Bad Chemistry

From: zegers@rotowire.com
Subject: Give and Go
Date: December 29, 2008 7:06 PM PDT
To: liss@rotowire.com

Hope you had a good holiday, Chris. Santa bring you anything good? My favorite present: a pair of tickets for me and my son to go see Xavier vs. Fordham at the Rose Hill Gym. The Rams are terrible this year, and Xavier is in the top 25 – which means my alma mater is probably going to get squashed … but hearing the little guy chant DE- FENSE makes it all worth it.

Following up on last week’s plea for more competitive balance …

The Lakers and Celtics entered their Christmas Day game with a combined record of 50-8. The Thunder and Wizards entered Saturday’s game with a combined record of 7-50. I’m not sure what that means, but I liked the symmetry of it.

Not as much as I enjoyed the “Steve Francis gets traded to the Grizzlies” symmetry … but I liked it.

Read all of Give and Go on Yahoo! Sports

Galactus can BALL, yo

Maybe there is a bright side to this whole ugly "Oklahoma City" business. It means author and ex-Sonics fan Sherman Alexie can, in good conscience, trade in his Seattle fandom for stock in an up-and-coming team in Portland.

Switching to the Lakers, though, was out of the question:

From BlazersEdge via Truehoop:

I would root for a team composed of Jack the Ripper at the 3, Lee Harvey Oswald at the 2, Saddam Hussein at the 4, Galactus at the 5, and Lizzie Borden at 1 over the Lakers.

Sorry, Sherman, I can't be with that. Oswald would be way too much of a freelancer to fit into a team concept... and Saddam is way too small to play the four. He's 'tweener.

But the choice of Galactus in the middle is inspired. Heck, he can devour entire worlds... imagine what he'd do to a weak layup attempt.

Run Like the Wind, Kevin Durant

Well the unofficial list of potential names for the Oklahoma City NBA franchise are public, and for the most part, they are hideous.

Let's break 'em down:

The Wind
First off, I stand opposed to any and all singular words as team names (with the exception of soccer clubs, because "United" just sounds cool).

As if that wasn't enough... know what else is called "The Wind?" The album Warren Zevon wrote and recorded while he was dying of cancer. And farts. Neither is a great association for a basketball team.

And isn't Oklahoma City right in the middle of "Tornado Alley?" Why remind fans of weather conditions that are -- at minimum -- really unpleasant and at maximum can kill you? That'd be like naming a New York Team "The Humidity" or a New Orleans Team "The Flood" or a Miami team "The Hurricanes."

Wait. Forget that last one.

Thunder
All most of my objections to "Wind" apply here as well. Plus, "Thunder" was the name of the incredibly lame St. John's horse mascot.

Bison
Animal nicknames are usually pretty good... and I believe "Bison" is technically both singular and plural. But people might have a hard time getting past the "Ted Turner's restaurant chain" connotation.

Energy
Ye gods... the worst of the bunch, by a fair piece. Where do I begin?

It's a singular name, which is just awkward.

It's not something that can be represented easily in a logo... which opens the door for really horrible uniforms and such.

It's tailor-made for a stunning variety of punny headlines whenever the team loses. Just off the top of my head,

"Energy Displays None in Listless Loss to..."
"Power Outage"
"Energy Futures Take a Beating"
"Energy: Enron-Esque"

Perhaps worst of all, it really sounds like the name of a WNBA team.

Marshals
Henry Abbott at True Hoop has reported that the trademark application on this one is very specific with the alternate-but-still-acceptable "one l" spelling. I can get behind that... alternate spellings are OK. Purposeful mis-spellings for branding purposes (i.e., Starzz) are not.

Aside from that, you could do far worse than to use cowboy imagery for your team.

Barons
A lot to like with this one. It plays up the regional oil industry history, without being yet another team called "The Oilers." And "Barons" as a team name has a pretty rich history in and of itself, going back to the Birmingham Black Barons of baseball's Negro Leagues.

Potential negatives: a whole lot of "There Will Be Blood" references in game stories... and a subtle-yet-constant reminder of Snoopy as World War I flying ace.

Despite all that, put my vote in the "Barons" column.

Not that I get a vote.

