Game Thread #70: Dallas Mavericks at Indiana Pacers
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   41-2828-41 March 20, 2009 - 7:00PM EST ...

Game Thread #72: Miami Heat At Indiana Pacers
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   38-3229-42 March 25, 2009 - 7:00PM EST Conseco ...

Game Thread #73: Indiana Pacers at Chicago Bulls
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   30-4235-38 March 28, 2009 - 2:00PM EST ...

Game Thread #74: Washington Wizards at Indiana Pacers
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   17-5730-43 March 29, 2009 - 7:00PM EST Conseco ...

Game Thread #75: Chicago Bulls at Indiana Pacers
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   36-3931-43 March 31, 2009 - 7:00PM EST Conseco ...

New SB Nation Features
Double-T Nation — There are some very cool features that were introduced this morning and will now be a part of Double-T Nation, with much thanks to the SB Nation technical team. The long and short of why is to make sure you never leave SB Nation and we want to bring as much as humanly and technilogically available to make sure you have everything at your fingertips.   Every team now has a page. This is outstanding because now you have one place to see what everyone around the network is writing about your Red Raiders. Without further delay, the Texas Tech Red Raiders football page ...

Random Rockets-themed Thoughts at 5pm on Wednesday
The Dream Shake — It seems like forever since the Rockets have played a basketball game.  The week almost had an offseason feel to it.  Then I saw that the Spurs lost to the Durants last night.  Thank you, KD!  And then I saw that the Jazz were once again scared to leave the friendly confines of Utah... and were pounded by the Blazers in Portland.  Haha.  You suck, Utah. Tonight the Rockets play only their second game in nine days.  Quite a long layoff, but it's good for Yao and Shane and Crazy Pills and everyone who has been a little bit banged up of late.  I'm sure Ricky even ...

Game Thread #76: San Antonio Spurs At Indiana Pacers
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   48-2632-43 April 3, 2009 - 7:00PM EST Conseco ...

Game Thread #77: Indiana Pacers at Oklahoma City Thunder
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   32-4421-54 April 5, 2009 - 8:00PM EST ...

Open Gameday Thread - Suns vs Mavs
Bright Side Of The Sun — Phoenix (42-34) at Dallas (45-31) Currently: Dallas, TX Temp: 49° F Game info: 3:30 pm EDT Sun Apr 5, 2009 TV: ABC   Bright Side of the Suns Preview Yahoo! ...

Open Gameday Thread - Suns vs Mavs
Fanster.com — Phoenix (42-34) at Dallas (45-31) Currently: Dallas, TX Temp: 49° F Game info: 3:30 pm EDT Sun Apr 5, 2009 TV: ABC   Bright Side of the Suns Preview Yahoo! ...

Game Thread #78: Toronto Raptors at Indiana Pacers
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   30-4733-44 April 8, 2009 - 7:00PM EST ...

Game Thread #80: Detroit Pistons at Indiana Pacers
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   39-4034-45 April 11, 2009 - 7:00PM EST ...

Game Thread #81: Cleveland Cavaliers At Indiana Pacers
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   65-1535-45 April 13, 2009 - 7:00PM EST ...

Your Houston Rockets: 2009 NBA Champs. It's not that far-fetched. Really.
The Dream Shake — The Rockets have two more games in the regular season.  They need to win both.  Tonight they play New Orleans (a team coming off a spectacular outing against Dallas.  Chris Paul's box score was sick.).  Then the Rockets finish off the season by playing Dallas ... a game that may have no meaning to the Mavericks. Here are the Western Conference standings as of this morning: ...

Game Thread #82: Milwaukee Bucks at Indiana Pacers
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   34-4735-46 April 15, 2009 - 8:00PM EST ...

Polling GSoM: Can the Warriors Do It Without Us?
Golden State Of Mind — "WE CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT YOU!" That's all I heard at the end of last season - in the Roaracle, on TV, in the newspapers, all over the net...the organization kept saying.... "WE CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT YOU!" As I mentioned the other day, Paul Wong's calling the Dubs out on it.   Atma Brother 1, Hash, DJ Fuzzy Logic, and Paul Wong been believing since day 1! Now, thanks to WarriorsWorld.net, we get to see Paul Wong's official words.  Paul "We Believe" Wong's Letter to Robert Rowell. [Warriors World.net] ...

Mavs Abroad: Shan Foster and Renaldas Seibutis
Mavs Moneyball — Shan Foster View full size photo uploaded June 2, 2009 The leagues in Europe have been finished for a while now, so it's time to see how the ...

Liberty Ballers Mock Draft
Liberty Ballers — We've seen hundreds of mock drafts, and with the actual draft still 18 days away, hundreds await. I've always wanted to assemble one of my own, but never felt like I had enough college b-ball knowledge to drop the blazing hot draft that you guys deserve -- so I brought in reinforcements. Ladies and Gentlemen, most of you know them by their screen names tsteidel and TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsMichaelBourn. Now you shall refer to them as "Silent Destruction", the official Liberty Ballers college experts. They came. They saw. They conquered. Hours of research later, the ...

The Wonder Years #1
Pounding The Rock — It's the offseason, and us Spurs fans don't have much to talk about. Wild speculation about would-be sign-ups and trades has kept us sane, and rooting against the Lakers has kept us entertained, but that's honestly not enough for me. I find myself drifting to other sports, other hobbies. It's a time to gather our strength for a new season of heartbreak and hope, and the relative sopor here at Pounding the Rock reflects that. Now, I'm a bandwagon fan, I admit it. I only started really rooting for the Spurs when Manu was called from Italy, and just because my favorite ...

The Pacers in the First Round Part I: 1977-1989
Indy Cornrows — [Note by Cornrows, 06/09/09 10:05 PM EDT  From the FanPosts, goodlucksaturday offers up a trip down memory with a review of past first round draft picks. Well done!] With the draft looming, I thought it might be fun to take a look back at all the first round picks the Indiana Pacers have selected in their 30+ years of NBA existence. This first part is focused on the 80's (and the 70's), a decade and change that saw a lot of promise in the mid to late 80's and a lot of financial decisions impairing basketball decisions in the late 70's and early 80's, one that cost numerous first round picks, ...

Polling GSoM: Which "hoops quad" will be the kings of Northern California in 2k9-2k10?
Golden State Of Mind — There's a new coach in Northern California. He's an oldie, but goodie. 5-time All-Star Paul Westphal will be named the head coach of the Sacramento Kings later today. [Basketball Reference: coaching record | playing record] via i.cdn.turner.com Jump for some linkage and a look the the Warriors and Kings' hoops quads. From Sactown Royalty: Kings to Hire Paul Westphal How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the WESTPHAL Spinning Kurt Rambis ...

Question: Do Josh Howard or Jason Terry fit with the Wizards?
Bullets Forever — More photos » by David Sherman - NBAE/Getty Images Does this player interest you? Browse more photos ...

D-League Dudes Aplenty in Big D (and I do mean Dallas)
Ridiculous Upside — Sorry to interrupt this weeks regular scheduled programming... regular scheduled programming. Mr. Matthew Brennan has done the gentlemanly thing and started blogging about the D-League again now that I've quit blogging exclusively about the D-League (though I've heard via the e-mails that many people, inside and outside the D-League want me to continue, so I can't give it up quite yet - I give my peeps what they want). Today he tipped the world off to something I alluded it to a couple of weeks ago, before I ...

The Pacers in the First Round Part II: 1990-1999
Indy Cornrows — [Note by Cornrows, 06/14/09 11:22 PM EDT  From the FanPosts, goodlucksaturday takes us through the '90's draft picks for the Pacers.] In the first round of the 1980's, the Pacers were drafting a foundation. But as the team slowly began to gel, they would shift into the 1990's by drafting for depth. The one last player taken as a prolific starter for Indiana was Dale Davis in 1991, but through 1992-1999, only three of their first round picks found valuable time as Pacers, four if you count Jeff Foster, though none were game changing players, unless you count Al Harrington. The ...

Exploring the Shaq trade options
Bright Side Of The Sun — More photos » by John Raoux - AP about 23 hours ago: FILE - In this May 26, 2009, file photo, Phoenix Suns ...

The 2009 Blazersedge Mock Draft
Blazersedge — This is the official announcement for the Blazersedge 2009 Mock Draft.  It will be held on Tuesday, June 23rd.  We're signing up people to be General Managers.  You'll be able to work trades (within reason), make picks, and otherwise control your team and its destiny. You must be a registered member to participate.  You must also be available on the 23rd.  Participants will be notified on Thursday and will receive full instructions and rules then. Participants will be selected based on their answer to this question: The Dallas Mavericks call you ...

BREAKING: Dallas Mavericks Buying Colorado 14ers, Bakersfield is Back
Ridiculous Upside — First, the biggest of the news: According to the Denver Post, the Colorado 14ers have been bought by the Dallas Mavericks and will move to the "Dallas area" (Frisco) for the 2010 season.  Just as I "predicted" yesterday in my fan shot. Save for last season, Dallas has been one of the best users of the D-League's development possibilities, assigning Jose Juan Barea, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Josh Powell, Nick Fazekas, Maurice Ager, Rawle Marshall and even the immortal Pavel Podkolzin to their D-League affiliate for some seasoning over the past few seasons.  Some of ...

D-League Mini-Bullets, now with Sacramento Kings Assistant Coaching Rumors!
Ridiculous Upside — Don't have much for you this morning, so instead I found a sweet music video, summing up our friendship and some D-League mini-bullets, which are always uber-exciting!  Hopefully, between moving offices throughout Friday, I'll be able to schedule a few picks to go up in the SBNBA Mock Draft, as well as (hopefully) a post from the lovable Jon L!  (Welcome Back!)  Rumor has it Bryan Gates of the Idaho Stampede and Scott Roth of the Bakersfield Jam (formerly an assistant with the Mavericks, Grizzlies and Bucks) are finalists for the ...

Friday Flat-Headed Cats
Posting and Toasting — Good morning, human race. Before I head out for the day, I thought I'd leave you with some links to snack upon throughout this cloudy Friday. - As was mentioned in last night's Fanshot, there are no workouts scheduled for today. It does sound, though, as if some players ...

Nellie Knows NBA Draft: The Warriors and Mavericks Years
Golden State Of Mind — What can I say? I'm a real sucka for NBA Draft history. My friend and fellow Dubs fanatic Adam Lauridsen has researched and put together a thought-provoking piece Nelson on Draft Day: An Appreciation over on Fast Break, which examines the 14 drafts Don Nelson has been the head honcho in the front office of the Golden State Warriors and Dallas Mavericks. Unlike Chris Mullin's spotty draft history, it's hard to argue with Nellie's draft and scouting acumen. This is one sharp and shrewd hoops mind. Nellie and Lucky know NBA ...

NBA Bloggers and Access
Clips Nation — So I realize it's probably not the post you are looking forward to.  Steve goes away for five days, and the first thing he writes upon his return is.... a meta-post about blogging.  But as I mentioned earlier, I had an assignment due for grad school today, and this is it.  After I finished, it occurred to me that it might be of interest to at least a few of you.  If you don't find it overly interesting, don't read it. The essay is after the jump. Normal 0 false false false ...

