I SEE nothing wrong with an NBA columnist openly rooting for the Cardinals to win the Super Bowl . . . if for no other reason than in hopes of moving back into the Marriott Camelback Inn for the victory parade and stalling my stay right through All-Star weekend. Tom Daschle and Tim Geithner both swear it’s tax deductible.
Has Michael Curry lost control of the 25-20 Pistons and the respect of the players? Did he have it to lose? Numerous players didn’t much care for Flip Saunders. Now it’s more a lack of confidence in the rookie coach than a dislike of him, from what I’m told. “No confidence” is more like it, a veteran confided to a friend. “Psychologically we’ve lost confidence in him and I don’t know how you get that back.” Biggest gripe from two veterans: They’re convinced Curry is being told who to play by Joe Dumars.
Following yet another Palace coup (Pistons have lost 10 at home this season), the Celtics upped another winning streak to double figures. “We wanted to come in and take over Detroit,” Doc Rivers said. “You know, like the American taxpayer.”
Seems the California woman who popped out those eight babies last week had previously given birth to six. I can’t even get a copier to reproduce that fast.
The Wizards have become odious off the floor as well as on in it. Very unprofessional! With about six minutes gone in the first quarter in Wednesday’s wimpy setback in Miami, Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson finally got their butts out of the locker room and condescended to join their teammates on the bench. No, they were not in chapel. I’m guessing there weren’t even receiving treatment for respective injuries since the trainer was on the bench. Moreover, they had all day for that stuff.
And where was Agent Zero? Gilbert Arenas was on site, I’m told (can’t swear to it) but nowhere to be found. Down 20 in the fourth, some of the seated subs were yuckin’ it up. A Heat season-ticket holder tells me he even spotted one guy (not a player) alongside those fools busy texting. Think he’d try that on Jerry Sloan’s watch? Think Gregg Popovich would stand for that garbage? Think Pat Riley or Phil Jackson or Larry Brown would let anyone associated with their teams get away with that? Not even in practice!
After missing 15 straight games with sore lower back, at least Stevenson returned Friday against the 76ers without missing a beat. His six-shooter shot nothing but blanks, including all four from the range, but he marred his 23:29 minutes of imperfection by accidentally hitting one of two from the line. Going into the game, Stevenson’s field goal percentage was 31.8.
Why would the Bobcats entertain trading Raymond Felton, you ask? Because his agent has let management know his client’s price tag this summer will be hovering around astronomical. So, Brown is helping him drive up his price.
In half a season, Felton’s point skills have strikingly improved from a shoot-first mentality to a calculating distributor able to cover bigger shooting guards. In other words, he’s doing everything he’s told by his coach. And the rejuvenated Brown gave his apt pupil accordant responsibilities, especially with D.J. Augustin sidelined for most of January.
“Before Larry got here, Raymond simply did not know how to play. He was one of those guys who just ran and the ball never moved when it was in his hands,” said someone on the scene. “There was no rhythm or rhyme to the offense . . . outside-in versus inside-out . . . rare change of sides . . . few passes that led to the pass to a basket . . . the man cutting on pick-and-rolls would be missed . . . if covered he wouldn’t hit the corner . . . poor clock management.
“Raymond showed up this year ready and willing to learn. He sets a terrific example. He never takes a practice off and never takes a possession off, something a lot of these guys don’t do. We’d love to keep him, but . . .”
New Orleans earned big props from me the other night by wearing retro ABA Buccaneer uniforms. But the tribute backfired when Chris Paul kept looking to run plays for Red Robbins.
For $12.837 million, maybe even 500G less, you’d expect Larry Hughes to be somewhat willing to do whatever’s asked and be moderately happy about playing 20 to 25 minutes a game off the bench. But noooo, his ego forbids him to be an understudy. If Hughes couldn’t start and be guaranteed 30 minutes of daylight, he wanted to be traded.
“Larry is good enough to stick around the league until his mid-30s and make a good living after this contract expires [after next season; $13.655M],” a Bulls talent scout believes. “But he has chosen to become a problem. He’s not the first to clear himself of all accountability. The list is endless – J.R. Rider, Latrell Sprewell, etc.”Once Kirk Hinrich came back, the Bulls were overstocked with guards. Obviously, Derrick Rose is going to get the plum run, as is rising unrestricted free agent Ben Gordon, who’s starting because management is hoping to re-sign him this summer, something it found impossible the last two offseasons.
Add Hinrich and portable Thabo Sefolosha to the mix and you can see what Vinny Del Negro has faced since taking a job Scott Skiles quit following the Ben Wallace-Hughes trade.
The reality is, if coaching the cavity-in-the-middle, chemically imbalanced Bulls was unworkable for a veteran such as Skiles, how can someone who never patrolled a sideline, assisted or played the point at any level succeed?
Regarding the woman who gave birth to octuplets, column contributor Leigh Ellis e-mails, “Evidently only six are Spawn Kemp’s.”