Better Get Maaco...

ESPN's John Hollinger is reporting that Renaldo Balkman is headed to the Nuggets for a future second-rounder and some spare parts that will get cut before they ever see the inside of the Knicks' practice facility...

Two observations:

1) While I'm sad to see Renaldo go, let's not go crazy over this. He's a terrible fit for a D'Antoni team... can't shoot from outside of 5" or so, and was going to be buried on a Knick team that is just lousy with threes and swingmen.

2) Let's also not make Renaldo into the second coming of Michael Cooper. Was he the Knicks' best defender for the last couple of years? Yes, probably. But only because he was the only guy on the team (outside of David Lee) who consistently worked hard on both ends of the floor. "Best defender on the Knicks" is sort of like "least annoying Mr. Bean movie" -- a distinction that ultimately proves little.

On the other hand, we're disappointed that Balkman will apparently need to update this sweet ride:

NBA.com Draft Preview

Ordinarily, I’m not to keen on rookies as fantasy options. Too often, players come into the NBA needing to learn new positions. Or put on some bulk. Or how to succeed when they can’t get by on size or athleticism alone.

That’s especially true of high lottery picks – who often need to adjust to the fact that they’ll lose more games as rookies than they did in their entire college and high school careers.

But a funny thing happened on the way to this year’s lottery. The top two teams just aren’t that bad.

Look at some of the players on the Chicago and Miami rosters: Dwyane Wade. Shawn Marion. Kirk Hinrich. Ben Gordon. Luol Deng. These are not the teammates lottery picks usually get. A wide variety of factors put the Bulls and Heat on top of the lottery – injuries, internal turmoil, trades and coaching changes – but both teams seem well-positioned for a quick turnaround. And that means the prohibitive favorites to be chosen first and second – Michael Beasley and Derrick Rose – won’t be toiling for terrible teams. The won’t be forced into leadership roles while they’re still getting their feet wet at the next level.

And that could mean the best rookie seasons we’ve seen in a long time.

Here’s my projection for the lottery. We’ll take another look after the June 26 draft.

Stay Classy, Flushing

Note to Omar Minaya:

There's this thing called the Internet now. Also... there's television. ESPN -- perhaps you've heard of it?

I mention this because you seem to think that the shameful, cowardly move of firing your manager at 3:15 AM Eastern -- keeping the news out of the morning editions of the News, Post and Times -- is somehow going to minimize the negative attention you'll receive as a result.

Ain't gonna happen, Omar.

But because I'm a generous guy, I'll say this... when the Wilpons fire you at the end of this season -- a firing you richly deserve, for spending more cash than anyone in the NL while assembling a roster of guys well past their collective prime -- I hope they'll do you the courtesy of making the move during business hours.

Adriana Lima to Marry Marko Jaric

Never thought I'd be linking to People magazine from this site, but here you go:
Supermodel Adriana Lima Engaged to Basketball Star.

Like the rest of you, I suspect, I find two things deeply troubling about that lead.

1. It was depressing enough when we learned she was dating Jaric in the first place. She didn't need to go and marry the guy.
2. "Basketball Star?"

C'mon, People. You're part of the same company that owns Sports Illustrated and TNT. Couldn't someone place a call to Ian Thomsen or Charles Barkley and get a more... accurate description of Jaric's basketball prowess for that headline?

This is exactly the sort of half-assed corporate synergy that caused the AOL Time Warner merger to fail. (But I'm not bitter.)

Of course, I'd be remiss if I posted a blog entry on any Victoria's Secret model without a photo:

Here's the soon-to-be Mrs. Jaric, re-enacting a scene from Grease with some of her hot friends. Plenty more like it over at Askmen.com.



And here's more on the incredibly, blindingly lucky Mr. Jaric:

Wordless Wednesday: One on One

If they'd decided the nomination with a game of one-on-one, the result probably would have been the same...

From the "I wish I'd thought to write this" file... Christopher Orr of The New Republic applies some of Hillary Clinton's Democratic Primary arguments to the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.