The Pacers in the First Round Part III: 2000-2009
Indy Cornrows — With the change of the century came a change in draft fortunes for Indiana. The Pacers would quickly rebuild themselves into a powerhouse within the NBA, but would do so with little reliance on draft picks from the 2000's, acquiring deep, quality minutes from only one post 1999 draftee en route to the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals. While much can be attributed to the Pacers selecting deep into the first round for a large part of the decade as the Pacers would draft no higher than eleventh throughout the decade, an equal amount can be attributed to simply not being able to hit the mark. The NBA Draft, as with any ...

Golden State Warriors 1st Round Draft History and Just My Imagination
Golden State Of Mind — What if the Warriors had a string of PERFECT drafts with their 1st round picks during the Chris Cohan era of prime suckitude? What if there were no busts and only draft delights for this franchise since Cohan sued his way into owning this franchise back in 1993? What if this guy never owned the Dubs? [via images.forbes.com] Why am I so scarred to look up how little my basketball card collection is worth? What can possibly be any better than what lies after the jump? 1994 With the 16th pick in the 1994 NBA Draft ...

NBA Draft Rumors: A Round Up
Ridiculous Upside — Promoted to the Front Page because I asked him to do it.  Great stuff. -- Scott The NBA draft, as you all know, is getting closer. Much closer. And, as a result, rumors are flying in every which direction. Some out there are started by teams hoping the guy the want falls to them, even if they have to mention injuries. Others are started with the hopes that some team ahead of them catches on and drafts a guy too high... letting a better player fall. And some of the rumors are serious and have a good shot of happening. These are the ones that are rare... and these are the ones we're trying to ...

Stop Sund before he picks again, please
Peachtree Hoops — As the Hawks prep, in at least some scenarios, to draft with the #19 and #49 picks in this year's draft, one question has me deeply worried about Thursday night: We all know Rick Sund is running the Hawks draft, right? What's the cause for concern, you say? This is the same Rick Sund who built a spunky Mavericks team in the 1980's, and kept the Supersonics hanging around the playoffs back before they were named for the weather in a tiny Midwestern media market. ...

SBNation NBA Mock Draft, Pick #22: Dallas Mavericks
Ridiculous Upside — With the twenty-second pick in the SBNation Mock Draft, the Dallas Mavericks, represented by SBN's very own Mavs Moneyball, select... (Drum Roll please) From MM:The Mavs chatter leading up to the draft has been 'point guard, point guard, point guard', so a polished, safe, and low ceiling pick like Darren Collison could make sense here if Dallas were looking to draft strictly to fill a perceived hole. However, I don't think Dallas would be able to pass on lottery talent at 22. Dallas selects Terrence Williams, and there is much rejoicing. The Mavs are looking for ...

SBNation NBA Mock Draft, Pick #23: Sacramento Kings
Ridiculous Upside — With the twenty-third pick in the SBNation Mock Draft, the Sacramento Kings, represented by SBN's very own Ziller over at Sactown Royalty, select... (Drum Roll please) From Ziller:  At this point in the draft, there's no sense moving down if you see a player you like on the board: just erase the risk and take him. I feel that way about that bolt of a point guard named Patrick Mills. Even if the Kings do select a point guard (or a combo guard) with the No. 4 pick, it makes sense to add another here: this is a great PG draft, and let's hope against hope some other ...

SBNation NBA Mock Draft, Pick #24: Portland Trailblazers
Ridiculous Upside — With the twenty-fourth pick in the SBNation Mock Draft, the Portland Trailblazers, represented by SBN's very own Blazers Edge, select... (Drum Roll please) From Dave @ BEdge: If the Blazers end up with the 24th pick on Thursday it means that they tried and failed to move up for a player they really want. That being the case, Portland would be more than happy to sell this pick in order to recover more cap space this summer. The Blazers will be under the cap anyway but the Darius Miles contract going back on the books ate a large portion of their potential play money. ...

SBNation NBA Mock Draft, Pick #26: Chicago Bulls
Ridiculous Upside — With the twenty-sixth pick in the SBNation Mock Draft, the Chicago Bulls, represented by BlogABull, select... (Drum Roll please) From yfBB: Chase Budinger.  Another projected role player who should at least have one set NBA skill, shooting. The Bulls don't really have an offensive system besides letting Rose run around while others launch a lot of 3s, and Budinger can do that for a few minutes a game. I could say losing Gordon or Hinrich makes shooting an actual need, but I won't pretend the 26th pick in this draft is going to solve any real problems that losing either ...

Blazers Trade Up To #22
Blazersedge — Those of you who, like me, voted to trade up from the #24 spot have gotten your wish. Kinda sorta. Via ESPN. The Portland Trail Blazers agreed to trade the 24th, 56th and worst of their second round picks in 2010 to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday for the 22nd pick in Thursday's NBA draft, according to a league source. Full Release from the Team. The Portland Trail Blazers moved up two spots in the 2009 NBA Draft, acquiring the 22nd overall selection from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for the ...

SBNation NBA Mock Draft, Pick #27: Memphis Grizzlies
Ridiculous Upside — Due to me having no idea what's going to happen with the Timberwolves pick at 28 (Do they keep it? Draft a big? Draft a point? Draft and stash an overseas player? Sell it? Trade it? the options are ENDLESS) and  a lack of return emails (not naming any names, specifically of the scientific variety), this mock draft is going to go on hold.  In the mean time, Silver Screen and Roll for Lakers info (29th pick),  Fear The Sword for Cavs info (30th pick) and the BDL Mock Draft with SB Nation picks. Though it may not be at pick number 27, the Rockets are looking to buy a ...

HIts: DeJuan and Tywon Edition
At The Hive — Not too many actual Hornets to discuss today, but plenty of potential ones. Let's get to it. First in our minds and hearts and first on this list is Pitt's DeJuan Blair. Things weren't looking very good for us already, and the events of the last 24 hours may just have clinched a top 20 spot for him. Blair got in for a second workout for the Chicago Bulls (drafting at #16), and they're liking what they're seeing. From the Sun Times: ''He's an intriguing guy,'' Forman said. ''The one thing, if you study drafts over the last 15 to 20 years, rebounders ...

2009 NBA Draft Open Thread (Beware The Spurs Ninja)
Pounding The Rock — Let's stash him in Europe for 15 years as he develops It's the 2009 Draft! Are you excited?! ...That's great, because I'm not so much. The good regular season records from the Spurs through the last decade and the proclivity of the front office to trade away our first round picks mean that I'm usually not able to muster enough interest in the proceeding to sit through the hours of insipid ceremony. Draft night is not Spurs night. However, our fearless leader will be going to the Austin Toros draft party (and I'm sure he'll look away whenever a Capital ...

Nick Calathes the Favorite at 24?
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » AP Browse more photos » Draft Express is hearing that the Mavs target with the 24th pick is Florida PG Nick ...

Championship vs Entertaining style.
Fanster.com — After reading parts of Jack McCallum's book Seven Seconds or Less I realized something, we as fans were witnesses to something that was almost as powerful as the rivalries of old. What the two have to do with each other maybe closer that you think, given that SSOL system brought about a major change in the NBA and created a phenomena that only Jordan, Magic, and Bird could have brought about, after my quick scanning I began to appreciate more and more what I had witnessed. The idea of getting down the court in transition as fast as possible is not solely the invention of Mike D'antoni, it was ...

Kidd In Play? (and Other Rumors)
CelticsBlog — More photos » by Darren Abate - AP Kidd in Play? Browse more photos » The ...

Houston Rockets Take Control of RGV Vipers
Ridiculous Upside — View full size photo uploaded June 29, 2009 This news broke last night, but the Houston Rockets have taken over control of the basketball operations for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.  ...

Jason Kidd to Meet With Knicks
Posting and Toasting — Yikes. From the Daily News, Frank Isola delivers the story that 36 year-old Jason Kidd will sit down with Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni tomorrow to discuss the potential of Kidd latching on with the Knicks. Kidd, who helped the Nets reach back-to-back NBA Finals before being traded to Dallas two years ago, is giving the Mavericks the first chance to re-sign him. The future Hall of Fame point guard will speak with Dallas officials before he talks to the Knicks. It is believed that Kidd also will talk to the Portland Trail Blazers. The Knicks could sign Kidd to the ...

Welcome to NBA free agency
Bright Side Of The Sun — With the NBA free agency about to kick off on July 1st, we can expect a lot of activity over the next few days as players opt out and teams exercise their options. Mostly though, we will see a lot of movement of some big name players and perhaps even more impactful will be which young up-and-comer signs where. There is rightly a lot of discussion about next year's free agent period dubbed "The Summer of LeBron" but don't go to sleep on who's available now. Before we get into specific players and the Suns salary situation, lets first have a quick primer on some free agency basics.   Free ...

Sorting Out the Team Affiliations
Ridiculous Upside — Well, it's been an exciting couple of days, hasn't it?  (Say yes.)  Houston announced that they're taking control of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, the Springfield team has a name, and all that on top of the announcement that the Dallas Mavericks effectively bought the Colorado 14ers franchise.  After all that, you must be asking, "so...who is affiliated with whom?"  I compliment you on your grammar, and tell you not to worry, for I have the answer to that. After the jump, a list of the new NBA/D-League affiliations and notes on any changes to them that I could see/remember.  For ...

2009 NBA Free Agency: Warriors Expected to Use Midlevel Exception- Ramon Sessions, Jarrett Jack, Jason Kidd, and Allen Iverson
Golden State Of Mind — Now that all of the 2009 NBA Draft madness is over it's time to turn our focus towards 2009 NBA Free Agency.  Looks like an interesting read. Anyone read it? [Amazon.com] Jump like LB23 will be jumping from the midwest to NY in 2010! In Chad Ford's list of Top 25 free agents for this summer over at ESPN.com he notes that only a handful of teams such as the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, and Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to use their midlevel exception this offseason. In the list he notes that the ...

Pacers Close To Losing Out On Gortat
Indy Cornrows — Mark Stein of ESPN.com is reporting the Dallas Mavericks are close to signing Marcin Gortat. Stein said Gortat gave a verbal committment to the Mavs to sign an offer sheet next week. The Indiana Pacers have been linked to Gortat since the free agent market opened on Wednesday morning. The Rockets, Spurs, Hawks, Cavs and Thunder have also been heavily interested in the restricted free agent. Stein said the Mavs' deal is expected to be worth the team's full mid-level exception, a five-year offer starting at $5.6 million. The Pacers have $8 million available to ...

Brandon Bass: What's The Attraction?
Third Quarter Collapse — Here's this week's showcased fanpost. 3QC member 3.3seconds elaborates on why he feels signing Brandon Bass - one of general manager Otis Smith's targets in free agency - might not be a good move for the Orlando Magic. - ER There's been a lot of talk on this site about Brandon Bass.  People are saying we should sign the guy.  Honestly, I don't see it. I have to admit, I haven't seen him in action very much -- but statistically, he doesn't resemble anyone who I could see contributing to this team. I've got a number of problems with him. Size/Position: Brandon Bass is a ...

The Bar Has Been Raised
Pounding The Rock — More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP Just imagine what that's going to be like with Crazy Ron all over you, RJ. ...

