The Lakers are showing the NBA that they are a complete team and have the depth and talent to win without their superstar Kobe Bryant. They won their fourth straight game without him on Tuesday night against the Golden State Warriors 104-94. This time they were lead by Shannon Brown who stepped with 27 points and 10 rebounds. The defending NBA champions are gelling as a team are getting better and better. This creates a scary picture for the rest of the NBA as they try to stand in the way of the Lakers repeating…
During this four game streak, the Lakers have had a different leading scoring in each game. Brown joins Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and Ron Artest as top scorers. Wins like these without Bryant will do nothing but make the Lakers a more complete and confident team all the way around. The players know they can win without him on the court and in turn Kobe will have that much more confidence in them when he is on the court.
With all this confidence and completeness, the Lakers quest for back to back NBA championships looks very good. The Lakers are the best team in the NBA, and this will make them even better. You have to have a good bench in the NBA who can step up when it counts. The Lakers have that bench and that bench is only getting better as the season goes on. It is a scary thought that the Lakers are even better than last year, scary for everyone other than the Lakers.Barring any unforeseen misfortunes, the Lakers should win another NBA championship trophy for their storied franchise.
There have been recent rumors that Rick Pitino is considering leaving his current position as head coach for Louisville. Pitino has denied any interest in the job. Rumors have been swirling especially since Louisville has struggled this year and are coming off a embarrassing loss to St. Johns 74-55 on Thursday night. The question in question is can the Nets lure Pitino back to the Pro game?
Can the Nets lure Rick Pitino?
Pitino is 57 and is in his ninth year at Louisville. He has had success at Louisville taking them to the final four in 2005 ,and they are current Big East champions. Louisville has not played to potential this year and have no real quality wins to mention.
Right now they stand at 15-9(6-5) are on the bubble at best for a bid to the tournament. They need to make a good run the rest of the season and have a good showing in the Big East tournament to get to the big dance in March.
Pitino does have eight years Pro experience. He knows the difference between coaching a Pro and College athlete. The Pro athlete is much tougher to coach now as the money has changed the player and game forever. Pitino would be crazy to take any job in the pros at this point in his career.
The Nets are on pace to have the worst record in the history of the NBA. They are currently 4-47 and need some massive rebuilding. How much patience does Pitino have for that? He thinks that the Louisville coaching job is as good as any job out there. Add the fact that they are building a new arena in Louisville, and you see that he is most likely staying put no matter how much money is thrown at him.
Pitino is a great College coach and is great not only for Louisville but for the college game. Players respond to him ,and he loves all that comes with the college game. To me the question is answered, the Nets cannot lure Rick Pitino.
Allen Iverson’s return from his pseudo-retirement hit another bump in the road, as the Philadephia 76ers took its 11th straight loss and 2nd since Iverson’s return. This time the loss came to the Detroit Pistons at score of 90-86. To add salt to the wounds, the Pistons were without its top three players, Richard Hamilton, Ben Gordon and Tayshaun Prince.
In the losing efforts since his return, here is Iverson’s stat line:
33% shooting from the field
80% shooting from the free throw line
9 assists
3 steals
7 turnovers
Not the numbers you’d expect from a so-called superstar that believes he could start on any NBA team in the league. Making matters worse, he is getting schooled when he is on defense. Chauncey Billups rang him up for 31 points and Rodney Stuckey dropped in 27 points.
The “Answer” is no longer the answer. And this relates to tickets sales as well. While the Sixers filled the Wachovia Center for Iverson’s first game back with 20,664 showing up, attendance was back down to normal levels for the Pistons game with 12,136. So far, the move to bring back Iverson is backfiring in the win column as well as the turnstiles.
But the biggest negative impact that Iverson brings is his impact on the development of some of the younger stars. Andre Iguodala is one of the most unheralded players in the league and does not get the publicity he deserves, mainly because he isn’t a highlight reel player. And then you have Jrue Holiday that will be learning from the worst as it pertains to team ball. And Elton Brand is never going to learn how to fit into the new system with Iverson there controlling and heaving the ball.
Memo to Ed Stafanski and Eddie Jordan. Polish up those resumes, you’ll need them come May.
During the December 8th taping of the Mike and Mike in The Morning Show on ESPN 2, co-host Mike Golic went on a tirade during a segment that discussed the recent 60 Minutes interview wherein disgraced former referee Tim Donaghy accused the NBA and it officials of being in collusion to aid certain teams with marketing value to get beneficial calls.
During the 60 Minutes interview, Donaghy shares that the NBA provided instructions on how they wanted officiating improved. An example, confirmed by the NBA, was a directive about fouls calls not being called on behalf of one of its biggest stars Kobe Bryant. Donaghy used this information to win seven bets knowing that the directive would lead to beneficial game calls in the Lakers favor.
Golic’s tirade, with Mike Russo’s support, chastised fans for believing that a league could fix games and the truth behind those fixes not get out. Both jumped on fans stating that it would have to start at the top of the NBA, coming down from Commissioner David Stern to Stu Jackson to a team owner to a head coach. Too many to keep it quiet, that everyone would have to be in on it. That questions that the Pau Gasol trade from Memphis to Los Angeles was fixed to help the Lakers win were absurd. Golic demanded from the fan that emailed him to provide the “proof”.