A particularly awesome passage:

Once you abandon the artificial four-games-to-two framework that the media has tried to impose on the series, a very different picture emerges, with the Celtics leading by a mere 549 points to 539. Yes that’s right, the margin between the two teams is less than one percent—a tie, for all intents and purposes. This is probably the closest Conference Finals in NBA history, though I will thank you not to check on that.

Nice work, Mr. Orr.

(Hat-tip to Henry Abbot at True Hoop for the link.)

While we're on the topic of basketball and politics, I'll throw in a plug for something I wrote over on About.com a little while back... analyzing the different candidates from a basketball perspective:

Senator Barack Obama's love of basketball has been well-chronicled throughout the presidential campaign, leaving many to wonder if an Obama White House would feature one-on-one and "H.O.R.S.E" instead JFK's famed touch football.

But what about the other candidates? Don't we have a right to know where they stand on basketball? Can Hillary Clinton sink a jumper? How is John McCain's vertical?

It's our civic duty to examine these questions.

Read the full article, The Basketball Candidate, on collegebasketball.about.com. And thank your lucky stars that we don't have to worry about Mike Huckabee any more.

Oh no... not again

With the Knicks falling to the six spot in the draft, several observers -- like ESPN's Chad Ford -- are calling Italian small forward Danilo Gallinari a good fit for D'Antoni-ball.

Seems like a good time to look back at the last Euro drafted to play at 33rd and 7th.


If I'm not mistaken, the Knicks still own that guy's draft rights.

Worldless Wednesday: Tickle-Me LJ

D'Antoni, Parcells, Showalter and Pedro

For the record, I love the Mike D'Antoni hire.

Seems to me that the biggest objection has been something along these lines:

But his fast-paced system won't work with Stephon and Curry and Randolph!

This is true. It's also irrelevant. No offensive system... not Tex Winters' triangle, not John Calipari's dribble-drive, not coach Norman Dale's "four passes before a shot" would be successful with this mismatched mess of a roster.

(Incidentally, Jimmy Chitwood would be a tremendous D'Antoni player.)

When you're as bad as the Knicks, and an "Extreme Makeover" is coming... you don't hire the coach to match the roster you have. You hire a coach for the roster you're planning.

It also seems worth noting that -- as several other writers have pointed out -- a good portion of the Knick roster is actually very well suited to an up-tempo game, including:

• Jamal Crawford
• David Lee
• Renaldo Balkman
• Nate Robinson
• Jared Jeffries
• Wilson Chandler

Well look at that... that's actually the bulk of the rotation.

But there's another reason I love the hire. Even if D'Antoni isn't the coach to get the Knicks over the top, he instantly brings credibility that had none.

It's worked before.

• In 1997, the New York Jets, coming off a 4-28 run with Rich Kotite leading the team, hired Bill Parcells away from the Patriots. Parcells led the Jets to a 9-7 record in year one and the AFC Championship Game in year two.
• In 1992, the Yankees replaced the hopelessly overmatched Stump Merrill with Buck Showalter. Showalter -- along with a number of key players like Paul O'Neill -- really changed the team's culture. Showalter was let go after a first-round loss in the '95 playoffs, but had set the groundwork for Joe Torre's run of four World Series titles.
• In 2004, the New York Mets signed Pedro Martinez away from the Red Sox. The contract was panned by many -- though Martinez was an elite pitcher, the length of the deal (4 years, $53 million) and his slight build all but guaranteed that the Mets would be overpaying in the later years... but the addition of one of the game's best pitchers proved that the Mets were serious about contending, and may have led to later free agent signings like Carlos Beltran.

Does Mark Jackson give the Knicks instant credibility? Sorry, but no. Everybody thinks Jackson will be a great coach... and I'm inclined to agree. But what are they basing that on, really? He's never coached at any level. He was an excellent point guard...

But Isiah Thomas was better.

Maybe D'Antoni won't work out. Maybe in three years, after a heartbreaking loss in the second round of the playoffs, the Knicks -- led by LeBron James or Chris Bosh -- will need to make a change and bring in someone with a stronger defensive resume.

After the Isiah Thomas years, that's a good problem to have.

Ladies and Gentlemen.... the next general manager of the New York Knicks

I enjoy Kenny Smith as much as anyone... but can someone explain to me why he's even being considered for the Knick GM job?