Evaluating The Centers Using Statistics
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP Browse more photos » Marcin Gortat ...

RUMOR: Warriors owner Chris Cohan "highly likely" to sell
Golden State Of Mind — GOOD RIDDANCE. [via media.picfor.me] Jump for the info. Tim Kawakami in Warriors big picture: Is Cohan getting ready to sell? over at Talking Points for the Mercury has what seems like a dream come through for long suffering Warriors fans: Warriors owner Chris Cohan is believed to be seriously considering selling his 80% stake in the franchise in the next year or two, according to the sources. (He took control of the franchise in January 1995.) In fact, one knowledgeable source said it’s "highly likely" ...

Reevaluating the Phoenix Suns off season options
Fanster.com — Happy birthday America! View full size photo uploaded July 4, 2009 Round about mid-May we took a look at five options for the ...

Phoenix Suns Summer League: The Game Plan
Bright Side Of The Sun — In less then a week from now the "Summer Suns" will kick off their five game 2009 Vegas Summer League season. I along with numerous other SBN bloggers will be on hand taking it all in. This year I will be doing double duty covering our boys both for this site but also working on behalf of Suns flagship radio station Sports 620 KTAR. I will be in Vegas July 12th to the 18th catching three of the Suns five games and taking the opportunity to watch a lot of other young players and perhaps, just maybe have a little fun too.     The key thing to remember about Summer League ...

2009 Orlando Pro Summer League, Day 2
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Stan Honda - AP Browse more photos » "Yeah, definitely. I think it's the most important for me is to get ...

Cap Set - Celts Pay Tax
CelticsBlog — Yahoo reports: The NBA salary cap for the 2009-’10 season dropped to $57.7 million, and the luxury tax threshold to $69.2 million, the league told its teams Tuesday night. The mid-level exception is set at $5.854 million. In the private memo to teams, the NBA reported what the seven franchises paying luxury tax had to give up to the rest of the league. The list included: The New York Knicks ($23.7 million), Dallas Mavericks ($23.6 million), Cleveland Cavaliers ($13.7 million), Boston Celtics ($8.29 million), Los Angeles Lakers ($7.1 million), ...

The Damp Bombshell
Mavs Moneyball — Earlier this week, Dallasbasketball.com's David Lord took a look at Erick Dampier's non-guaranteed contract for 2010 and realized that it was a huge asset for acquiring one of the players amongst the amazing free agent class of next year. I can't believe that the story hasn't received significant national attention as it has spectacular implications. There are a lot of questions about this situation, so I'll provide you with two scenarios below to illustrate how it could work. But first to answer two questions I've seen: Can't another team do this? No, no other team has a non-guaranteed ...

Marion Trade Agreed To By Memphis, Toronto, Dallas
Mavs Moneyball — UPDATE: Now it looks like Orlando is involved due to Toronto looking for a sign & trade with Hedu Turkoglu. Look for the smoke to clear on Thursday. Both the Associated Press and ESPN are reporting that the trade sending Toronto Raptors forward Shawn Marion to the Mavericks has been agreed to by Toronto and the Memphis Grizzlies. The three team trade sends Jerry Stackhouse and cash to the Grizzlies, while Toronto gets Devean George and Antoine Wright and their expiring contracts. Dallas receives Shawn Marion and forward Kris Humphries. ...

2009 Orlando Pro Summer League, Day 3
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP Browse more photos » "I think, especially Otis, he understands ... he's an ex-player so he ...

Shawn Marion to Dallas: The Grizzlies are Nuts
Fanster.com — That title was actually "The Grizzlies Suck" but I was afraid of what having "suck" in the title was going to do to our search engine profile. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies SUCK! Before we get into Marion not coming home to Phoenix let's just recap what the Grizzlies have done this summer: They start the off season with a ton of cap space. Like $27m off it. Do they use all that salary flexibility they have been saving up since dumping Gasol to the Lakers and changing the balance of power in the entire NBA to go sign a good free agent? No. They don't go after Gortat. They don't go ...

NBA Free Agency Day 2 Open Thread - San Antonio McDyess Edition
Pounding The Rock — So today is the second day that teams are free to sign free agents.  Time for more discussion.  I would put all the info before the jump, but this isn't Blazersedge. [LatinD wouldn't survive a day with the way they format things over there.] Here's some of the things that happened yesterday: The Spurs will sign "San" Antonio McDyess The Bulls will sign Jannero Pargo Shawn Marion is headed to the Mavericks in possibly the most complex sign-and-trade I've ever seen "Birdman" Andersen re-signs with the ...

Orlando Magic News for July 9th: Otis Smith Making and Mulling Moves; a Look at Data Samples
Third Quarter Collapse — Magic sit tight as free agents cash in around the NBA Brian Schmitz provides the latest information on whether or not general manager Otis Smith will decide to match Marcin Gortat's offer sheet from the Dallas Mavericks. He has seven days to decide. Because Gortat is a restricted free agent, the Magic can match the Mavs' mid-level offer and will have seven days to do so. Smith has said he won't pay that much to employ a backup center. He will wait and use Gortat's deal as leverage with other free agents. The Magic could threaten to retain Gortat, whose contract would ...

NBA Summer League Day One Preview
Pounding The Rock — I'll be taking in a pair of division rivals today.  The two games I'm targeting today are the opener between the Rockets and Warriors, and the night cap between Dallas and Milwaukee. The full schedule.  All times Spurs time. 3:00 - Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors 5:00 - Detroit Pistons and Sacramento Kings 7:00 - Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors 9:00 - Milwaukee Bucks and Dallas Mavericks Follow me in for who I will be keeping an eye on. Houston When ...

Nash and Hill to stay with Suns and Frye to join the fun
Fanster.com — More photos » by Barry Gossage - NBAE/Getty Images Grant Hill's decision to return to Phoenix is a signal to the league that the Suns are not dead yet ...

Otis Smith Addresses Media Regarding Brandon Bass
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Ronald Martinez - Getty Images Browse more photos » With the news breaking earlier this afternoon that the ...

2009 Orlando Pro Summer League, Day 5
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by John Raoux - AP Browse more photos » "You see, that's the point. It's not like it's going to be a win. I ...

NBA Summer League Day One Recap - It's A Grind
Pounding The Rock — Alright, I'm back in the saddle.  It's 9:00 Saturday morning.  I have had my run, swim, shower, shave, and coffee.  I almost feel human again.  The long road trip caught up with me last night and I wasn't able to do the Day One Recap on time.  Here it is now. Summer League - What's It Like? It's something else.  The first day of games was played in Cox Pavilion.  This is a smaller gym attached to the Thomas & Mack Center.  The atmosphere is relaxed which put me in a strange position as somebody with press credentials for the first time.  The weirdness was ...

NBA Summer League Day Two Recap - The Breakouts
Pounding The Rock — Yours truly rebounded from his day one exhaustion to go to all four games of day two.  We had three very good games and one stinker.  I performed my first interview.  I was well prepared.  I chickened out of other interviews because I felt poorly prepared.   Onward my friends, into the brink for your day two data dump. Game One - Pistons vs Raptors The Pistons squad rolled on again with a 91-87 victory and Joe Dumars has to be thrilled.  His three 2009 draft picks were again solid and his second rounder from last year proved to be the best athlete playing ...

Game Thread: Bucks/Cavs
Brew Hoop — Bucks/Mavericks: hide the women and children vs. ...

Orlando matches Dallas' offer to Gortat
The Dream Shake — http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4324941 ESPN is reporting that the Magic have matched the offer Cuban and the Mavericks have made to Orlando Center Marcin Gortat. This is GREAT news for Houston and for Daryl Morey, who will probably have another turn at trying to aquire Gortat.  It looks like a good idea by Orlando as well, realizing Gortat's value and opting to resign him probably in order to sign and trade. [Editor's Note: Morey wasn't going to make a move until this situation was resolved.  Now that Orlando has retained Gortat, Morey can make another ...

Orlando Magic Media Day: Otis Smith Elaborates On Matching Marcin Gortat's Offer Sheet
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Nathaniel S. Butler - NBAE/Getty Images Browse more photos » Ben Q. Rock and I were at the RDV SportsPlex, ...

Summer Suns get 1st win behind BIG play from Lopez
Bright Side Of The Sun — More photos » by Ann Heisenfelt - AP Robin Lopez sporting a little less hair then seen in this picture was the star of the Suns Summer League debut. ...

Orlando Magic Media Day: Aftermath of Marcin Gortat's Return; Brandon Bass Speaks
Third Quarter Collapse — Look out, Dwight Howard.    Help is on the way, in the form of a familiar face and an unfamiliar face. Today's news has been .. very interesting, if you're an Orlando Magic fan. Brandon Bass arriving to the RDV SportsPlex, today, to officially introduce himself to the local media wasn't a surprise. However, finding out that general manager Otis Smith decided to match Marcin Gortat's offer sheet from the Dallas Mavericks was a surprise. Got it? Good.   Here's what the media is saying after the dust settled ..   ...

Catching up with Stampler...
Pounding The Rock — Hello everyone. How y'all doin? I am, like I imagine most of you, FLIPPIN' ECSTATIC about how the summer is going. Easily the most exciting off-season for us since 2002, and the reason for that is fairly obvious, no? It's really weird, actually, being me these days. In the last three months 1) my favorite football team, the Eagles, had what was widely acknowledged as the most kickass off-season by any NFL team in a long, long time with just a sensational draft and a litany of shrewd trades and free agent signings where they filled pretty much every hole on the roster and they now have like ridiculous depth ...

Restricted Free-Agents: Going, going....back?
CelticsBlog — (Promoting this FanPost by Robi.  Nice job.  - G17) Two restricted free agents of note are appearantly are now left to unpack their bags. Orlando Center  Marcin Gortat, who orginally signed a $34 million dollar contract for 5 years with the Dallas Mavericks, will now return to Orlando. By returning to Orlando, Gortat will be forced to return as the backup to franchise center Dwight Howard. Gortat was quoted as being "dissapointed" because he was looking forward to being a starter with the Dallas Mavericks, and show the ...

NBA Summer League Day Four Recap - The D-League Shines
Pounding The Rock — Spending 4 days in a gym can start to affect you in weird ways.  The lighting starts to make everything appear washed out.  The same uncomfortable chair starts to kill your back.  The same conversations with the same people become boring and tedious.  I mean, how many times can you say, "Hey, how's it going?" to somebody and expect them to have a witty response.  And vice versa.  At this point, everybody just shrugs an "eh" at you. On the other hand, I did step out today and get some different things done.  I will break it out into two or three different posts -- I haven't decided yet ...

Stein: Big Baby Updates
CelticsBlog — Marc Stein has the following on Big Baby: The early sense I get is that the Mavericks have little interest in using their midlevel exception -- which is back in their possession after Orlando confirmed its intention to match a five-year, $34 million offer to Gortat -- to play the restricted free-agent game again with Boston's Glen Davis. Detroit, by contrast, really covets Big Baby, whose modest $711,517 salary last season didn't stop him from stepping in admirably for injured Kevin Garnett in the playoffs. The Pistons' problem is that their offer can start in only the $3 ...

Taking A Look At Marcin Gortat's Value
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Elsa - AP Browse more photos » Now that a few days have passed since general manager Otis Smith decided to ...

