'Nasty News - Traversing Time & Space' Vol: 58

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http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sixe ... _Good.html

Iverson Would Have To Make Good
The 76ers are prepared to sign free agent guard Allen Iverson, but only if Iverson is prepared to accept a non-guaranteed contract, according to a source familiar with the situation.

The Sixers would offer a pro-rated $1.3 million, the veterans' minimum for players with at least 10 seasons of experience; Iverson is in his 14th season, the first 10-plus of which he spent with the Sixers.

The Sixers' responsibility in a guaranteed deal would be for roughly $600,000-$650,000.

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http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/3005

Gordon still not healthy enough to practice
Ben Gordon's return to the United Center on Wednesday might be in street clothes. Still nursing a sprained left ankle suffered last week against Cleveland, Gordon did not practice Tuesday with the Detroit Pistons in Auburn Hills, Mich. If he feels better on Wednesday, he might try to give it a shot, but sitting out against the Bulls is a distinct possibility. Gordon has already missed two games with the injury. The 6-foot-2 guard was the Bulls' top scorer for the past four seasons, but jumped to Detroit as a free agent last summer, signing a five-year deal worth an average of $11.5 million.

The Bulls made smaller offers the previous two years that Gordon turned down, but the team never made a serious attempt to re-sign him this summer. Gordon was averaging 19.8 points and shooting 44.3 percent from the field when the injury occurred.The Pistons (6-11) are also playing without Richard Hamilton (ankle) and Tayshaun Prince (back), while Charlie Villanueva is questionable after breaking his nose in Sunday's win over Atlanta.

His former teammates wished Gordon well on Tuesday at the Berto Center. "Ben was probably the best scorer I ever played with," Derrick Rose said. "For him to be in another jersey kind of hurts. But it’s the NBA, you’re not going to play with the same people every year. I’m happy that he’s doing fine now and am sorry to hear about the injury. I hope he does play tomorrow."

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http://www.nola.com/hornets/index.ssf/2 ... ing_f.html

New Orleans Hornets starting forward Peja Stojakovic expected to miss second consecutive game
Starting small forward Peja Stojakovic will miss his second consecutive game because of an illness involving a family member. Stojakovic did not arrive in Los Angeles, and the Hornets went through their shootaround this morning at the team hotel with James Posey working with the first unit in Stojakovic's spot

With four consecutive road losses, New Orleans face a difficult challenge tonight against the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, who have won six consecutive games. Besides Stojakovic, Hornets starting point guard Chris Paul remains sidelined indefinitely with a severely sprained left ankle.

"We've got guys on this team that can put the ball in the hole, but we have to work on both ends of the floor,'' Posey said. "We won games without CP and we have confidence in each other.''

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http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/wol ... days-away/

Love participates in contact practice, probably still days away
Kevin Love has participated in some portions of contract practice the last two days and will be re-evaluated by doctors tomorrow or Thursday.

Kurt Rambis said conditioning will be Love’s biggest issue and didn’t indicate that a return to game action is imminent (like, this week).

“He’s doing a great job running, but the wrestling aspect of basketball is very fatiguing and that’s what he’s trying to push himself through now,” Rambis said. “There’s still a mental barrier he’s going to have to push himself through. I don’t know if he’s at that stage yet.”

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http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_13896389

Kirilenko out
Andrei Kirilenko missed Monday's game after leaving Saturday's victory over Portland in the second quarter with a strained lower back. The Jazz were left with just nine players in uniform for the seventh time in nine games.

Kirilenko said he hopes to return Friday against Indiana. He has battled back issues in previous seasons, missing three games in January 2008 as well as six games in the 2005-06 season.

"It is getting better, but it's still a little tight and lock me up. It's not really game feeling," Kirilenko said, adding, "It's lucky that we have three days in between the games and we have a chance to recover it a little better."

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http://twitter.com/detroit_pistons

Freep: Still no word on Gordon's, Villanueva's availability: Pistons guard Ben Gordon (ankle) and forward Charlie V... http://bit.ly/8gkZD8

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http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_13896389

Paul Millsap did play after suffering a bruised left knee and also leaving Saturday's game in the second quarter. Although he described his knee as being "really sore" Sunday, Millsap took part in Monday's shootaround and said it was loosening up.

"I'm going to brace it up and just get out there," said Millsap, who described pain shooting up his leg after he originally suffered the bruise between his knee and calf.

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http://twitter.com/DETPistons

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http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_13896389

C.J. Miles , meanwhile, plans to go through his first full practice Wednesday and make his return Friday. Miles might see limited minutes at first, but wants to play after missing 17 games following left thumb surgery. Miles went through shootaround Monday.

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http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/PaulCoro/68568

Latest on Barbosa, STAT
Suns guard Leandro Barbosa is probably looking at missing two to four weeks of games because of the left ankle sprain he suffered in the fourth quarter of Sunday's win at Toronto.