Quite Frankly...

I'm really going to miss Stephen A. Smith's radio show on 1050 ESPN Radio here in New York.

There, I said it. And I'm not ashamed.

Give and Go: Final Four Recap and Playoff Positioning

For the first 37-and-change minutes of Monday's NCAA championship game, I was planning for this column to be an extended treatise on my man-love of Derrick Rose and some theories on how I could guarantee the Knicks a top-two pick in the upcoming lottery. But my faith was shaken by that last 2:12.

Three things, actually, bothered me deeply about that game. The missed free throws, obviously, were the big thing.

The more disturbing part, though, was the fact that missing those free throws seemed to take both Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts out of their games completely. Maybe I'm reading too much into what I saw, but it seemed to me they stopped driving to the basket, almost like they didn't want to risk another trip to the line, for fear they'd put up more bricks. I don't think it was a coincidence the missed free throws and Memphis' championship-killing six-minute drought from the field happened simultaneously.

The third thing was actually a piece of insight from Billy Packer, which is remarkable in and of itself, but the ol' curmudgeon did have a good point or two when he wasn't telling us how many possessions the team behind needed to tie the game. (Thank you Billy. We can divide by three just as well as you can.)

At one point, Packer noted that Rose was much more effective when Memphis didn't try to run him off screens. He was at his best taking his man one-on-one off the dribble. And ya know, I think he was right. But here's my problem with that. We were in the last five minutes of Memphis' 40th game of the season, and their point guard, their floor leader, is most comfortable and effective operating OUTSIDE the set offense?!?

It's almost like he's a Knick already!

Story continues on FoxSports.com...

Little Short for a Pivot... but Whatever

In fantasy baseball, there are always a couple of players who have a chance of qualifying at an alternate position and increasing their value tenfold. There’s a chance, however slight, that Brandon Inge will get in enough games to slot in at catcher…

The fantasy basketball equivalent: anyone on the Golden State roster. Our latest example: in a game on March 30, swingman Kelenna Azubuike was officially listed as the Warriors’ starting center, as coach Don Nelson went with an ultra-small lineup in an attempt to match up with the Nuggets.

Depending on how liberal your league’s position requirements are, Azubuike might qualify now at shooting guard – and in the middle. At this time of year, that sort of roster quirk could be very useful, especially if Azubuike contributes more lines like his output on April 4 against Memphis: 40 minutes, 15 points, 10 boards, 6-12 from the field, 2-2 from three.

How many centers can give you numbers like that?

Story continues on NBA.com...

Shades of Willis Reed

Dirk Nowitzki's return from injury has been nothing short of amazing.

When the diagnosis "high ankle sprain" was announced, most observers assumed Nowitzki would be – at the very least – hobbled for the rest of the regular season. The "two week" estimate for his return was viewed with skepticism – if not outright mockery. But Nowitzki made his surprise return to the lineup a mere 10 days later.

And the Nowitzki we're seeing isn't hobbling around like Kirk Gibson on ruined knees in the World Series. He's playing at – or above – his season averages. On a per-game basis since his return, Nowitzki's averaging 25.7 points and 7.0 rebounds. For the season: 23.5 points and 8.7 rebounds.

More importantly, he's leading the Mavs to wins. Dallas is in the midst of a brutal stretch of schedule that will decide whether or not they make the playoffs in an unforgiving Western Conference. They've won two of three games since Nowitzki's return, beating the Warriors on April 2nd and the Suns on Sunday (with a loss at the Lakers in between). Those two wins are Dallas' only two over winning teams since the acquisition of Jason Kidd at the trade deadline.

As I write, the Mavs are in seventh place in the West, two games ahead of Golden State and Denver, with five games remaining. Their remaining games: Seattle (home), Utah (home), Portand (away), Seattle (away) and New Orleans (home) -- that's two must-wins over a bad Sonics team and three more chances to improve that record against winning teams. If they can close out the season on a high – maybe upset the Spurs in a first-round matchup – we might start talking about Dirk's ankle the way we talk about Willis' knees or Schilling's bloody sock.

Story continues on RotoWire...

