(the photographic equivalent of a LeRoi Neiman rendering…as done with a broken wrist)
I don’t think anyone who saw some or all of either game will argue the Blazers’ MLK Day 111-109 OT win at Atlanta wasn’t far more interesting than the Celtics’ clinical dispatch of the Knicks (well done, however, to Isiah Thomas’ charges for not losing this one by a half century). But Travis Outlaw (above, left) had the sort of extra session (8 points, including the game winning jumper with .9 seconds remaining) that not only saved the afternoon for Portland, but presented a further challenge to the Cowherdian notion a random regular season contest can’t be compelling.
Which is just my way of saying I’ll watch almost anything rather than put up with repeated shots of Scott Pollard waving a towel like he’s the modern incarnation of Jack Haley.
I don’t think there’s enough beer in Oakland to console Don Nelson, who watched Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson struggle to get untracked against Minnesota. Baron Davis missed a layup at the buzzer, as the Timberwolves won just their 6th game of the season, 109-108. Ryan Gomes scored a career high 35 points for the T-Wolves who were 9 for 20 from beyond the arc. Incredibly, Antoine Walker was only responsible for 4 of those 11 long-range misses.
In addition to a gushy profile of Austin Toros head coach Quinn Snyder — whose club is a Southwest division best 15-6 after Sunday’s 113-107 defeat of Iowa — Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski has little patience for jokes at the expense of collegiate ball’s tallest man.
Yes, those whacky ESPN analysts “ always preaching class and dignity, blah, blah, blah “ are having a hell of time riding 7-foot-7 Kenny George of UNC-Asheville. One of them compared him to The Chief in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” on air and another “fell out of my chair laughing” upon hearing it.
Yes, let’s compare a mild-mannered, polite college student to a mentally ill character in a movie.
George, a serious student, has plans on going into the film-making business. He isn’t a freak. He’s human.
Of course, he plays just at UNC-Asheville.
If Kenny George played in Durham or Chapel Hill, the ESPN guys would be lecturing us on civility.