to his hands, where the momentum he’s gathered will draw defenses and present him the opportunity to find openings for Hamilton, or for himself, or for others. Hamilton then carries the offense when Iverson goes to the bench at some point in the second quarter, when a fresh Stuckey returns. The rest will take care of itself. The defense has had its ebbs and flows, but for the most part has stabilized and is at least adequate. Offense will find Rasheed Wallace. Tayshaun Prince has flourished in taking what’s there in the past and will do so again. It’s finding the right chemistry in the Hamilton-Iverson-Stuckey equation that will determine how efficient the Pistons can become offensively, which ultimately will determine how good they can become.

Sounds simple. Too simple? Maybe. But it’s a blueprint, and right now it’s the one that offers the Pistons their best hope of latching on to something they can call their own, their identity. That would represent something of a culture shift for the Pistons. They were always a team that could come down and hit you from all five spots – well, four in the Ben Wallace era, with his threat being the gamble it represented to ignore him to help on others and allow him a lane to crash the offensive glass. Chauncey Billups made that work because of his experience, for starters, and the extraordinary feel he developed for his teammates and the sense of the moment he had – when somebody was about to spring a hot hand, or when a certain matchup demanded probing. No point guard (at least this side of Jason Kidd) could have been dropped into that role and expected to lead the offense in quite the same way, let alone one with Stuckey’s inexperience. So making this a little simpler makes a lot of sense. It can’t hurt to simplify the game for a young point guard with the daunting challenge of balancing the needs of the All-Stars and Hall of Famers around him with the benefits to his team of having him attack as warranted. That’s what bears watching as the Pistons head to the All-Star break and emerge from it with about one-third of their season ahead of them. How they get the best out of both Rip Hamilton and Allen Iverson while greater responsibility for the offense gradually shifts to Rodney Stuckey’s control.

[nasty daddy]

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/02/09/rip- ... sixth-man/

The Pistons have won just five of their last 15 games, so I'm sure Rip Hamilton would dispute the idea that anyone on the team is "thriving" right now. But ever since he swallowed his pride and moved to the bench nine games ago, Hamilton has helped balance Detroit's guard-heavy rotation that also features Rodney Stuckey and Allen Iverson. Not only that, he's done so by playing his best ball of the season -- even if he's not yet comfortable in his role.A lot of people view a move to the bench as a "demotion," but in this case the label doesn't fit. Truth be told, Hamilton has become even more important to the Pistons as a reserve -- no longer lost in the shuffle as one of many options early in the game, he's now the primary scoring threat most of the time he's on the court. Believe it or not, he's actually averaging two more points in seven fewer minutes since the move -- he's up to 18.8 points in 27.7 minutes as a reserve compared to 16.7 points in 34.7 minutes as a starter. Not surprisingly, much of the difference can be attributed to increased efficiency -- he's shooting 49.2 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from beyond the arc as a reserve, up from 44.8 percent and 35.1 percent, respectively, as a starter.

He's actually led the Pistons in scoring five times in nine games, including two monster games this weekend: He set the franchise record for points off the bench with 38 in an overtime win in Milwaukee on Saturday followed by a team-high 27-point effort the next night at home against the Suns. As Michael Curry told reporters before Sunday's game, he's not surprised by Hamilton's success, predicting Hamilton will "have a few more 30-point games coming off the bench" this year, especially as Hamilton's nagging groin injury continues to heal. And despite his recent scoring outbursts, Hamilton admitted after Sunday's game that his groin is still a serious issue. "It's still sore, it still hurts," Hamilton said. "I'm still trying to figure out a way to get through the game." Hamilton has done a good job figuring it out, but Curry doesn't mistake his success with being content. "I don't think he's accepted it," Curry said. "I'm not going to ever think that, he's never going to want to just come off the bench. ... I just think that it's a matter of he felt good [Saturday] body-wise. And as he [gets] healthy, he's going to play well. With Rip, regardless if he comes off the bench and he likes it or doesn't like it, when he steps out there he wants to play well. He has that kind of pride in him."