Orlando Magic News for July 16th: A Loaded Roster; Reminiscing On Playoff Highlights
Third Quarter Collapse — The Orlando Magic are stacked Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don't Lie praises the Orlando Magic for a splendid off-season, in which the team has reloaded for the better, in his opinion. Replacing Hedo the point forward, essentially, is Carter the scorer. He's two years older, his rep is no good, and he's two summers removed from signing his own bad contract in 2007. Replacing Lee is Ryan Anderson, who's not replacing Lee at all. Brandon Bass is on board, and instead of letting the Dallas Mavericks put together a mini-resurgence, the Magic cattily matched Marcin ...

Discussing Brandon Bass and Marcin Gortat with Rob Mahoney of The Two Man Game
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Ronald Martinez - Getty Images Browse more photos » "Brandon Bass is a beast.  If I had to ...

NBA Summer League Day Six and Day Seven Recap - Spurs still undefeated
Pounding The Rock — I'm a day behind on my recaps, so I'm going to knock this one out in crazy speed-like fashion.  However, at the end, for you Spurs fans, I have a mini-microscope of several of our guys from the Thunder game. The Pistons forwards Daye, Summers, and Jerebko were dominant again against the Knicks.  Daye is the real deal and is stuffing the stat sheet.  The Pistons can not be happier with their draft. The Bucks beat up on the Bulls.  Brandon Jennings was magnificent.  His court vision and ability to get easy shots for his ...

NBA Summer League Day Eight Preview and Live Thread
Pounding The Rock — The San Antonio Spurs (3-0) play again today at 9:00 Spurs time against the Blazers (0-3). All in all, we have another 6 games today. Here is your list of games, rosters are behind the links. Dallas Mavericks (0-4) vs Oklahoma City Thunder (0-4) at 3:00 - The Thunder have been pretty disappointing.  If James Harden plays, I'll watch him.  Rodrigue Beaubois has not been good outside of his 34 point game against the Rockets on Saturday. Chicago Bulls (1-2) vs New York Knicks (0-3) at 5:00 - I'm going to watch Jordan ...

NBA Summer League Day Nine Recap - Spurs Stink Up The Joint
Pounding The Rock — The San Antonio Spurs got outworked by the Portand Trail Blazers in this 91-74 loss.  The only solace I could take was that I was hanging out with Mike Lisboa of Bright Side of the Sun and the Suns effort in the previous game was worse.  I'm not saying I'm glad we weren't that bad, I'm just saying that it tempered my sense of despair.  I mean, what could I say with him around? I'm not really comfortable calling anybody the player of the game in this one.  DeJuan did have  good numbers with 16 points and 11 rebounds.  However, he took 16 shots to get those 16 ...

This Week In San Antonio Spurs Basketball: Monday Edition
Pounding The Rock — Everything Black, Silver And White 48 Minutes of Hell: Summer League Notes: SA vs. OKC Tim Varner writes: "Don’t look now, but the San Antonio Spurs have an embarrassment of young talent. George Hill and DeJuan Blair are easily rotation players in the NBA. Last week I might have softened that statement, but there is no need for that kind of downplay this morning. If the Spurs needed to upgrade their role players, they’ve done it." SpursTalk.com: Notes from the RC Buford Interview timvp wrote some notes from the RC ...

Player development, shmayler development
Peachtree Hoops — More photos » by John Bazemore - AP Please stop talking about me on this blog. Browse more photos ...

ATS Summer League Microscope - James Harden - Oklahoma City Thunder
Pounding The Rock — The last person under the ATS Summer League Microscope was #3 pick James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder.  He was a bit tough to evaluate in this 73-54 loss against the Dallas Mavericks.  His team was playing their last game of Summer League.  They all appeared tired and disinterested and understandably so.  The team was playing their 10th game in 12 days.  I know Harden sat out at least one of them, but that is still a lot of basketball.  So, take this with a bigger than usual grain of salt. The Obvious Bad Whether or not it was because ...

NBA Summer League Recap - It's a Wrap
Pounding The Rock — 9 hours short of two weeks and 2690.3 miles later, I'm finally back at home.  That was one hell of a trip.  I'm wrapping it all up for you right here, right now. Vegas Las Vegas is like no other place on Earth.  I didn't really get out at all, but I still got my tastes of it.  On ...

Team evaluations: Better, same or worse?
Pounding The Rock — Speak to any given NBA fan and he will most likely tell you that his team has gotten better since last year; either through trades, the draft, free agency or simply getting healthy.  But every team can not be getting better can they?  Is the leagues talent exponentially evolving thus making it possible that every team improves season after season?  This can't be, but every time I turn around another team is inking a player who should help their team.  And younger teams who are standing pat have to be getting better just by a natural progression, ...

Top 5 Most Despised in the West
Bright Side Of The Sun — More photos » by Reed Saxon - AP Phil, I don't like you or the team you coach. Browse more photos ...

Trade With OKC Thunder- Timberwolves acquire Wilkins and Atkins.
Canis Hoopus — [Ed. Front-paged since it had the most comments among all three trade threads] From Timberwolves.com: The Minnesota Timberwolves announced the team has traded center Etan Thomas and two future second-round draft picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for 6-6 guard Damien Wilkins and 5-11 guard Chucky Atkins. "We're committed towards rebuilding our roster with an eye towards flexibility and long-term success, and this move better positions us for the summer," said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. "I want to ...

14 Worst NBA Contracts
Sactown Royalty — (From the FanPosts. We're only on the list once! - TZ) We all know that there are a lot of onerous NBA contracts out there. So I thought it might be fun to try to rank (or at least list) the really bad ones. I started with individuals but quickly came to realize that the list was getting far too long. So I settled on the worst contracts by team instead, grouping bad contracts where it seemed appropriate. Also, I left out expiring contracts (T-Mac, K9, etc.) to keep this list manageable. Most of my information comes from DraftExpress, but I did rely on HoopsHype for those players that DraftExpress ...

'The Kings Would Starve'
Sactown Royalty — Thomas Friedman wrote a column for the New York Times this week which, in the process of trumpeting Tom Watson's near-victory at the British Open, questioned whether NBA players would shoot free throws better if, like golf, salary were based completely on performance day-to-day. Golf is all about individual character. The ball is fixed. No one throws it to you. You initiate the swing, and you alone have to live with the results. There are no teammates to blame or commiserate with. Also, pro golfers, unlike baseball, football or basketball players, have no fixed salaries. They eat what ...

Bulls Schedule Leaked
Blog a Bull — [Note by your friendly BullsBlogger, 08/04/09 10:29 AM CDT: Original FanShot is below. Some sleuths found the pdf of the Bulls schedule, but it's since been taken down. I'll just run with it as the official schedule, if it's not...well that'd be good too, since the opening stretch is as tough as usual. If only we could watch an actual contending team and not worry about schedule quirks! -ed.]   http://www.nba.com/media/bulls/schedule_0910.pdf ..and Steve Schanwald already heard to be planning the LOVE IT LIVE...where former NBA champions meet. The GarPaxDorf must ...

Phoenix Suns 2009-10 Schedule Analysis: US Airways Center Mostly Vacant Until Mid-December
Bright Side Of The Sun — More photos » by Barry Gossage - NBAE/Getty Images "17 of 26 on the road to start the season? Are you kidding me? Man, I'm getting too old for this ...

Bucks' schedule released
Brew Hoop — The 08/09 Bucks: How many will be back for 09/10? As die-hard as I am about basketball, the annual release of the NBA calendar just never gets me all that excited.  Maybe if you're a Laker or Celtic fan expecting some great ...

Cavaliers release Pre-Season schedule
Fear The Sword — We're smack-dab in the middle of the dog days of August, but the Cavaliers will be back in action before we know it.  The team released the 2009/10 regular season schedule yesterday, and today released the Pre-Season Schedule - ...

Orlando Magic News for August 6th: More On Rashard Lewis, A Look At Former Magic Players, and More
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Jesse D. Garrabrant - NBAE/Getty Images Browse more photos » Otis Smith on Rashard Lewis's ...

Orlando Magic & Retired Jerseys: Darrell Armstrong, Part I
Third Quarter Collapse — If Orlando Magic fans had to choose one player that epitomized and exemplified the "Heart and Hustle" era for the franchise, the individual chosen would probably be Darrell Armstrong. Known for his energy, grit, and intensity, Armstrong endeared himself to his peers around the NBA & the local fans for always giving it his all and exciting crowds with his dunking ability, despite his small stature (6'0''). As such, Darrell is probably most famous for a few things, like accidentally making a layup in the 1996 NBA Dunk Contest and stealing a game (figuratively and literally) away from the ...

We Want YOU... To Care About the NBA D-League
Ridiculous Upside — Care about the D-League because that's what Jason Collier Sportsman of the Year Will Conroy wants. View full size photo uploaded August 12, 2009 ...

Traffic Jams, Crossovers, and the Pedestrian Future of the NBA
Pounding The Rock — Have you ever been stuck in traffic and wondered why it's not moving?  Or why you had to sit through two lights?  Or why some people think it's okay to text while driving (it's a 2-ton hunk of metal, folks - think!)?  Well, today is your lucky day, as your friendly neighborhood engineer is here to not answer your questions and to make crazy comparisons to our favorite professional sport, the NBA. I know, I know.  This is strange, and in some cases, a stretch - just accept that we're about to go into tangent land and enjoy the ride. Listen to the nice music while you read ...

A look at the Rockets 2009-2010 schedule: November
The Dream Shake — More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP 2 months ago: Houston Rockets guard Kyle Lowry, right, passes the ball ...

Pacers Could Benefit From Arena Revenue Sharing
Indy Cornrows — More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP Where did all the people go? Many NBA small-market teams, such as the Indiana Pacers, struggled with attendance ...

Pops Mensah-Bonsu Signs With Houston Rockets; I rejoice.
Ridiculous Upside — Gotta Have My Pops! View full size photo uploaded August 21, 2009 Nana Papa Yaw Dwene Mensah-Bonsu is now (still) an NBA player. ...

Care About the D-League. Kthxbai!
Ridiculous Upside — I know, I know.  This is probably exactly what you expected out of me: Puff pieces talking about how sweet the D-League is and how you all should become a fan.  Well, I would have written this even if I was still good ol' Ridiculous Scott, with non-stop scoops and girls throwing their proverbial panties (do people still use this word?) at me as I traveled from city to city on the information superhighway, covering the beat of the D-League.  There's even a precedent to this historic event, as DJ Turtleface recently tried telling the world to love the Memphis Grizzlies.  Without further adieu, the ...

Jameer Nelson, the All-Star. Remember Him?
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP Browse more photos » It must be stated right off the bat that it's a bit ridiculous that ...

Fun Stuff Involving Manu
Pounding The Rock — I'm sitting here bored and decided to come up with some cool little things about Manu Ginobili you may not know about. Hope you enjoy.   Every night, Chris Paul puts on a Manu ginobili jersey and paints himself white because he wants to be like Manu Ginobili, though he knows he never will be. He then curls up in the corner and cries while listening to "Love Hurts" and looking at his autographed picture of Manu which says "don't worry, you'll get it someday.......maybe" Phil Jackson heard that wearing black makes you seem bigger. So he adorns his black suit in ...

