Non-(MSG)Garden Variety
Let’s take a look around the league at non-Knick Knews.
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“If a player fouls out in a game, can they keep on playing?” Had you asked me that question before this past Friday, I’d’ve called you a moron for asking it. Duh, if they get 6 fouls and foul out, clearly they can’t stay in the game anymore. Seems that’s not true. Apparently there’s a little clause that perhaps has never actually been invoked before. The Golden State Warriors have had more injuries this year than a Yao Ming family reunion. As a result, they went into Friday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks with only 8 players (the minimum allowed under NBA rules). Within a few minutes Anthony “Don’t Call Me Rob” Morrow tweaked his knee, adding him to the infirm group that included Ronny Turiaf, CJ Watson, Kelenna Azabuike, Vladamir Radmanovic, plus some others that I’m blanking on.
Fine, the Warriors still had two subs. Unfortunately, D-League call-up, Chris Hunter then fouled out in just 11 minutes. No worries. The Warriors pull within 3 with less than a minute left. And Andris Biedrins fouls out. Okay, less than a minute to go, no subs. However, to get the clock to stop running, the Warriors purposely foul the Bucks twice. And both times it’s rookie Stephen Curry who does it. The last time there’s only four seconds left. But it’s his sixth foul, which’d leave the Warriors with just four players. What happens then? Do you play four on five? No, apparently the last guy who fouled out (in this case Curry) gets to come back in! However, the other team gets a technical free throw in addition to the foul shots they were already getting.
Sad Post-Script #1: Due to the NBA’s minimum requirement of 8 players, for Monday’s game against Chicago the Warriors called up some dude named Anthony Tolliver from the D-League for a 10-day contract. Did he feel alone being the new guy from the minors? No, the whole 3-person bench was D-League call-ups. Tolliver even lucked out and got to start the second half. That’s when his luck dried out. He injured his knee and had to leave the game.
Sad Post-Script # 2: Despite playing against a team with a bench of D-Leaguers, Chicago still lost that Monday game. By nearly 20 points.
Sad Post-Script #3: Which D-Leaguer got the least minutes on the team? Answer: None. Pathetic NBA “regular” Devean George, who started the first half, only played 6 minutes.
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According to NewsOK (apparently that’s the name of an Oklahoma newspaper, although isn’t that kinda like naming your paper NewsFineWhatever?):
"Hawks forward Joe Smith, who has written 400 to 500 songs, released his first CD, a 19-track debut entitled “The Beginning,” last season when he was with the Thunder. Smith, whose music name is Joe Beast, hopes to release his second rap CD before the NBA All-Star break."
Really? 400 to 500 songs? And Joe Beast? I thought the era of bball players trying to become rappers was over. With him spending that much time writing songs, it’s no wonder that the former #1 pick has never amounted to anything more than a role player.
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U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (a former baller at Harvard) at a recent NCAA convention pretty much said the NBA’s policy of basically “forcing” kids to go to one year of college before they can enter the pros, well, that it sucks donkey meat. It’s not that he wants everyone to be able to go to the NBA straight outta high school, it’s that he feels like the one-and-done players aren’t getting the true value of the educational experience. One possible solution is allowing high school players to make the jump straight to the pros, but if they do decide to go to college they then have to stay for two years. For more info, check out this New York Times’ article, as well as TrueHoop’s exclusive interview with Arne “Don’t Call Me Tim” Duncan.
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Who’s the best player in the NBA? Dwight Howard’s answer may surprise you:
"I tell my friends all the time if I had to chose between LeBron, Kobe and Carmelo, I’m gonna choose Carmelo."
"“I have no interest in that. I don’t want to have to deal with agents. I don’t want to have to lie.”"
Wait a sec, doesn’t the General Manager hire and fire the coach? In other words, the Lakers’ GM is Phil’s boss. Forget about the fact that Phil makes $10 mill a year or that he’s won 10 championships, who wouldn’t want his job just so you could publicly call your boss a big ol’ liar?
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Nate Robinson painting. And yes, I want it if it’s painted on velvet.
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In a recent post, I showed the Pacers & Knicks beating each other up and lamented that those days are gone. However, it wasn’t all roses and glory for those Pacers. Sadly, back then people felt they had to keep their homosexuality secret. It’s time to come out of the closet. C’mon Mark Jackson, you’re better’n that!
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Yao Ming in an Esquire interview on forcing himself to dunk:
"When I was young, [in China] we were taught not to dunk. We were taught not to stand out from the rest of the team. It’s different now. The young guys in China are new age. They want to show their stuff. But I am old-school. It was a big adjustment when I first came here to play at a camp. The coaches told me to dunk, but I would lay the ball in. Finally, the coaches made everyone else on my team run laps when I didn’t dunk. I didn’t want my teammates to be punished because of me. That’s how I learned to dunk."
Pretty smart that in order to get him to “stand out from the rest of the team,” they used his desire to be part of the team.
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Lastly, Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs and his lovely wife, actress Eva Longoria-Parker (of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives”) do an amazing job of recreating “Summer Loving” from that Olivia Newton-John classic, “Grease.” Between this and Joe Smith’s 500 songs, how much free time do these guys have on their hands?