'Nasty News - Traversing Time & Space' Vol: 38

[nasty daddy]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime ... ime-090523

Ben Wallace Got A Gimme
A lot of calls that look like charges are correctly called blocks. When you rewind these plays on your TiVo's, don't do what referees make fun of fans for doing: Trying to decide if the players feet were set before the contact. That's not the standard. What you want to know is: Is the defensive player's torso set in position before the offensive player begins his upward motion? The defense can not slide into position after the offensive player has reached this stage. Why did they set that standard at the moment of upward motion? Joe Borgia, the NBA's director of officiating programs and development, says "because we had to set it somewhere." He adds that "the moment of alighting is too late." In years of watching film, however, Borgia has confidence they chose the correct moment.

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http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime ... ime-090523

Howard Dominating
Dwight Howard recorded 18 rebounds in Orlando's Game 2 defeat. Howard has registered double digits in rebounds in each of his first 14 games of the 2009 playoffs. Over the last 30 years, only three other players have posted 10 or more rebounds in each of their first 14 games of a playoff season: Shaquille O'Neal in 2001 (first 16 games), Charles Barkley in 1993 (first 14 games) and Larry Bird in 1981 (first 17 games).

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... 523&lc=NBA

Could IOC Expand 2012 Olympic Field?
Canada's bid to return the Olympic basketball tournament is getting a boost from the sport's world governing body. FIBA will petition the IOC for four more spots in the 2012 London Olympics, boosting to 16 the number of teams in each tournament. ``The depth of field has just gotten so much stronger. ... This just makes so much sense,'' Canada Basketball chief executive officer Wayne Parrish said.

There was no indication from FIBA how they would distribute the four extra spots. The International Olympic Committee will rule on the request in August. The Olympic tournaments for men and women now include just 12 teams, a small number given the sport's global reach. Prominent national programs like those in France, Serbia and Brazil failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Games, as did Canada. FIBA had awarded nine automatic berths from its qualification process before Beijing and added a `last-chance' tournament to fill out the final three berths. The Canadians played in the last-chance event but failed to qualify; the women didn't advance that far.

Much of the federal funding for team sports in Canada is tied to world rankings and Olympic results are another significant factor. ``This would have a tremendous impact on our funding issues,'' said Parrish. Canada's men's team last qualified for the Olympics in Australia in 2000, where they lost to France in the quarter-finals and ended up finishing seventh.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... 523&lc=NBA

LeBron James Saves Cavs in Game 2
took all of one second for the Cleveland Cavaliers to have possibly turned the Eastern Conference finals back in their favor. As one Cleveland sportswriter said as he shook his head, "We are really lucky to be watching this kid in his prime." As Cavs coach Mike Brown said, "Uh ... uh ... uh .... Golly, whew. He's an amazing person and an amazing player."

As Orlando Magic forward Rashard Lewis said, "We thought we had the game won. But we didn't." Finally, as LeBron James said, "Um, wow."

The subject: Cleveland's 96-95 win over Orlando in Game 2 of the conference finals.The hero: Take a wild guess.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... 523&lc=NBA

Ford Interviewed by 76ers
Add Chris Ford to the list, and take Jay Wright off. Yesterday, 76ers general manager Ed Stefanski announced that he had interviewed six candidates for the team's head coaching vacancy, two more than had been reported.

The two additions were Ford, a former head coach of the Boston Celtics and the Sixers, and Wright, the head coach at Villanova.

Wright has already told Stefanski thanks but no thanks, leaving five candidates in the mix: Eddie Jordan, Dwane Casey, Kurt Rambis, Tom Thibodeau, and Ford.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... 523&lc=NBA

Kings to Make Free Agent Splash?
While bringing in a new head coach and bringing in two quality draft picks are positive moves, they 're likely not enough to make the Kings a playoff team next year. This is a young team with really just one star on it in Kevin Martin. If they're going to contend with duos like Bryant-Gasol, Duncan-Parker, or Billups-Anthony they're going to have to get another big time player in there, which some Kings fans question their desire to do. However, Gavin (Maloof) feels strongly about the future of this team and did his best to erase any doubts about their willingness to do what it takes to win.

