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Gilbert Arenas will no longer have the distinction of being an All-Star snub. Thanks to NBA commissioner David Stern’s decision, Arenas will be heading to Houston for All-Star weekend. Arenas has been a scoring machine this season, averaging 28.2 PPG. Arenas will make back to back all-star appearances. Having the backing and support of Washington fans probably did not hurt, Arenas is known to give away his jersey to a lucky fan every home game. Arenas is taking Jermaine O’Neal’s spot, who will sit out due to injury.
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NBA fans across the nation have to have some pity for the New Orleans Hornets, first off they started off the season without a home court. Now that we are midway through the season, fan favorite Chris Anderson has been suspended by the league for drugs even though he was just a first-time offender. It must have been a serious issue for the league to be so harsh. The All-Star reserves were just named, and Chris Paul was snubbed. Chris Paul is day-to-day with some nagging injuries, some bruised ribs, a torn ligament in his right thumb, and a bruised tailbone. To top it off, their uniforms make them look like a high school team, dad agrees. I had to tell him who was on the team because he didn’t recognize anyone, he was looking for Jamal Mashburn and Baron Davis, and he seemed indifferent after watching the young fellas playing under Byron Scott, but his vein did start bulging at the sight of P.J. Brown. P.J. will forever be known in our household as the guy who tried to give Charlie Ward a power-bomb, because Ward was trying to box him out for a rebound during the closing seconds of a blow-out playoff game causing a huge fight and suspensions.
The fans voted in the starters for the all-star games, and the coaches voted in the reserves. For the Eastern Conference, four Detroit Piston players were named, the only Piston starter not named was Tayshaun Prince. The other Eastern Conference reserves are Vince Carter of the New Jersey Nets, Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics and Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors.
The Western All-stars are Ray Allen from the Seattle Supersonics, San Antonio’s Tony Parker, Los Angeles Clippers forward Elton Brand, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks, Pau Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies, Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Shawn Marion of the Phoenix Suns. Marion has been critical of the All-Star selection process and has felt he has been slighted in years past.
Players having great seasons that have been omitted are Michael Redd of the Milwaukee Bucks, Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards for the Eastern Conference. One of which will probably make the team as a replacement due to Jermaine O’Neal’s injury. The Western Conference omissions are Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets and rookie Chris Paul of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets.
After the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night, L.A. coach Phil Jackson had some choice words for the officiating crew. To sum up coach Jackson’s thoughts, he believes the referees are reluctant to make controversial calls while playing in Dallas’ home court because the referees suffer from the criticism of Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban. Subsequently, Cuban is normally later fined by the NBA, very costly fines I might add. Coach Pat Riley who is a bitter rival with Phil Jackson from the old New York Knicks/ Chicago Bulls days, was stated saying: “Phil has always been one of the great complainers of all time. I think he does it from a coaching standpoint. He definitely wants to get a mindset out there [if] in fact he ever plays [the Mavericks] in the playoffs.”
Not trying to kick a team while they are down, but I was at the Garden last night to witness the newest Knick debacle. With the Atlanta Hawks somehow defeating the Detroit Pistons, the Knicks now own the second worse record in the entire league, topping only the lowly Charlotte Bobcats.
Interesting game notes: The Garden’s only moment of true fan excitement when Nate Robinson made a steal and a lay-up to end the second quarter. Isiah Thomas was not seen watching the game at his normal standing place right by the outskirt of the tunnel.
Here are a couple of articles from Sports Illustrated and former NBA player Steve Kerr, who has some interesting ideas to help fix the Knicks woes.
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| Yahoo! Sports
Read More | Sports Illustrated
Indiana Pacers forward Jonathan Bender will most likely end up retiring due to chronic knee injuries at the age of 25. Bender, who was originally drafted out of high school was projected to be a star in the making. A 7’0” player that had the skills and ability of a shooting guard with tremendous leaping ability, Bender is an athlete whose career never blossomed due to injury. He was the #5 pick in the 1999 draft by the Toronto Raptors and was traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Antonio Davis. Bender ended up fighting for minutes throughout his career at Indiana in a log jam at the swing positions with Jalen Rose, Ron Artest, Al Harrington, and Stephen Jackson taking up the majority of the minutes.
In a somewhat puzzling move by Knicks President Isiah Thomas, the Knicks will receive Jalen Rose and a first round draft pick (via Denver) for Antonio Davis, whose contract will expire following this season. Rose was not a favorite of coach Larry Brown, Brown coached Rose during Brown’s last season in Indiana. Rose’s career did not really blossom until Larry Bird became coach, when Rose finally decided to let go of the idea of being a point guard and just concentrated on scoring. The initial reaction of this move does not look to make much sense for the New York Knicks, by acquiring yet another high priced salary player. Hopefully this leads to another deal or at least an explanation.
This year’s all-star game will be held in Houston, and they’ll have their two stars starting for the Western Conference team. The starting line-ups for the Western Conference are:
G Steve Nash
G Kobe Bryant
F Tracy McGrady
F Tim Duncan
C Yao Ming
Yao, beat out Bryant in a close race for overall top vote-getter. The will face off against the Eastern Conference whose starting line-up will be.
G Allen Iverson
G Dwayne Wade
F Lebron James
F Jermaine O’Neal
C Shaquille O’Neal
The injured Jermaine O’Neal will likely sit out of the game, paving the way for Rasheed Wallace as the starter. The coaches for the game will be Flip Saunders of the Detroit Pistons and Avery Johnson of the Dallas Mavericks. The reserves will be selected by the NBA coaches and announced on February 9th.
Believe or not, the Dallas Mavericks are getting it done with some defense. In their last 10 games, opponents have all scored under 100 points. With their winning streak they have tied themselves for the Southwest division and Western Conference lead. Last night’s game versus the Grizzlies they were able to sneak out a victory by Dirk Nowitzki getting a superstar call and went to the line to put them up by one. Mike Miller of the Grizzlies could have won the game at the buzzer but his lay-up shot missed when he lost the handle of the ball for a split second. Owner Mark Cuban definitely has been a happy camper lately.
The NBA’s all-time leading scorer is trying to teach the Lakers big men a few things about basketball. The pupils that he is taking under his wings are Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm and my favorite punching bag Kwame Brown. Kareem has high hopes for Kwame Brown especially, thinking he can be a perennial all-star if he gets his act together.
Kareem was optimistic and shared his thoughts on Kwame Brown:
Kwame has so much talent. That’s a guy who suffered from not going to college. He’s a physical specimen and a hardworking guy who’s making progress. He’s getting a lot of offensive rebounds, keeping the other big guys off the boards, doing the little things.
“When I saw him, I thought, Karl Malone II. He hasn’t gotten there. I hope he does.”
Wow Kareem - as good as the Mailman Karl Malone? We’re going to hold you to that. I’m going to stick to my gut in that Kwame Brown’s career will be closer to other #1 draft pick bust Pervis Ellison rather than Karl Malone.
Read More | ESPN
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