That pride is no more apparent than just before tip-off. When the starting lineup is introduced, the reserves traditionally form two lines facing each other in front of the bench to high-five each of the starters as his name is called. As with many teams, there's an unspoken tradition for the face of the franchise to be introduced last -- for years Ben Wallace held that distinction, and when he left, it fell to Chauncey Billups. Once Billups was traded, Hamilton inherited the honor, and even though he's no longer a starter, he's yet to alter his pre-game routine to reflect it. Instead of joining his fellow reserves to slap hands with the starters as they're introduced, he sits on the bench until the house lights turn on, as if he's still expects to hear his name called and draw the loudest cheers. It's a routine few people have probably noticed, but for those paying attention it seems like a subtle reminder that he hasn't completely embraced his new role. And that's fine -- the biggest knock on this team the last few years has been a sense of complacency, so if moving one of the longest-tenured starters to the bench results in him playing with a chip on his shoulder, the team is better for it in the long run. All that's left is for the rest of the team to discover the rhythm and consistency that Hamilton has found the last several games.

[nasty daddy]

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

He hasn't shown me anything since coming over to Detroit. I believe Denver got the better end of the deal with Chauncey. Look at thier record and compare it to ours. I also will bet that Alan will leave Detroit once the season is over

[nasty daddy]

http://www.hoopsworld.com/TheWireStory.asp?id=16507

Mike Bibby's absence from the Atlanta Hawks' lineup lasted just one game. The veteran point guard will return to the starting lineup Tuesday night against the Washington Wizards after being sidelined Saturday with a sprained left foot.

After two nights off, he will be back to man the point - and not a moment too soon. Without him, the Hawks had a miserable night, losing a 121-97 blowout to the lowly Los Angeles Clippers.

Bibby is averaging 16.1 points and 5.4 assists for the Hawks, who have their sights set on their second straight playoff appearance.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.freep.com/article/20090210/S ... 1051/rss16

Pistons dancer poses in SI swimsuit issue
The 2009 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, on newsstands today, features 10 NBA dancers, including Chelsey Buhler from the Pistons' Automotion.

The Rochester Hills native is in her third season with squad. In the magazine, she is wearing a white bikini with Pistons-inspired red and blue stripes.

SI's Web site says she was photographed last summer in New York.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.hoopsworld.com/TheWireStory.asp?id=16504

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Mo Williams has been named as an injury replacement for Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh for this weekend's All-Star Game, the league announced Tuesday.

It will be the first All-Star appearance for Williams, who had been upset when he originally was left off the Eastern Conference squad. Williams has been a key cog for the East-leading Cavs (39-10), averaging 17.1 points and 4.2 assists in 49 games.

Bosh, who was selected to his fourth straight All-Star Game, will miss Sunday's contest with a sprained right knee. He has not played since suffering the injury on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Lakers. Bosh is averaging 22.7 points and 9.5 rebounds in 51 games.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... TORY_16341

Mo Williams is headed to the All-Star game after all. Twice snubbed, the Cleveland Cavaliers point guard was chosen Tuesday by NBA commissioner David Stern. Williams will replace Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh, who will miss the game because of a sprained right knee.

Williams wasn't chosen by Eastern Conference head coaches as a reserve, then was passed over by Stern in favor of Boston's Ray Allen when Orlando's Jameer Nelson had to be replaced because of injury.

The Cavaliers were upset that they were the only top-five team that didn't get multiple All-Stars. LeBron James called Williams' omission a "total smack in the face." Williams, who is averaging 17.1 points, will be making his first All-Star game appearance.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... TORY_16341

The Toronto Raptors announced Wednesday that forward Chris Bosh will not play in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix due to a sprained right knee. Bosh was selected to his fourth consecutive All-Star appearance for the Eastern Conference and has missed the last two games after spraining his right knee during the fourth quarter February 4 versus the Los Angeles Lakers. He will miss his third consecutive game tonight when the Raptors play at Minnesota. Bosh is planning to attend the All-Star festivities this weekend in Phoenix.

A product of Georgia Tech in his sixth season, Bosh leads the team in scoring (22.7), rebounding (9.5), minutes (38.2) and double-doubles (24). He has paced the Raptors in scoring on 30 occasions, including a career high-tying 42-point outing November 21 vs. New Jersey. He has led the team in rebounding 34 times, with a season-high 18 November 18 at Orlando.