"I don't even know why they (the fans) should question that because we've done that in the past," said a frustrated Maloof. "We've paid the luxury tax in the past when we had a team competing for the championship. That shouldn't even be a question so I'm not gonna answer it. If there's a good free agent available, we'll go out and get the free agent. It's what we've done. Know the future and know the past, and know this: that we're gonna turn this franchise around. Everybody that's counting us out, well, count us out, you can go ahead and count us out, but don't count out the Maloofs, 'cause we're gonna turn this franchise around. Don't bank on us being down forever."

[nasty daddy]

http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... 523&lc=NBA

B.J. Mullens Looks Strong in Workouts
The great thing about the NBA Draft process is you tend to see players in a different light than you did when they were in college or playing in Europe. Let's face it, the NBA Draft process is really about hype, potential and lots of misdirection. Almost all of those can be true of Byron James Mullens; he understands that you may know him as B.J. Mullens, but like many things about B.J. – the things you think you know aren't necessarily reflective of who he really is. In fact, there is not much that's been said about B.J. Mullens that is accurate of who he is as a player, an NBA prospect or even as a person.

HOOPSWORLD recently spent the day with B.J. while he was training in Las Vegas under the guidance of noted NBA trainer Joe Abunassar at Impact Basketball. Joe has trained the likes of Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups and Paul Pierce, so B.J. is training daily with one of the best in the business.

To be fair, a lot of criticism came from us when B.J. announced his entry into the 2009 NBA Draft. After all, he had an underwhelming season at Ohio State and was far from the impact player he was projected to be coming into the college basketball season, but there is a reason. "I know people were saying I wasn't ready to come out but I got to take that and turn it into positive energy," Mullens said. "I've been out here working out for the last two months now. Working on my game and every part of it… I'm getting ready for the league and I'm going to prove people wrong."

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... 523&lc=NBA

Phil Jackson, Bynum Not on Speaking Terms?
Reporting from Denver -- It's not like the Lakers to have story lines of internal conflict -- oh wait, yes it is. This one might be minor compared with Shaq vs. Kobe, or Magic vs. Paul Westhead, but there's something going on between Lakers center Andrew Bynum and Coach Phil Jackson, and it's entirely unspoken.

The root of it is pretty simple: Bynum wants to play more, and Jackson wants him to play more defense. Jackson has been frustrated by Bynum's lack of defense and rebounding, though he declined to speak in depth about him after Friday's practice. Bynum said he was more disappointed than angry and would talk to Jackson about his feelings only "if he approaches me."

Would he ever approach Jackson? "Nah. It's not really my place," Bynum said. "It's for him to decide what's going on."

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... 523&lc=NBA

Andrew Bynum Reveals Knee Still a Problem
(Andrew) Bynum admitted his ailing right knee continues to trouble him. He also said it wouldn't be right until he gets a chance to rest at season's end. Surgery isn't required, but it might take a good deal of rehabilitation during the summer to strengthen the knee.

"It's really more like tendinitis right there," said Bynum, who was sidelined for 32 games in the regular season after tearing his medial collateral ligament Jan. 31.

Then referring to his knee, he said, "I'm doing the best I can with what I have."

[nasty daddy]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lak ... ory?page=2

Bynum, who missed 32 games because of a sprained medial collateral ligament, said he still felt pain in his right knee.

"It's OK. It's not great," he said. "It's still the same as a couple weeks back, pain here and there. It'll be solved this off-season, strengthening it up. It's really more like tendinitis right there. It's got to get strong."

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http://www.detroitbadboys.com/archives/ ... -for-work/

Derrick Coleman looking for work
From Terry Foster: Derrick Coleman wants to return to the Pistons as a coach. Coleman, who played in the NBA from 1990-2005, would like to teach big men how to play inside, and hopes president Joe Dumars gives him a call. “It is like a lost art,” he said. “There are a lot of bigs, but nobody posts anybody up. Everybody wants to stand still and hit jumpers. Tell Joe I am here. I am local. I love the game of basketball and want to get involved.” Former Michigan star Terry Mills also is shopping his resume, hoping for a college job.