2k9-2k10 Around the Association is coming...
Golden State Of Mind — 80 days? We only need 29 to go around the association for our 2k9-2k10 NBA Preview! via upload.wikimedia.org Jump for the 4-1-1! This September we're taking you Around the Association in 29 days here at Golden State of Mind. Each day in addition to your regularly scheduled NBA and Golden State Warriors coverage we'll be previewing a different squad's 2k9-2k10 season. Here's the (likely) schedule with some shots to our brother sites to satisfy your hoops hunger in the mean time: Tuesday Sep 1st- Atlanta Hawks [Peachtree Hoops] ...

Looking At Adjusted Plus/Minus For The Orlando Magic
Third Quarter Collapse — by Jesse D. Garrabrant - NBAE/Getty Images View full size photo uploaded September 3, 2009 If you've been a reader of Third Quarter Collapse for a while, you'll know that this ...

Around the Association: 2009-2010 Dallas Mavericks: The Curse of the Dampier
Golden State Of Mind — Here's what I don't understand. Mark Cuban is a smart guy. Erick Dampier is their starting center, 5 years and counting. The two should be polar opposites. Either Mark Cuban is an idiot or you'd find a better starting center than Dampy. Thus, the Curse of the Dampier. He will not be a starting center on a championship team. Case in point, the referees had to intervene and give the Heat the championship when Miami and Dallas met in the Finals. They just couldn't let Dampier win. He's like the Old Maid, you can't win if you have him and nobody else wants him. ...

Tim Thomas Trivia Time
Clips Nation — by Nam Y Huh - AP Tim Thomas is scratching his head over these difficult trivia questions. View full size photo uploaded September 6, 2009 ...

Did the Celtics Run Too Hard and Peak Too Soon?
CelticsBlog — More photos » by Stephan Savoia - AP Did Doc push them too hard? Browse more photos » ...

Revisiting the Webber Trade: Wise Move or Colossal Screw-Up?
Sactown Royalty — (From the FanPosts, an excellent post mortem on the Chris Webber trade. - TZ) There has been much discussion lately about the relative merits/demerits of the second Chris Webber trade. I am of course referring to the February 2005 deadline deal where the Kings sent Chris Webber, Matt Barnes, and the unforgettable Michael Bradley to the Sixers for Kenny Thomas (our current favorite King), Brian Skinner, and Corliss Williamson. All sorts of claims and counterclaims have been made on this site about the deal. So I thought it might behoove us to try to take an objective ...

Around the Association: 2009-2010 Los Angeles Clippers: Warriors South No More
Golden State Of Mind — The Clippers had an absolutely amazing offseason and they barely had to think. This offseason will probably wind up making Mike Dunleavy as GM look good even though this was an offseason even Elgin Baylor couldn't mess up. Offseason Additions VIA DRAFT Blake Griffin (No. 1) VIA TRADE Rasual Butler and cash (from New Orleans for 2nd rounder in 2016) Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smith, and Mark Madsen (from Minnesota) Zach Randolph (to Minnesota - addition by subtraction?) Offseason ...

Around the Association: 2009-2010 Los Angeles Lakers: Big Brother, Little Brother
Golden State Of Mind — After a championship season, for the fans, it's nice when the big offseason question is whether it's more likely that the Lakers will win 70 games or a championship. Us Warrior fans are wondering if the Warriors will win 70 games in TWO seasons and even thinking about a championship is out of the question. For the franchise, the big offseason news wasn't Lamar Odom's empty threat of leaving or Trevor Ariza wanting too much money, it was Ron Artest, crazy Ron Artest, making his way to the city of angels. I imagine this going to be a season in which the big brother, Kobe, has to show his little ...

Quick Eurobasket Update
Clips Nation — More photos » by Jamie Squire - Getty Images If Germany doesn't finish in the Top 7, will they get an at-large bid to the Worlds? ...

More on Scott Roth to Golden State
Ridiculous Upside — via www.nba.com View full size photo uploaded September 16, 2009 I thought a FanShot was a little insufficient for this news, so now ...

Suns 2009-10 Season Preview Part II: Assessing the Offseason
Bright Side Of The Sun — More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP Phoenix Suns top draft pick Earl Clark, right, laughs with Suns general manager Steve Kerr. (AP Photo/Ross D. ...

Around the Association: 2009-2010 New York Knicks- Is it summatime yet?
Golden State Of Mind — Just hurry up and make this trade Cleveland. It'll save you from a miserable 2010 summer. Actually isn't it always miserable in Ohio?   Jump for a look at the Knicks year long campaign to bring LeBron James and ...

Around the Association: 2009-2010 Orlando Magic - Are they Vinsane? You be the judge.
Golden State Of Mind — I have to be honest, for a team that made it's way to the NBA Finals last year, the Magic have made some major moves beyond expectations. I'm not saying that the direction that Orlando is heading is bad, but it's clear that they are making their move for the ring now - potentially leveraging longevity  for a shot at it all. At the end of the day, it comes down to the two options in the philosophy of building a professional sports team. Design a team that can win a championship or design a team that can win a string of championships? "Okay Vince, if I win this thumb war, ...

So, Who Should Start For Rashard Lewis?
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Lance Murphey - AP Browse more photos » With training camp beginning for the Orlando Magic next ...

New Jersey Nets: Springboard to Russian Hoop Revolution?
CelticsBlog — More photos » by MIKHAIL METZEL - AP The most interesting man in Russia Browse more photos ...

Around the Association: 2009-2010 San Antonio Spurs: An Apple A Day...
Golden State Of Mind — After a disappointing postseason which ended with a first round exit at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, the Spurs knew they needed to reload. The Spurs did just that by bringing in Richard Jefferson and are ready to take aim at the mighty Lakers. In the Western Conference, only two teams are considered title contenders, the heavily-favored Lakers and the Spurs. Nobody else is seriously in that conversation. But the Spurs title hopes are a precarious one and require things to go just right. An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Offseason Additions VIA FREE AGENCY Keith ...

Key Dates for Pistons in 2009-2010
Motown String Music — We're just a couple days away, folks.  Here is a list, courtesy of the Detroit Free Press, of some key dates for the upcoming season: Tuesday: Training camp begins Oct. 5: Exhibition opener vs. Miami. Oct. 28: Season opener at Memphis. Oct. 30: Home opener vs. Oklahoma City. Nov. 25: Coach John Kuester's first game against ...

In Which ABC's New Drama "Flash Forward" Endears Itself to a Nation of Kings Fans
Sactown Royalty — And Blazers, Spurs, Rockets, Celtics, Suns, Mavericks, Nuggets, Jazz, Clippers, Warriors, Sonics (RIP), Knicks and Bulls fans, I suppose. Kurt from Forum Blue and Gold tells the tale: For those of you that watched Flash Forward last night, we have no idea where Kobe or the Lakers will be on April 29. If you’re going to watch the show, here comes the SPOILER ALERT: In the show, everybody on the planet blacks out and has a vision of a specific time in the future, the evening of April 29 (10 p.m. LA ...

Phoenix Suns Season Preview Series, Part 1: Looking Back
Bright Side Of The Sun — The End of an Era We were all there. We saw it coming from a mile away yet we could do nothing about it. It seemed like nearly a full minute had elapsed since Tim Duncan had received the ball. ...

Around the Association: 2009-2010 NBA Season Preview Rewind- We Got Art
Golden State Of Mind — They said it couldn't be done. 29 teams in 29 days. What can I say? It was even better than that movie. One of my favorite things about this community is the artistic sense it has in its DNA. Since the web pin hey-day around these parts, it hasn't been just about the golden words, but also very much about keeping it in a Golden State of Design. I wanted to take a second to celebrate that with this poll. Visualizations of the nominees after the jump! ...

Practice Report: Stan Van Gundy, Vince Carter, and Brandon Bass Talk About the First Day of Training Camp
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by John Raoux - AP Browse more photos » It's official, training camp has started for the Orlando Magic ...

Chris Finch Hired as New RGV Head Coach
Ridiculous Upside — New Rio Grande Valley Vipers Head Coach Chris Finch, aka "Finchy" View full size photo uploaded September 29, 2009 The Rio Grande ...

A New Beginning, Maverick Style
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » by Tim Sharp - AP Browse more photos »   For all Mavericks fans the last two years have been ...

Forget Stats, Granger Wants To Improve Win Total
Indy Cornrows — Danny Granger's production has improved each year since he entered the NBA, but after making the All-Star game and earning the league's Most Improved Player award last year he wasn't happy. Now he's only interested in improving the Pacers win total and pushing the franchise back into the playoffs. Bruno takes a nice look at Granger's goals for the team this year which will rely on 33 emerging as a leader willing to push his teammates on both ends of the floor. "Whatever Danny does on the court, they'll follow him," said Larry Bird, team president. "If he's got his mindset to ...

What's the Lowdown?
Mavs Moneyball — Many of you have been asking just who exactly I am? and what is going on with the site? Well as of right now I can only answer one of those questions. My name is Phillip Baggett and I am from Arlington, Texas and now reside in Houston, Texas. I have been a longtime Mavericks fan, and general sports junky. About two years ago I started blogging, and created my own Dallas Cowboy and then last year got connected with another blogger and created a bigger better Cowboy blog called Dallas Cowboys Nation. Thanks to my brother in law Lee Grammier over at The Dreamshake, an opportunity ...

Advanced Stats?
Bullets Forever — As you probably saw, Prada turned up a provocative quote from the Ernie Grunfeld presser this week, on the subject of the team's use of "advanced stats."    Then came Flip on charting plays.    All of this begs the questions-what are teams doing with "advanced stats"?  And, more basically, what does that phrase even mean? Now that you've made the jump, I can tell you that I really can't answer the first question, because of: The Culture of Secrecy Interest in and use of advanced stats has made a great deal of progress in both NBA fandom ...

The New Look Mavs Are Getting Defensive
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP Browse more photos » Through the first few days of training camp Rick Carlisle and ...

Practice Report: Stan Van Gundy Speaks in Praise, Dwight Howard Comments On His Free-Throw Shooting, and More
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by John Raoux - AP Browse more photos » A new day of training camp came praise from head coach Stan Van ...

Orlando Magic News for October 1st: A Report from John Hollinger; Dwight Howard Reflects on South Africa
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by John Raoux - AP Browse more photos » Wayne Winston: Mark Cuban's Stats Expert Isn't Bashful, ...

Stats Expert on the ORL Series, West
Fear The Sword — I saw this awesome tidbit on TrueHoop the other day. I think it hits the nail on the head about the Magic series last year, but does so with data to back it up. The comments on West are quite relieving, as well. If he's really not much above average then his personal instability can't hurt the Cavs that much, and it means his contributions are not irreplaceable. The thoughts on Anthony Parker's value are very exciting as well. Why did Cleveland lose to Orlando? I did a post on that. Everybody thinks Mike Brown did a bad job coaching, right? OK, when Ben Wallace played, they ...