There is no definitive timeline beyond sitting out the road trip's final two games but he likely will miss more (two weeks means seven games and four weeks would mean 14 games) because there is no clear-cut recovery time on ankle sprains. In the next couple days, Barbosa will begin to do some proprioceptive exercise to help his balance and stabilize the ankle. Once he gets his range of motion back, he can begin strength exercises. "The swelling's already better," Suns head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson said after the team's practice today at an athletic club by Central Park. "We can get it under control now."

The Suns have gone through this before when Barbosa's sore right wrist kept him out of three road games. They went 2-1, including the wins at Boston and Miami and the loss at Orlando. As expected, the role will again be filled by committee with Grant Hill, Jared Dudley and Goran Dragic all available to slide over to the shooting guard spot some. Alando Tucker will also be activated to be used, if necessary.

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http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=5094

Tulsa 66ers sign DeVon Hardin
The Tulsa 66ers announced today that they have acquired center DeVon Hardin. Hardin (6-11, 250) was a second round pick of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2008 NBA Draft (50th overall).

“We are thrilled to add DeVon to our roster in Tulsa,” 66ers Head Coach Nate Tibbetts said. “As part of the Thunder family, we are excited for the opportunity to develop a player our organization selected in the 2008 draft, both on & off the court.”

Hardin will be in uniform for tonight’s game at Austin, and will wear number 44. In order to make room for Hardin on the roster, the 66ers released guard Byron Eaton.

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http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=5093

Nets name Kiki Vandeweghe interim head coach
The New Jersey Nets have named General Manager Kiki Vandeweghe interim head coach, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.

“Kiki has a broad range of NBA experience, which includes his 13-year career as an All-Star caliber player and then as a coach and front office executive,” said Thorn. “We feel that he is the right person at this juncture to help in continuing to develop our young players and achieve our overall objectives for the remainder of this season.”

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=14522

The Required Iverson Update: The Philadelphia 76ers have reportedly made an offer to free agent guard Allen Iverson according to Dei Lynam of CSNPhilly.com. The offer is a non-guaranteed, minimum contract for this season. That means that the Sixers can waive him at any point up until January 10th and only owe him the dollars paid so far. The contract would become fully guaranteed on Janaury 10th.

For a player with 10 or more years of NBA experience like Iverson, the full year of such a contract would be worth $1,306,455. However, since the season is already 35 days into it, the deal would be prorated – so it would be about $1,037,479 were it to be signed today (that's roughly $7,685 per day over the course of the season).

Iverson isn't sure at this point about taking the deal and would like guaranteed money (who wouldn't?). The Sixers do have Mid-Level Exception money they could use to sign him for the rest of the season, but they also have already committed to spending just under $64 million on team salary. It sounds like this will get done.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=14522

Rookies of the Month: Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans and Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings were named the Western and Eastern Conference Rookies of the Month for November. Expect that to become a theme as the season goes on. The press release:

The Milwaukee Bucks' Brandon Jennings and the Sacramento Kings' Tyreke Evans today were named the Eastern and Western Conference T-Mobile Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played from the start of the season (Oct. 27) through November. Jennings leads all rookies in scoring (21.8 ppg), assists (5.7 apg) and three-point field goal percentage (.500). On Nov. 14, Jennings scored 55 points against the Golden State Warriors, the most points by a rookie since Earl Monroe netted 56 on Feb. 13, 1968. His 55-point effort broke the Bucks rookie scoring record, previously held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Accomplished in his seventh game, Jennings became the fastest NBA player to score 50 points, as well as the youngest (20 years and 52 days).

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference T-Mobile Rookies of the Month were Denver's Ty Lawson, Golden State's Stephen Curry, Minnesota's Jonny Flynn, New Jersey's Terrence Williams, New Orleans' Marcus Thornton, and Oklahoma City's James Harden.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=14522

Coaches of the Month: Orlando's Stan Van Gundy and Phoenix's Alvin Gentry were named the NBA's Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month for the first month of the 2009-10 NBA season. Here is the press release:

The Orlando Magic's Stan Van Gundy and the Phoenix Suns' Alvin Gentry today were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Coaches of the Month, respectively, for games played in October and November. Van Gundy guided the Magic to a 14-4 (.778) record, tops in the Eastern Conference. The Magic recorded key road wins over fellow Eastern Conference powers Boston and Atlanta, amassing an 8-2 record away from Amway Arena. Orlando has won six straight road games, one shy of equaling the franchise record. The Magic rank in the top five defensively in opponents offensive rebounds allowed per game (1st), opponents assists per game (1st), points allowed (4th) and opponents field-goal percentage (5th). Gentry led the Suns to an NBA-best 14-3 (.824) mark. The Suns are the NBA's lone remaining team with an undefeated record at home (6-0). Phoenix's typical high-octane offense is in effect, with the Suns passing the century mark in all 17 games this season, allowing them to climb 11 games over .500 for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign.