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http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/05/22/riot ... ue-finals/

Flying Explosives Mar Greek Finals
So the two preeminent Greek basketball clubs, Olympiakos and Panathinaikos, got together for the opener of the best-of-five league finals in Athens. Visiting Panathinaikos took a 60-58 lead with two minutes left. The Olympiakos fans reacted, um, poorly. Here's video of the incident from Ball in Europe. (And yes, that's a lit flare thrown at the Panathinkaikos bench.)

Obviously, this is quite scary. TrueHoop notes that Josh Childress (who plays for the home team, mind you) said after the Olympiakos loss that riots like this will have him strongly considering returning to the NBA next season. For all the adoration we romantics heap on the unbelievable spirit shown by European club fans, there is a line. And European fans (particularly, it seems, in Greece and Turkey) cross it too often. One thing I can't quite wrap my head around here: check out all that riot police at the end of the video. The court is well defended by foot, with the flying explosives (!) posing the biggest danger. Where are all these police when the fans enter the arena? It seems like the arenas could do a much, much better job preventing this activity by preventing people from bringing flares into the arena. Because again, the riot police keep the fans off the court. They can't erect a force field to prevent flying objects, though.

For all the attention The Brawl sit gets, a flying beer precipitated that incident. Imagine if an explosive had hit Ron Artest in the chest. How many consecutive times would Mitch Albom's head have spontaneously combusted in that case?

Video clip in the link above^.

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http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/05/23/jame ... cleveland/

James Saves the Day for Cleveland
When the wild celebration died down at the Q Friday night, the next sound you may not have heard was a huge, huge sigh of relief. The Cleveland Cavaliers are still alive. The Cavs won a thriller, 96-95, saved by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from LeBron James who did what only the greatest can do. He willed his team to victory when they were straddling defeat. Just when it looked as grim as it ever did – the Magic grabbed a 95-93 lead with :01 remaining – James saved the day with the biggest shot of the season. They were one second away from being down 0-2 and heading to Orlando without much of a chance in this Eastern Conference final -- until James hit his first and only 3-pointer of the game.

The Cavs had blown a 23-point lead, let Orlando fight back into the game and watched Hedo Turkoglu hit his potential game winner before they called time out, and found a way to get James the ball one final time. He caught it and immediately fired it. "We couldn't afford to go down 0-2 in this series," James said. "They kept their composure, but so did we. That was great shot the Hedo hit, but so was mine. It was a great shot. We matched them shot for shot." James finished with a game high 35 points, down from the 49 he scored in the Game 1 loss, but just enough to save the season. The Cavs now go to Orlando with momentum, knowing they are lucky as well as good. It was a strange game for James. He didn't get all the superstar calls like he sometimes does. He was called for traveling on his way to the basket with :30 remaining and the score tied, giving Turkoglu his chance at a game winner.

Midway in the fourth, James was called for offensive fouls on two consecutive possessions, stunning the home crowd, when he bowled over Magic players. Turkoglu also was called twice for charging in the fourth. The Magic tied the game for the first time, 82-82, when Courtney Lee hit a layup with 6:52. They took their first and only lead at 86-84 with 5:25. From there, it was a classic with both teams exchanging big basket. The Magic started slowly, much like they did in Game 1. Rashard Lewis and Turkoglu forgot their wake-up calls again. Neither scored their first basket until midway in the second quarter for the second consecutive game. The Magic were sleeping on defense, too, allowing the Cavs to score 56 points by intermission. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy summed up the early going during one of the between-quarter television interviews: "Everything out there is bad right now,'' he said. But then everything went right down the stretch, until the final shot by James. James, who struggled with cramps at the end of Game 1, wisely conserved his energy this time, scoring just 17 points in the first half, saving some of his brilliance for the end. And it paid off.

Video in the link above^.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... 523&lc=NBA

Melo, Smith, Martin All Playing With Pain
"I'll limp here and there running up the court, but it doesn't really bother me," he (J.R. Smith) said at the team's hotel here Friday. "I just have to go back to the gym and get more reps in with it. I felt a tug here and there, but I was able to play. I can't really jump off my right leg like I want to, but other than that, everything's fine."