Division Matchup Preseason Preview: The Spurs
Mavs Moneyball — While we still have some time before the season starts I thought now would be as good a time as any to find out how our Mavericks will match up against their Southwest Division foes. As the season ended last year the Mavericks found themselves in third place behind the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets and slightly ahead of the New Orleans Hornets, with the Memphis Grizzlies bringing up the rear. The competition in this division is fierce and with all the upgrades that almost every team in the division have made, this year should be no different. Last year the Mavericks were ...

Practice Report: Stan Van Gundy Is Prepping For the First Pre-Season Game, Matt Barnes Talks About "Building Magic", and More
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP Browse more photos » Like Ice Cube once said, it was a good day. ...

This Week in San Antonio Spurs Basketball: The "It Has Begun" Edition
Pounding The Rock — Welcome back, Spurs... it's been too long.  Training camp also opened this week, so TWSS is going to be heavy on that this week.  The Spurs also have 3 - count 'em, three - games on the preseason schedule this week: Tuesday, October 6th:  Rockets @ Spurs Friday, October 9th: Olympiacos Piraeus @ Spurs Sunday, October 11th: Spurs @ Miami Heat Links and links and links, after the jump. The Music LatinD's pick: Here's jrw's pick.  Sometimes I ...

Orlando Magic News for October 6th: Dwight Howard Promotes NBA Live 10; Notes from the First Pre-Season Game
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by John Raoux - AP Browse more photos » Fun-Loving Dwight Howard Talks About Faith and Nudity ...

NBA Previews - The Dallas Mavericks
Mavs Moneyball — This year we decided to be a part of the massive NBA Blogger Team Preview that was set-up by fellow blogger Jeff at Celtics blog. I hope you all enjoy this and please make sure to keep checking back here for the division by division previews. So without further delay.... Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style ...

Shootaround Report: It's All About Adjusting And Playing Defense
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP Browse more photos » As Ben has already touched on, the most relevant news ...

Pre-Game Media Availability with Orlando Magic forwards Matt Barnes and Brandon Bass
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP Browse more photos » Before the Orlando Magic face off against the Miami ...

Dallas Mavericks vs. Washington Wizards: Preseason Game 2 Open Thread
Bullets Forever — by Matt Slocum - AP Seriously, Rick, why so upset? Is it because your team is very overrated? View full size photo uploaded October 9, 2009 ...

Phoenix Suns Season Preview Series, Part 4: The Competition.
Bright Side Of The Sun — More photos » by Donna McWilliam - AP The Phoenix Suns will be the underdogs this year. After some moves made by other teams in the West, there's no ...

Dallas Mavericks vs. Washington Wizards: Preseason Open Game Thread - SECOND HALF
Bullets Forever — More photos » by Tim Sharp - AP Browse more photos » Is Shawn Marion really wearing number 0 for the Mavericks this ...

Dallas Mavericks 123, Washington Wizards 118
Bullets Forever — More photos » by Manuel Balce Ceneta - AP Browse more photos » Quick thoughts: Gilbert Arenas played ...

Orlando Magic 113, Houston Rockets 104
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by John Raoux - AP Browse more photos » It's no secret that Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy ...

Morning Briefing: Mavericks Outgun Wizards 123-115
Bullets Forever — More photos » by Manuel Balce Ceneta - AP Dallas Mavericks' Björn Borg, right, of Sweeden, shoots while Washington Wizards' Andray ...

Training Camp Invites - Dallas Mavericks
Ridiculous Upside — Mavericks fans, meet the only guy you brought into camp. View full size photo uploaded October 10, 2009 So, the Mavericks seem ...

Dallas Mavericks beat Washington Wizards in Preseason Game 2: Final wrap and the two Gilbert Arenases
Bullets Forever — More photos » by Steve Helber - AP Browse more photos » WASHINGTON -- For the paying customers of the Wizards' only ...

Tinsley, The Verb Not The Point Guard
Indy Cornrows — To Tinsley: to keep a troubled player under contract away from all team activities and facilities while trying to move said player to another team. Last season Larry Bird had Jamaal Tinsley stay in Atlanta to avoid distracting the rest of the Indiana Pacers while Bird and Tinsley's agent tried unsuccessfully to move the Tin Man to a new team. A settlement this past summer ended the $7.5 million per year sequestering and now Tinsley is still looking for a job on his own. The Pacers dealt with the financial part of the equation as a sunk cost, but the change in the culture around the Fieldhouse was ...

NBA Blogger Previews: Southwest Division
Bullets Forever — Here's the full list of the Southwest Division previews. Dallas Mavericks Mavs Moneyball | The Two Man Game | NBA Mate Houston Rockets The Dream Shake | Ballerblogger Memphis Grizzlies 3 Shades of Blue New Orleans Hornets At The Hive | Hornets Hype San Antonio Spurs Pounding The Rock | Project Spurs Bonus Links See full schedule here | Also see SBNation preview storystream ...

NBA Southwest Division Previews
Pounding The Rock — The intertubes give us bloggers.  Bloggers give us previews.  Check out the previews for the Southwest divisin. Dallas Mavericks Mavs Moneyball | The Two Man Game | NBA Mate Houston Rockets The Dream Shake | Ballerblogger Memphis Grizzlies 3 Shades of Blue New Orleans Hornets At The Hive | Hornets Hype San Antonio Spurs Pounding The Rock | Project Spurs Bonus Links See full schedule ...

The blogosphere previews continue: Southwest Division Recap
Peachtree Hoops — More photos » by Jamie Squire - Getty Images Browse more photos » Read through almost all of these. Some great info about ...

NBA Blogger Previews: Southwest Division
Canis Hoopus — Mor of the best season previews from bloggers from Sports Blog Nation and around the web. Enjoy. Dallas Mavericks Mavs Moneyball | The Two Man Game | NBA Mate Houston Rockets The Dream Shake | Ballerblogger Memphis Grizzlies 3 Shades of Blue New Orleans Hornets At The Hive | Hornets Hype San Antonio Spurs Pounding The Rock | Project Spurs Bonus Links See full schedule here | Also see ...

NBA Blog Previews: Southwest Division
Rufus on Fire — Here's the full list of the Southwest Division previews. Dallas Mavericks Mavs Moneyball | The Two Man Game | NBA Mate === Houston Rockets The Dream Shake | Ballerblogger === Memphis Grizzlies 3 Shades of Blue === New Orleans Hornets At The Hive | Hornets Hype === San Antonio Spurs Pounding The Rock | Project Spurs === Bonus Links See full schedule here | ...

2009-2010 Season Previews - Southwest Division
SLC Dunk — Dallas Mavericks Mavs Moneyball | The Two Man Game | NBA Mate Houston Rockets The Dream Shake | Ballerblogger Memphis Grizzlies 3 Shades of Blue New Orleans Hornets At The Hive | Hornets Hype San Antonio Spurs Pounding The Rock | Project Spurs Bonus Links See full schedule here | Also see SBNation preview storystream

What We See and What We're Shown
Sactown Royalty — I've mentioned here previously that I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  For me, this means I'm somewhat removed from much of the day-to-day access to the Kings other than what I can garner online.  Luckily, we live in an age where technology allows access that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.  I'm planning on getting League Pass this year, meaning I'll be able to watch a good number of games for the first time since I moved away from Sacramento 10 years ago. Because of this, I feel like I've thrust myself into the role of championing the balance between looking at stats and ...

The Rasheed Quote - The Sequel
CelticsBlog — More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP Guaran-sheed? Browse more photos » ...

Golden Bears in the Pros: Week of October 12th
California Golden Blogs — All thanks as usual to danzig for the video! Marshawn Lynch, Buffalo Bills Beast Mode is getting back to doing what he's always done--gets amped up, plays amped up, leaves amped up. He's back.  Or, at least the Browns' awful run defense made Lynch look like he's back.  He had 125 total yards on 23 touches, he blocked well (while I saw Fred Jackson whiff on at least two blitz pickups), and he made a beautiful play on a wheel route down the middle for the longest gain on the day, a 35-yard ...

Season Previews: Southwest Division
Brew Hoop — We'll have a Bucks preview up by tomorrow afternoon, but in the meantime check out previews of the Southwest: Dallas Mavericks Mavs Moneyball | The Two Man Game | NBA Mate Houston Rockets The Dream Shake | Ballerblogger Memphis Grizzlies 3 Shades of Blue New Orleans Hornets At The Hive | Hornets Hype San Antonio Spurs Pounding The Rock | Project Spurs Bonus Links See full schedule here ...

2009-2010 NBA Blog Previews: Southwest Division- Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Hornets, San Antonio Spurs
Golden State Of Mind — Wanna get away from the Dubs drama? [Southwest] Jump for previews that are yummier than some Chili's Southwestern Egg Rolls. (Seriously why am I handing out all these free ads today?) Dallas Mavericks GSoM's Around the Association: The Curse of the Dampier avs Moneyball | The Two Man Game | NBA Mate   Houston Rockets GSoM's Around the Association: Yao-ch!, that's gotta ...

Preseason Game 5: Pistons @ Mavericks
Motown String Music — NBA Preseason Game 5             @ ...

Last Night in the Preseason
Ridiculous Upside — More photos » by Chris Young - AP about 4 hours ago: Houston Rockets' Pops Mensah-Bonsu, left, scores over ...

Last Night in the Preseason
Ridiculous Upside — More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP 6 months ago: Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum, right, has his ...

Southwest Division Previews Recap
Mavs Moneyball — Sorry for the delay in posting folks, but due to my being on vacation in the Caribbean I got a little behind. Anyway better late than never! Here's the full list of the Southwest Division previews. Dallas Mavericks Mavs Moneyball | The Two Man Game | NBA Mate Houston Rockets The Dream Shake | Ballerblogger Memphis Grizzlies 3 Shades of Blue New Orleans Hornets At The Hive | Hornets Hype San Antonio Spurs ...

Mavericks Wednesday Linkfest
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » by Keith Srakocic - AP Browse more photos » While I would love to write an in depth post on last nights ...

Orlando Magic News for October 22nd: Dwight Howard, the Pirate; More Predictions for the Orlando Magic
Third Quarter Collapse — Dwight Howard Might Have to Wear an Eye Patch for Halloween Tim Potvak of NBA FanHouse notes how Dwight Howard jokingly suggested he may start wearing a facemask or goggles after getting poked in the eye in last night's game against the Indiana Pacers. Magic center Dwight Howard may have decided Wednesday night on what costume he will wear Halloween night. He might be the biggest pirate ever to go trick-or-treating. Howard got poked in the right eye by Solomon Jones late in Wednesday night's victory over the Indiana Pacers, giving the Magic a brief scare until his ...

Kelenna Azubuike - The Price Is Right :: 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors Player Recaps and Previews
Golden State Of Mind — Editor's Note (Atma Brother #1): Last but not least for our 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors player recaps and previews is Kelenna Azubuike. To end things with a triumphant bang we've got our old friend Jason Gurney to drop science about Kaz. If you remember, Jason is the genius behind the uber-2007-2008 Golden State Warriors preview- Ghost of Seasons Past. =========================== Kelenna Azubuike enjoyed a breakout season in 2008-09, and Warriors fans can thank Maurice Evans and the Atlanta Hawks that it went down in Oakland instead of L.A. As you may remember ...

