I’m gonna have to be brief with today’s NBA notes, as I need to go purchase some kind of baby gift for the Hillenbrands.
1) Sixers prez Billy King denies his bosses vetoed a Kenyon Martin-for-Allan Iverson swap. Not that Iverson isn’t available, just the part about Ed Snider being worried about gimpy K-Mart. (Philly Inquirer).
2) Sixers fans plan a march in to protest A.I. trade rumors. And they say the public is apathetic about today’s hot issues. (Philadelphia Daily News)
3) Newsday’s Greg Logan reports the Knicks don’t want K-Mart either, at least not if the price is Channing Frye.
4) Nets rookie Josh Boone has a torn labrum. That’s labrum, not labia.
5) Former Sonics GM Bob Whitsit, speaking with the Seattle Times’ Steve Kelly, bemoans the possibility of the Sonics leaving Seattle for Oklahoma City.
One scene from the news conference still lingers naggingly the day after. Despite all the green and gold balloons that wiggled festively around the Furtado Center on Tuesday, the mood was funereal.
Clay Bennett, who should have been ecstatic that he had purchased an NBA team, never really smiled. He looked like he was buying a condo in Kabul, not a basketball team in Seattle.
And when Schultz presented him with a Sonics’ No. 1 jersey ” wasn’t that Gus Williams’ number? And isn’t that number retired? ” Bennett looked as thrilled as if he had just been given an oven mitt.
“The guy [Bennett] said something like, ‘I’m going to give it 12 months,’ ” Whitsitt said. “I’m thinking, ‘Whoa, there’s four years left on the [KeyArena] lease, and he’s giving it 12 months?’ Well, hopefully it’s a good 12 months.”
6) The San Jose Mercury News’ John Ryan reports that Oracle’s Larry Ellison made a failed bid for the Sonics with an eye towards moving the team to San Jose.
7) Tension, fame, etc. Steve Nash got a haircut.
8) The NBDL’s Austin Toros have released their 2006-07 schedule. That Boxing Day clash with Arkansas is looking awfully tasty.
9) While Joe Dumars is taking the high road in characterizing Big Ben’s contributions to the Pistons, Flip Saunders tells the Detroit News’ Terry Foster that “he will dust off plays he felt he could not use last season because of the offensive liabilities of Wallace.”
“The playbook was probably half of what it was because of that situation,” Saunders said. “Now we will be able to have an offense where we can utilize everybody. We are going to have guys who are going to come over and trap and cheat over early because they are going to have to guard all of those guys. I think some of our guys are going to be more effective because of Nazr and Flip, because offensively they are able to do things.”
Flip Saunders is either crazy (the Pistons were the 4th most efficient offense in the NBA last season) or still in form from rationalizing McHale’s transactions. Either way, he apparently doesn’t spend his working days perusing basketball-reference.com.
Flip Murray is a career 41% shooter (27% on 3PTA) who does nothing but shoot.
Nazr Mohammed has made half of his field goal attempts only twice in eight NBA seasons and has never managed an offensive rating as high as Ben Wallace posted last year.
I have to agree with TBL. I live near the Cleveland area and watched Flip Murray play more games then I would have liked. Real streaky, not a great shooter, he can occasionally beat his man off the dribble. He won’t have an impact one way or the other. Mohammed is good for 5 fouls against Shaq and not much else.
No one has yet to adequately explain what happened to them in the playoffs. Chauncey said he was tired but can that really be it?
I think the Heat are the favorites out of the East by simple default.
They better dust off the offensive playbook. They are going to have to score more to make up for the added points they give up when they lose Big Ben’s rebounds and defense.
Call it wishful thinking but, If everybody is scared to deal for Kenyon Martin and he does not make up with George Karl & the Nuggets. Denver may just work a buyout. Wouldn’t It be funny if he ends back with the Nets somehow? Maybe they could work a one year deal? After all this is the team he really belongs on. I must be realistic though. It’s a long shot.
Nets Fan