"J.R. is fighting through a lot, but we really don't expect nothing less — he's going to fight," Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups said. "The deeper this series goes, the healthier he gets. That's a fortunate thing for us."

Injury update. In addition to Smith, forward Carmelo Anthony is also playing through pain due to a swollen left ankle. "It's sore, but I have 24 hours to get it right," Anthony said Friday. And forward Kenyon Martin is playing with a fractured ring finger on his non-shooting hand.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_12433836

But entering Game 3 tonight in Denver, Karl also said his team is searching for a "third scorer" because Smith, normally that guy, hasn't been that guy. In Game 1 against L.A., he was 2-for-7, and in Game 2 he was 1-for-6 while battling a right strained calf.

"I'll limp here and there running up the court, but it doesn't really bother me," he said at the team's hotel here Friday. "I just have to go back to the gym and get more reps in with it. I felt a tug here and there, but I was able to play. I can't really jump off my right leg like I want to, but other than that, everything's fine."

[nasty daddy]

http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_12433836

Injury update. In addition to Smith, forward Carmelo Anthony is also playing through pain due to a swollen left ankle. "It's sore, but I have 24 hours to get it right," Anthony said Friday. And forward Kenyon Martin is playing with a fractured ring finger on his non-shooting hand.

[nasty daddy]

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/05/22/nugg ... in-series/

Nuggets Need Bigger Effort to Win Series
It seems apparent the Denver Nuggets are in the Western Conference finals for the long haul. But whether or not they can beat the Lakers and advance to the NBA Finals may hinge on a few players who haven't done much yet. The Nuggets have every right to feel pretty good about Thursday night's 106-103 win that evened the series at one game apiece. But the Nuggets will be long shots if Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups have to keep carrying a disproportionate part of the load. Specifically, the Nuggets are going to need more out of their front line: Kenyon Martin, Nene and Chris Andersen. Coming into this series, that threesome figured to really test the wherewithal of the Lakers' big men. So far, there hasn't been a lot of confrontation and resistance.

The Lakers were coming off a series in which the Rockets' scrappiness and determination exposed a little bit of a soft Lakers underbelly. You'd think a player such as Martin, in particular, would want to try to take it one step further. Instead, Martin and his up-front teammates have been reluctant to do the dirty work. Lakers power forward Pau Gasol has been the best big man in the series, and in the process he's displayed an athleticism and talent the Nuggets are having trouble dealing with. Martin did finish with 16 points in Thursday's win, but 10 of those came in the first quarter. And three rebounds in 35 minutes just isn't going to cut it. Gasol finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds, and his length and skill are issues that won't go away for Denver. The fact of the matter is that Denver played much better when Linas Kleiza was on the floor and Martin wasn't.It's not that Denver's front line is being embarrassed or exposed by Gasol, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum ... they're not. It's just that the Nuggets' big men figured to be a little more productive at both ends of the floor. The interior was a place that Denver figured it would have an advantage against the Lakers. That has hardly been the case.

Anthony had 39 points in Game 1 and 34 points in Thursday's victory. Billups finished with 27 points in Game 2. Are Anthony and Billups good enough to win this series without getting much help from their teammates -- particularly the front line? Maybe they are. But the odds are sure better if Martin, Nene and Andersen started playing better. In other words, Denver needs more than an excuse-me rebound by Nene and a look-what-I-found bucket with half-a-minute left by Martin. Not that it wasn't big. It's just that they're going to have to chip in more consistently on offense and defend the rim better at the other end. Nene has been in foul trouble in each of the first two games, and he appears to be bothered by the length of Gasol, Odom and Bynum. Andersen is an energy guy and a hell of a story, but he doesn't seem to have many answers when it comes to guarding Gasol. The Nuggets were outscored 50-32 in the paint, the product of the Lakers getting to the bucket, and also cleaning things up when there was a miss. Despite this, the Nuggets still won Game 2 and now head back to Denver even in the series. You have to admit, they have a real chance of winning the thing. But they'll have a better chance if their front line comes around.