If Golic needs proof of possible collusion, all he needs to do is read up on the NBA’s revenue sharing agreement amongst team owners. Adopted at the end of the 2007-2008 season, the agreement provides for $49 million to “qualifying teams” to help close the gap between high and low-revenue teams. More interestingly, the league doesn’t disclose the formula for how the money is doled out to these “qualifying teams”.
Noted in the Street & Smith’s article is that one of the leaders of the proposal to increase revenue sharing by 63% from $30 million to $49 million was the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, Michael Heisley. Coincidentally, the proposal was approved just weeks after Memphis traded its star player, Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers in a highly criticized, unbalanced trade that helped send the Los Angeles Lakes back to the championship game.
While there is no smoking gun, Mr. Golic needs to take a deep breath and realize that revenue sharing agreements structured in this manner do not give incentive for smaller market teams to attempt to compete. The NBA stands to profit more by having its large market teams win and rewarding teams like Memphis with revenue sharing dollars by aiding those large market teams with unbalanced trades.
Clearly, Golic should offer up an apology to the listener he chastised. The NBA doesn’t deserve a free pass until to opens up the books and shares specifically what money is distributed out to what teams under the revenue sharing agreement.
If Golic and Russo are truly newsmen, they would demand Commissioner Stern to come onto the show, answer some tough question and open the books on the revenue sharing agreement. If there is nothing hide, Stern doesn’t need his lawyers his present and has everything to gain by putting this to rest.
As a basketball fan it pains me to watch the guys on the highlights. After watching the New Jersey Nets lose for a 18th consecutive time last night, setting a new NBA record that they will likely extend in their next game…it got me thinking.
Coaches can’t play the game for these guys but get the blame. Lawrence Frank, the recently fired coach of the Nets, was actually doing a relatively solid job. The players were hustling and the team showed no signs of quitting, it was just the talent wasn’t there to execute the plays and get the ball in the hoop. Regardless, Frank got the boot.
The New Jersey Nets need to make some trades and spend some money to get some true leaders on the floor. The team has one bonafide quality star in Devin Harris and the rest of the team is barely worthy of bench status on the lowly New York Knicks. Allowing such behavior by senior management that pillage the team for a sale to a Russian billionaire contributes more gasoline to the fire that has made the NBA joke.
Beyond the debacle that we call the New Jersey Nets, the officials are marginal at best and cater to superstars. Of course, this is when they are not betting on the games that they are officiating. Here is a suggestion. Lets call some legit fouls and lets make superstars earn that status. If we can make the officials accountable for their actions and perhaps the fans will get to watch a fairly officiated well played game that allows the best team to win.
And in the middle of all this, maybe the New Jersey Nets will get off the snide and win one for the Gipper…er….Rod Thorn.
If you haven’t heard, Allen Iverson decided to retire this week from basketball. Obviously you heard, as it has been the ongoing saga story now for a week even after the lowly New York Knicks took a pass on A.I. and decided not to offer him a contract through the end of this season.
Since his announcement, his former coaches Larry Brown and John Thompson have come to the defense of the poster child for selfishness. Brown has shared that he still has “the passion to play” and Thompson sharing he should not “retire due to frustration”.
Here’s my two cents…perhaps he should retire because he no longer has what it takes to play in the NBA and will be a disease to any team that decides to bring him on.
While Coach Brown talks a good game about Iverson and his value, he has no interest in bringing him onto the Charlotte Bobcats bench with him. He uses excuses such as being overloaded at the guard position despite his team sporting a 4-9 record at the time of Iverson’s retirement announcement. The Bobcats flat out stink, are not building the framework for a future team and Iverson’s arrival would actually get people to show up and watch a team of bench players on the court in Charlotte. It’s the perfect environment for Iverson…and Coach Brown won’t take him.
What NBA team executives understand about Iverson are the only factors that matter. They understand he lacks defensive skills, doesn’t include his teammates in the game well, has a penchant for not showing up for practices and most recently, no longer has the quickness that allowed him to play great one-on-one basketball.
Most of Iverson’s fans defend him by pointing to his stats. His points scored, his steals and his ability to play one-on-one basketball. These don’t mean a thing. All that really matters is wins, which is not a stat that Iverson rates high on the totem pole amongst NBA greats. In his career, in games he has played, Iverson has garnered a .531 winning percentage. This is abysmal for a player many say is one of the best of the decade.
The final word on Allen Iverson is that he is not a winner and Larry Brown cemented his legacy as one of the truly great coaches due to his handling of Iverson. The championship game run by that 2000-2001 team was defined by terrific team defense. Brown’s coaching genius was realized when he figured out that the only way to offset Iverson’s selfishness on offense was to not let the other team score when they were on defense.
Recent reports now have the Philadelphia 76ers contemplating bring Iverson back for a second round with the team. Before making that offer, Ed Stefanski would be wise to watch the replay of the infamous press conference that will always be the legacy that Iverson leaves behind, regardless if a desperate team decides to give him one more shot.