2009-10 Nuggets Preview: Predictions and expectations...
Denver Stiffs — Denver Stiffs takes a close look at what the "experts" foresee for our Nuggets, makes some predictions of our own and sets the table for what's expected by the end of 2009-10. As if you didn't think I was a big enough loser yet, I'm going to share with you a story from my childhood.  When I was a kid, I'd conduct an annual exercise around this time year.  I'd have my mother drive me to a few newsstands where I'd buy every possible NBA Preview magazine: Sports Illustrated, Sport magazine (now defunct), Inside Sports (also defunct), Street & Smith's (now ...

Season Preview: The L.A. Lakers
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » by Francis Specker - AP Browse more photos » Who will the Mavericks have to go through in order to make ...

NBA Fans Predict Playoff Teams
Rufus on Fire — A month and a half ago, I invited fans to predict which teams would make the 2009-10 NBA playoffs in a pair of poll applets on Rufus on Fire. Here are the results of those predictions, presented in order of most votes to fewest. EASTERN CONFERENCE Boston Cleveland Orlando Atlanta Miami Washington Chicago Toronto WESTERN CONFERENCE Denver LA Lakers San Antonio Portland Dallas Utah New Orleans Phoenix A couple comments after the jump: -- Maybe ...

Ridiculous Transactions 10/19-10/25
Ridiculous Upside — Nate Jawai is on the move once again. Maybe he'll enjoy Sioux Falls more than he did Boise. View full size photo uploaded October 26, 2009 ...

New Blogger, Big.
Mavs Moneyball — That's me.   Hello Money Ballers. My name is Big, and I’m a mavs-a-holic. Along with my heterosexual life partner, Brown, I run a site called TheBigandtheBrown over at blogger, and I have been asked to help out this season here at MMB. When I received the email asking if we would be interested in helping out some here MMB, my first reaction was "What happened to Mr. Wes Cox?" In short answer, nothing, he is still here and still rocking some of the best Mav’s shtick on these here interwebs. With that known, I was honored to be ...

Dallas Mavericks vs Washington Wizards : Game 1 Preview
Mavs Moneyball —     Key Injuries:   Tonight at the AAC marks the beginning of the 2009-10 Dallas Mavericks season, is this the year the Mavericks put it all together and bring a title to Dallas? Follow me after the jump as we preview game 1 of the season... Point Gaurd: Jason Kidd vs Gilbert Arenas Jason Kidd has his work cut out for him tonight Agent Zero can put the ball in the basket from anywhere on the floor. Kidd must make him work on both ...

The Dagger Report, Episode 1: Training camp wrap-up, studying Flip Saunders' offense and breaking down the Dallas Mavericks
Bullets Forever — Kyle from Truth About It and I have done the writing thing.  We've done the credential thing, the picture-taking thing, and all that.  However, we haven't really tried the podcasting thing ... until now. I want to be the first to introduce The Dagger Report, a weekly podcast hosted by Kyle and myself.  We're going to be recording this thing weekly, most likely every Tuesday, though obviously that will change.  In our first episode, we talk with Rashad Mobley from Hoops Addict about the Wizards' preseason.  Who should start while Antawn Jamison is injured?  Who ...

Season preview...am I too late?
Mavs Moneyball — The season starts tonight against the Bullets Wizards, so I'm a little late (or right on time, in my opinion) in getting this preview in.  Phillip's already broken down tonight's game, so you can take a look at that.  Consider this the high level view from my couch... As per Sports Illustrated's preview, I've taken their projected Mavericks starting line-up... Point Guard - Jason Kidd I'm not really sure what it says about your team when the entire offseason hinged on re-signing a 36 year old PG with bad knees.  I was against the Harris for ...

Open Thread: Washington Wizards vs. Dallas Mavericks, Regular Season Game 1
Bullets Forever — by Lance Murphey - AP View full size photo uploaded October 27, 2009 The Essentials: Wizards (19-63 last season) vs. Mavericks ...

NBA Regular Season Tips Off
Motown String Music — Tonight is the opening night of the 2009-2010 season, officially tipping off with the Boston Celtics taking on the Cavs at 7:30 PM EST.  An hour later, the Wizards will take on the Mavericks in Dallas.  Rockets at Blazers and Clippers at Lakers will provide the (late) night cap beginning at 10 PM EST and 10:30 PM EST, respectively.   Honestly, now that the season is finally here, it feels like the NBA Finals just completed and we were just getting into the swing of offseason issues. I know a lot of you feel like the new season couldn't come quick enough, and it ...

Washington Wizards 102, Dallas Mavericks 91. The Takeover Reloaded ... Reloaded
Bullets Forever — More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP Browse more photos » I'm absolutely floored by how well we played tonight.  Never in ...

Macro-Warriornomics - WE BELIEVE WE SUCK :: GSoM's 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors Preview (Part 2 of 2)
Golden State Of Mind — Don't forget to check out Part I of our 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors Preview super blowout special- Micro-Warriornomics Macro-Warriornomics class is now in session... ----------------------- QUESTION: How does a team go from this: to this: in less than a 2 years? ANSWER: Four words- Chris. Cohan. Robert. Rowell. Sure the WE SUCK movement is back in full effect for Cohan's Warriors, but that doesn't mean we're not looking forward to the start of the 2009-2010 Golden State Warriors campaign ...

Mavs Moneyball Blog Off
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP Browse more photos » The next contestant is Griffin Gotta and his player ...

Morning (afternoon) Briefing: We aren't the only ones impressed by the Wizards
Bullets Forever — More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP Browse more photos » Jake's computer is having problems, so I'll post the morning ...

Game Thread #1: Indiana Pacers at Atlanta Hawks
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   0-00-0 October 28, 2009 - 7:00PM EST ...

Wizards beat Mavericks in regular-season opener: Final wrap
Bullets Forever — More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP Browse more photos » It's late, and there's already been so much written about last ...

Waive Goodbye, Part 3
Ridiculous Upside — by Chris Young - AP Pops! (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Chris Young) View full size photo uploaded October 29, 2009 We wrap ...

Mavs Moneyball Blog Off
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP Browse more photos » Here is Stan Syckes and his player profile of James ...

Thursday Practice Report: Andray Blatche’s late-night workout, Randy Foye says playing with Gilbert Arenas off the ball is "easy," and Javaris Crittenton’s injury isn't getting better
Bullets Forever — Andray Blatche works with Assistant Coach for Player Development Gene Banks, as Paul Davis looks on.  Via my IPhone. Coming off a big win over Dallas on Tuesday, the Wizards were in pretty good spirits after practice today.  Flip Saunders said the club went through a very good practice and emphasized the importance of maintaining those winning habits throughout the "process." Once again, Gilbert Arenas did not talk to the media, telling NBC's Lindsay Czarniak that he only talks when they make him.  So, once again, nothing new on that front.  ...

Mavs Moneyball Blog Off
Mavs Moneyball — View full size photo uploaded October 30, 2009 Here is Zach Gershman and his player profile of Matt Carroll Normal 0 false ...

Dallas Mavericks vs LA Lakers: Game 2 Preview
Mavs Moneyball — After that horrible display Tuesday night, the Mavericks road to victory number one in 2009 gets no easier tonight. This game could get out of hand real quickly if Carlisle and the gang have not gotten their defense squared away. There is but one way ...

Utah 111 - Clippers 98 - That Seemed Eerily Familiar
Clips Nation — More photos » by Steve C Wilson - AP Browse more photos » With under a minute to go in the third period, the Clippers ...

Clippers vs. Mavericks - Game Preview
Clips Nation — More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP Browse more photos » ...

The Wizards' new secret weapon lineup
Bullets Forever — More photos » by Nick Wass - AP Browse more photos » Normal.dotm 0 0 1 634 3615 ...

Dallas 93 - Clippers 84 - At Least it Wasn't the Defense this Time
Clips Nation — OK, guys, this will be a quick recap from Staples before I hit the road and head back to the LBC.  Maybe I'll flesh it out some more later.  Maybe not. After being incapable of getting any stops in their first four games, the Clippers played great fourth quarter defense in this game, holding the Mavericks to just 13 points, and outscoring them 11-2 five minutes of the quarter.  Unfortunately, the offense went completely AWOL after that, and LA only scored 2 more points the rest of the way, with Dallas returning the 11-2 favor to close the game. So is there a silver lining in the fact ...

Mavs Moneyball Blog Off
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP Browse more photos » Here is the final contestant James Park and his player profile ...

NBA Western Conference Predictions
CelticsBlog — More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP Browse more photos » This is part two of my NBA predictions. I like to check back ...

Guess who is in first place? That's right!
The Dream Shake — Things I never thought I would be able to say after Opening Day: Guess who is in first place!!!?? The Houston Rockets!!!!! Southwest Standings WLPCTGBSTRK ...

Dante Critiques: The Stern Goes to Hell Edition
Pounding The Rock — Welcome to the second installment in the Dead Authors Series.  If you missed the first one, you can find it here. As the world bids adieu to another All Hallow's Eve, it's time to take a journey through the very place that inspires an entire genre of terror: Hell.  Forget the modern ...

Knee jerking - Dirk's 40
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » by Donna McWilliam - AP about 11 hours ago: Utah Jazz center Mehmet Okur, left, from Turkey ...

Dirk Nowitzki Takes Control and Proves a Point
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » by Donna McWilliam - AP Browse more photos » Normal 0 false false ...

Mavericks at Hornets: Game 5 Preview
Mavs Moneyball — The Mavericks will roll into New Orleans Arena tonight still riding high from the emotional come from behind win over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night. While the win over the Jazz was ugly for three quarters the last 8 minutes were simply amazing. Can the Mavs keep their 3 ...

Game Thread #4: Indiana Pacers vs. New York Knicks
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   0-31-3 November 4, 2009 - 7:30PM EST ...

Nancy Lieberman to Coach the Frisco Whatevers
Ridiculous Upside — More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP Former player and coach Nancy Lieberman has been named the head coach of Frisco's D-League team. ...

Ballin' with Big, Mav's week one
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » by Glenn James - NBAE/Getty Images BALLIN! (Photo by Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images) ...

Golden Nuggets...
Denver Stiffs — Some morning links for you to browse through ... The Denver Post's Chris Dempsey talks about Ty Lawson turning heads with his play ... Lawson figures to turn heads all season long in his NBA debut, including that of his coach, who detests the reputation he has for not playing rookies, although three weeks ago he defended his right not to play Lawson.   Chris Dempsey was busy last night ... Catching up with Eduardo Najera Chris Dempsey: What were your emotions facing the Nuggets? Eduardo Najera: ...

D-League Draft: A Second Look
Ridiculous Upside — Now that some time has passed and I've had a chance to look over all of the picks, I thought I'd lay down some more thoughts about how each team did.  I'll try to make this as brief as I can, because there are 16 teams, but I'll also try to give a pretty good picture of how the teams look heading into training camp.  Also, just as a warning, I'm going to be here for most of the weekend, so posting might be a little light.  I'll try to catch any big news, of course, but hopefully this and last night's first impressions and the OSLB comments should be enough draft coverage to tide you over for ...

Orlando Magic News for November 6th: Taking a Look at the Increased Scoring in the NBA; A Look into the Past
Third Quarter Collapse — More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP Browse more photos » Early Trends Kevin Pelton of Basketball ...