[nasty daddy]

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/05/23/fiba.ap/index.html

FIBA chooses Spain to host men's 2014 worlds
Spain won the right to host the men's basketball world championship in 2014. The board of governing body FIBA picked Spain on Saturday ahead of rival candidates China and Italy. Spain beat Italy 11-8 in a second round of voting after China was eliminated. Spain's sports minister Jaime Lissavetsky hailed the victory as the latest success in an era of sporting achievements. Spain is world champion in basketball, won football's European Championship last year and has world-leading talent in tennis player Rafael Nadal and cyclist Alberto Contador. "We are living just a magic moment," Lissavetsky told The Associated Press. "It's a very good day for us. It's a way to recognize our effort not only by Spanish sporting triumphs but also by our capacity to organize."

The 24-team tournament will be played in Madrid plus Bilbao, Granada, Seville, and Las Palmas on the Canary Islands from Aug. 30-Sept. 14, 2014. Spain's winning bid team said it needs to spend euro314 million ($439 million) building or renovating three or four arenas. Venues in Granada, Las Palmas and Seville are scheduled for completion in 2012, while organizers want to create an 18,000-seat arena in Madrid. Lissavetsky said the government, regional and city authorities would guarantee the infrastructure needed. "We are ready to organize that. We will have no problem and the central board of FIBA have recognized this effort," he said.

The championship also calls for an operating budget of euro27.5 million ($38 million).FIBA secretary-general Patrick Baumann told Spain's bid team their victory was "a promise to further develop basketball in your country and the world." The Spanish national tourism office, Turespana, will now join FIBA as a global commercial partner for 2010-14. Spain won the 2006 worlds in Japan when Pau Gasol -- then a Memphis Grizzlies player but now with the Los Angeles Lakers -- was the tournament MVP. It beat Greece 70-47 in the final. The United States beat Argentina in the bronze-medal match. Spain will defend its title when Turkey hosts the next tournament in 2010.

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http://www.nba.com/2009/news/05/23/brya ... index.html

Kobe Bryant, wife countersue former housekeeper
Kobe Bryant and his wife are suing their former housekeeper, accusing her of violating her contract by talking to the media about the family's private affairs.

The housekeeper initially sued the Los Angeles Lakers star and his wife, contending they harassed and humiliated her. The countersuit was filed on Friday in Orange County Superior Court. It says Maria Jimenez broke a confidentiality agreement.

Jimenez said she was denied health insurance and forced to quit because of intolerable working conditions. The countersuit calls those allegations specious and frivolous.Lawyers for the Bryants and Jimenez did not immediately return calls from The Associated Press.

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http://www.charlotteobserver.com/bobcat ... 40926.html

Sources: Jordan still wants to own Bobcats
Michael Jordan will take a serious look at buying controlling interest in the Charlotte Bobcats, according to two sources knowledgeable of the situation. Jordan has not been available for comment since the Observer reported Friday that majority owner Bob Johnson is looking to sell the team. Jordan has a minority interest in the Bobcats and the former NBA superstar oversees their basketball operation. Jordan has said in the past he'd like to be majority owner. Now that's more than hypothetical, with Johnson hiring sports investment banker Sal Galatioto to find a buyer.

Both sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Jordan has the interest and the financial backing to pursue the team. The question for Jordan, or any other buyer, is what Johnson will peg as the team's value. The Observer reported Friday that Johnson would like to set the Bobcats' value at $325million or more. But in this economy, with the Bobcats losing tens of millions, that price might be unrealistic.Forbes magazine valued the Bobcats at $284 million in December. That was 29th among 30 NBA teams.

A source familiar with the situation said there's interest, mostly from out-of-town suitors, in buying the franchise, five years removed from expansion. That same source said those suitors aren't interested in moving the team and are sensitive to the reputation Johnson acquired as an absentee owner in Charlotte. No names beyond Jordan's have emerged, as far as potential buyers, and there's little doubt Johnson would be receptive to selling to his good friend. “If Michael picked up the phone and said, ‘I'm ready to be the Bobcats' owner,' I'd be more than happy to talk to him about it,'' Johnson told the Observer last month, his first public indication he was ready to give up control of the team.