Other nominees for the Coach of the Month were Atlanta's Mike Woodson, Boston's Doc Rivers, Cleveland's Mike Brown, Denver's George Karl, Oklahoma City's Scott Brooks, Portland's Nate McMillan and Sacramento's Paul Westphal.

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http://www.insidebayarea.com/sports/ci_13898157

Golden State Warriors notebook: Andris Biedrins evaluated, says he's made some progress
Warriors center Andris Biedrins is at least halfway through an injury that takes up to six weeks to heal, the Warriors announced Monday.

Biedrins, who has missed the past 11 games and 12 of the past 13 with strained groin and abdominal muscles, was evaluated before the game. He said he feels better and is making progress.

Also Monday, for the first time, the Warriors gave an indication how long Biedrins will be out. A team official said Biedrins' injury is referred to as "osteitis pubis" and that, according to head trainer Tom Abdenour, it's usually a four-to-six week injury. Biedrins is three weeks into that spell. The team will evaluate Biedrins again before it leaves Sunday for a five-game road trip.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... TORY_22856

Weaver Out 4 Months; Ollie Out 4 Weeks
The bad news keeps rolling in for the Thunder. Guard Kyle Weaver will miss at least four months after undergoing surgery today to repair damage sustained by a dislocated shoulder, the team has announced.

Weaver becomes the second Thunder player who will miss a significant chunk of the season, dealing yet another blow to the team’s backcourt rotation. The Thunder announced earlier Monday that reserve guard Kevin Ollie is out up to four weeks after undergoing successful surgery on his right knee. Now, it looks as though Weaver could miss the rest of the season. The team announced Weaver’s status will be updated as necessary, but only eight April games would be left on the schedule if Weaver is out the entire four-month minimum timetable.

Recently signed guard Mike Wilks is now expected to play a significant role off the bench over the next few weeks while the Thunder gets healthy.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=14515

Still No News On McGrady: Tracy McGrady has been practicing with the team for the better part of a week, and with four practices under his belt the Rockets are still in a holding pattern on when he'll return to action. "It's just a process," Rockets' head coach Rick Adelman said to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. "I can't tell you what the timetable is, but he's practicing, he's working. That's what we're going on. We'll figure that (the timetable) out when we get to it. He looks OK. He looks all right. He's just got to keep pushing himself and try to take each step. "You put him on the floor, you want him healthy."

The Rockets' stance from the beginning of this process has been that they expected McGrady to demonstrate that he could practice every off day and play in every game before they would allow him to be activated. They were not willing to play to "in and out of the lineup" game.The Rockets are currently receiving injury compensation on McGrady equal to 80% of his salary, so there is no urgency for the Rockets to put McGrady on the floor. Especially considering the team is 9-8 on the season and is winning better than 50% of their games.

Rockets' coach Rick Adelman has been clear that he's not sure how McGrady fits into to the up and down style that the Rockets are running now, which is clearly something he is trying to figure out in practice. McGrady's last game was February 9th, 2009. McGrady has never played 82 games in his 13-year NBA career.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... TORY_22856

McGrady Update: Still No Timetable
A week and four practices after Tracy McGrady returned full-time to Rockets workouts, coach Rick Adelman said there is no timetable for McGrady's return.

McGrady, 30, said last week he expected to make his season debut soon, pointing to four road games this week.

“It's just a process,” Adelman said. “I can't tell you what the timetable is, but he's practicing, he's working. That's what we're going on. We'll figure that (the timetable) out when we get to it. He looks OK. He looks all right. He's just got to keep pushing himself and try to take each step.

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http://www.hoopsworld.com/HeadlineStori ... TORY_22856

Paul: 'I'm About To Go Nuts Sitting Out'
To make matters worse for the Hornets' best player, he's (Chirs Paul) been sidelined since Nov. 13 with a severe left ankle sprain. He's sidelined indefinitely, and there's no timetable for his return, although he has done shooting and conditioning drills. Paul has been antsy on the bench during his injury. As the Kings closed out the Hornets on a 10-0 fourth-quarter run en route to a 112-96 victory, Paul squirmed in his seat, unable to do anything to keep his team from absorbing its eighth road loss in nine games.

Even with the emergence of rookie point guard Darren Collison, there have been stretches similar to Sunday when New Orleans missed Paul's leadership, defense and playmaking ability.

It does not get easier tonight when the Hornets face the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, who are 13-3 this season. Kobe Bryant is the league's second-leading scorer behind Denver's Carmelo Anthony with a 29.5 average. "I want to play, but I know I can't, " Paul said. "I'm mad right now because I'm tired of watching. I remember when I got hurt, everybody was saying 'how are you, not physically but mentally.' I was good for a while, but I'm about to go nuts sitting out."