RECAP: LA Clippers 118, Golden State Warriors 90- It's a Great Time Out for Clipper Raj!
Golden State Of Mind — Seriously, what is going on here? Preview/ Game Thread (1015+ comments) Final Box Score Blog Buddy: Clips Nation : Now THAT's Really More Like It Warriors Nation and Clippers Nation. Clippers North and Warriors South. We're like peanut butter and jelly, Redman and Method Man, milk and cookies, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Donald Sterling and housing discrimination, Chris Cohan and tax evasion, Windows Vista and Cntrl + Alt +Dlt-- we just go together. So naturally I went to ...

Mavericks Vs Raptors: Game 6 Preview
Mavs Moneyball — Is this the game that the Mavs finally start to get their shooting stroke back? We can only hope. This may be the perfect game for us and them to truly see what kind of team it is going to be. Do not get me wrong by no means are the Raptors a good basketball team, but they are a team that the Mavs "should" put away and put away early. The Mavericks have several areas of concern and tonight is as good a night as any to begin to get those issues cleaned up. ...

Hi, My Name is zkmavz and I'm a Mavsaholic
Mavs Moneyball — Hey everyone... Phillip told me I had to do an introductory piece, and since he is the guy who randomly showed up and started telling us what to do boss, I guess i will follow orders... My name is Zack, though most of you know me as zkmavz...  That's me in the picture with the Dirk jersey ...

Marquis Daniels: Good Vibrations
CelticsBlog — More photos » by Brian Babineau - NBAE/Getty Images good good good, good vibrations Browse more photos ...

Power Rankings Roundup
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » by Tim Sharp - AP Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan thinks the Mavs are the 10th best team in the NBA. ...

Game 7 Preview: Houston Rockets vs. Dallas Mavericks 11/10/2009 7:30PM CST
The Dream Shake — More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP Browse more photos » Today we have a little something different. ...

Mavericks Vs Rockets: Game 7 Preview
Mavs Moneyball — Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; ...

Game 7 Recap: Mavericks find stroke in second half, rout Rockets 121-103
The Dream Shake — More photos » by Mike Fuentes - AP about 5 hours ago: Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry celebrates a three ...

Mavericks Vs Spurs:Game 8 Preview
Mavs Moneyball — Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } ...

NBA LIVE 10 :: Regular Season :: Dallas Mavericks @ San Antonio Spurs
Pounding The Rock —   What's up guys this simulation is going to be that of our hated rivales the Dallas Mavericks.  As much as I loved playing this game they sure as hell gave me a damn scare. I have stuff to do around today so this is not going to look like previous posts I have had.  I do hope you stil will enjoy. Let's go! George Hill gets the start at point for San Antonio. With Tony Parker and Tim Duncan sitting out the game do to injuries the San Antonio Spurs did manage to hold off the Dallas Mavericks ...

Thoughts on Houston vs Memphis – Game 8
The Dream Shake — More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP Has this man made The Leap? I say, yes. Browse more photos ...

The Dallas DUST Chip
Canis Hoopus — More photos » by Jim Mone - AP 7 months ago: Dallas Mavericks' Erick Dampier, right, tries to block a shot by ...

Mavericks Vs Spurs: What Went Wrong?
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » by Darren Abate - AP Browse more photos » Normal 0 false false ...

Spurs go back to winning ugly in beating Mavs
Pounding The Rock — Whew!  Now that was more like it.  A fourth quarter offensive collapse -- 13 points, missed free throws -- 10-19, and tough defense -- Mavs shot 35%.  It's almost like I was watching a Spurs team.  I love me some ugly 92-83 wins. After the terrible defensive performance against the Raptors, and against a Mavs team that had put up 250 points in its last two games, I would have had three points of emphasis coming into tonight's game if I was Gregg Popovich.  After the game, I would have put an A++ next to each one. These guys ...

Coachmas Eve
At The Hive — More photos » by Bill Haber - AP Browse more photos » On the eve of Coach Jeff Bower's first game, I thought I'd wade ...

Mavericks Vs T-Wolves: Game 9 Preview
Mavs Moneyball —     Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } ...

NBA Live 10 Gameday Poll: Regular Season Week 4 (3 Games)
Pounding The Rock — It's Friday [ed.--now Sunday] and you all know what that means, well, from my side anyways.  Another week has come and gone and this sets up yet another POLL for the following week for our beloved San Antonio Spurs. We have three games in the coming week, including our trip to Dallas to take on those Mavericks in the first of our back-to-back games.   Rest of the schedule after the jump as well as the poll.   Wednesday, November 18th @ Dallas Mavericks Thursday, Novermber 19th vs Utah Jazz Saturday, November 21st vs ...

Game 9 Recap: Stop Making Sense
The Dream Shake — More photos » by Rich Pedroncelli - AP This post was originally going to be called "Thank You For Sending Me An Angel," but Battier's 4th Quarter ...

Morning Shootaround: CV31 Playing CoD; Stuckey; Consistency; Short Guys Dunking; & the Bynumite Sobriquet
Motown String Music — Have a shootaround the interwebs to serve as mental preparation for tonight's game against the Wizards.   Charlie Villanueva is averaging 22.5 points and a little over five rebounds over the past four games.  He's coming off one of the best games of his career where he scored 30 points on 13-17 shooting against the Bobcats.  How did he celebrate the win and the off-day that followed Wednesday's win? By playing Call of Duty until four in the morning. That's. Awesome.  Is this a make-or-break season for Rodney Stuckey? ...

Nobody's Perfect
CelticsBlog — by David Zalubowski - AP Wha? View full size photo » A little perspective before you panic about last night's loss to ...

Another Third Quarter... Nevermind; Pistons Persevere, 106-103
Motown String Music — More photos » by Ned Dishman - NBAE/Getty Images Ben Gordon led the Pistons with 29 points on Saturday night. He is averaging 24.3 points per game ...

Thunder Execute Spurs
Pounding The Rock — I'm so hostile right now.  Well, I was hostile at the end of the game.  I hate losing games like this one.  We got out-executed, or as Pop said, "Oklahoma City had more guys play better."  Honestly though, I don't think you really have to dig too deep into the stats to understand how we lost this one.  We more or less played them to a draw, and they had a couple things go their way.  They had 2 more offensive rebounds than we did, but they outscored us 20-4 on second chance points.  They also got to the line quite a bit more than us.  Especially in the second half, when we only got to ...

Ben Gordon Off; Pistons Fall to Mavs, 95-90
Motown String Music — More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP He might be ugly, but Dirk Nowitzki can score at will. He was clutch in the fourth quarter and led the Mavs to ...

Houston Rockets Tickets: The Dream Shake Discount - Dallas 11/25
The Dream Shake — More photos » by Andrew D. Bernstein - NBAE/Getty Images Browse more photos » In what we hope to continue being a great ...

Mavericks Vs Bucks: Game 11 Preview
Mavs Moneyball — Mavericks vs Bucks coverage Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ...

The Death and Rebirth of Agent Zero
Bullets Forever — More photos » by Ned Dishman - NBAE/Getty Images Browse more photos » One of the major storylines of the early season has been ...

Houston: Life on the Lux
Canis Hoopus —    Money Talks with shrink While Minnesota fans keep an eye squarely on the 2010 Salary Cap, many teams are more concerned with the 2009 Luxury Threshold.  The lux has served as an effective mechanism for maintaining competitive balance in the superstar-driven NBA without instituting a hard cap that the Players Association would detest.  Big market teams can still spend over the luxury threshold, but the incremental costs become so expensive that in the last four years, between 22-25 teams have all finished the season below the threshold.  Let's take a ...

Game Thread #8: Indiana Pacers at New Jersey Nets
Indy Cornrows — ...   @   4-30-10 November 17, 2009 - 7:30PM EST ...

Game 11: Detroit Pistons @ Los Angeles Lakers [Game Thread]
Motown String Music — NBA Regular Season Game 9              @ ...

Tuesdays are for Losers
Pounding The Rock — You crazy kids posted 402 times in a 3-game Monday night loser thread. Granted, 300 of those posts were mine, but still. What a bunch of loo-hoo-hoooo-serrrs. Just kidding. Don't leave! Last night's games turned out to be pretty exciting, especially the Bucks and Mavericks contest. What's on tap tonight? Find oot (that's my Canadian imitation) after the jump. Golden State at Cleveland OKC at Miami Indiana at New Jersey L.A. Clips at New Orleans Phoenix at Houston Toronto at Denver Chicago at Sacramento Detroit at L.A. Lakers ...

Saying Goodbye to Reunion Arena
Mavs Moneyball — So, it happened yesterday, a few days earlier than expected.  Reunion Arena, former home of the Dallas Mavericks came crashing down in a heap of dust and twisted metal. I didn't think I'd be as sad as I am knowing that Reunion is gone.  I wasn't bothered by Arlington Stadium or what will happen to Texas Stadium, but something about Reunion is different.   This was the place where my love of basketball began and my fascination with the Dallas Mavericks was kindled. My Top 10 Mavericks Memories from Reunion Arena (I say memories because they're not all specific events)...in ...

When Magic Inevitably Fails: Bulls 101, Kings 87
Sactown Royalty — More photos » by Rich Pedroncelli - AP Chicago Bulls forward Joakim Noah rips out his still beating heart just to find out what it looks like after ...

Mavericks Vs Spurs: Game 12 Preview
Mavs Moneyball — Spurs vs Mavericks preview    Spurs vs Mavericks coverage   Pounding The Rock Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ...

NBA Live 10 Simulation (4):: San Antonio Spurs @ Dallas Mavericks
Pounding The Rock — First off, just wanted to say sorry for the lateness on this. I try to get them up the morning of game days but had to do some 'honey dos' before I could play, hehe. Outcome after the jump. Virtual Dirk lit us up for 27! Well, I didn't think this day would come and it has and I am dreading typing this out right now.  Dirk Nowitzki lit us up for 27 points and the Mavericks at one point were crushing me by 21. Though we were down to start the fourth period, I had a lot of time to come back. The players who gave us that spark of fire were ...

Dirk Leads Mavs Past Spurs in OT
Mavs Moneyball — More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) of Germany celebrates after making a shot in the final minute of ...

Game Preview #10: Utah Jazz at San Antonio Spurs
Pounding The Rock — That kid is soooo a Spurs fan right now. Are you pissed off now?  You can bet the Spurs are.  Both teams in this game are already backed into a corner in the young season, and are going to fight to the death tonight.  This is a SEGABABA for all involved, so... we got that going for us. .favored { border: 8px solid #FFF; } .unfavored { border: 8px solid #000; } .position { width: 100%; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: 120%; } ...

Unofficial Spurs/Mavs Recap
Pounding The Rock — That was a tough game to lose.  There are some really good signs from last nights game, but one thing that is really not good is the loss of Manu Ginobili.  I haven't heard if he's going to be out for an extended period or if everything was just precautionary last night.  Let's just hope that game last night didn't cost us more than a loss.  On to the game.... The defense was pretty good last night.  You have to give credit to Dirk Nowitzki, he put up 41 points on some of the hardest shots anybody could make him take.  Matt Bonner and Antonio McDyess shared most of the ...