Let the Kids Play

As the playoff picture becomes more concrete, more teams will be looking to take an extended look at younger players or get the veterans healthy for the postseason. A quick look at the standings may offer hints on where to look for help on the waiver wire.

On the top end of the standings, the Celtics have clinched the Atlantic Division and hold a six-game lead over the Pistons for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. We’re already seeing Doc Rivers give his subs some extra playing time as a result.

Detroit is more or less locked into the two seed. They’ve clinched the Central division and hold a five-and-a-half game cushion over the Southeast champs, the Magic. Like the Celtics, they can afford to give the younger guys some run. So can the Magic, who are locked into the three seed with a six-game lead over fourth-place Cleveland.

One game separates spots five through seven in the East, so the Wizards, Raptors and Sixers will be playing all-out through to the end, as will the Hawks, who are currently three games up on the Nets and Pacers for the last playoff position.

In the West, just six games separate the one seed from the ninth spot, and none of the divisions are set yet. No one is resting anyone.

On the bottom end of the standings, the Knicks and Heat are the only teams that have been mathematically eliminated in the East, but the Bulls, Bobcats and Bucks don’t have much of a shot at this point. In the West, the Kings, Clippers, T-Wolves, Grizzlies and Sonics are out of the running, and Portland – five games behind ninth-place Denver -- is very close to being officially eliminated.

Story continues on NBA.com...

Welcome Back, Fellas

Couple of big names made surprise returns to the court last night:

Most Dramatic Return: Gilbert Arenas -- no question. Gotta hand it to Agent Zero: dude has a flair for the dramatic. He didn't even take his spot on the bench until five minutes had elapsed in the first quarter, so as not to give away the surprise.

The only way he could have improved on his entrance is if he'd come dancing down the aisle in an Uncle Sam costume like Apollo Creed before the Drago fight.

Unfortunately for the Wiz, the game ended a bit like the Drago fight... Arenas played nearly 20 minutes and scored 19 points, but Washington lost on a buzzer-beater by "who dat" guard Ramon Sessions -- and may have lost DeShawn Stevenson and Antawn Jamison to new injuries.

Most Surprising Return: Dirk Nowitzki's return surprised for a couple of reasons. First off -- high ankle sprains ordinarily don't heal that quickly... I shudder to think about the tape-job he needed to get on the court, or what his ankle is feeling like today. Second -- his return helped propel Dallas to a victory over a team with a winning record -- their first since the Jason Kidd trade.

Most Significant Return: This one could go to Pau Gasol, who played 30 minutes and scored 10 points in the Lakers' win over Portland -- but we're holding off on handing a title to the Lakers until we see their entire projected lineup - including Andrew Bynum - on the floor together.

As such, we're calling Elton Brand's return the most significant of the night... considering the game was his season debut. Brand came off the bench for 25-and-change minutes, scoring 19 points, grabbing five boards, and showing countless fantasy owners that they might get a bit of return on that roster spot he's been occupying all season.

In leagues where no one took a flyer on a possible return by Brand -- and according to the stats on Ultimate Fantasy Commissioner, that's around four out of every five leagues -- get to that waiver wire and make your claims. Where else are you going to find a 20-and-10 guy this late in the season?

Jail is too good for some people...

"It's amazing that he can still be out on the road."

-- Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman

It sure is, coach.

I'm distressed to report (thanks to TrueHoop) that the drunk driver who killed Malik Sealy has been arrested for yet another DUI in Minnesota. By my count, this is Souksangouane Phengsene's fourth such arrest.

He should be in jail already, having been sentenced to six years in prison after his last arrest in 2006 -- but a judge reduced that sentence to a year in a work program.

Here's hoping the state of Minnesota can dig up a somewhat less sympathetic jurist this time.

Give and Go: Donnie Walsh, the '07 Draft and More

From: zegers@rotowire.com
Subject: Give and Go
Date: March 25, 2008 7:50 AM PDT
To: liss@rotowire.com

First things first -- how are your brackets? Sadly, I had Pittsburgh and Georgetown in the Final Four, so my chances of finishing in the money are very similar to the Knicks' chances of making the playoffs.

I stand behind my Georgetown pick... but the Pitt selection, in retrospect, was pretty dumb. If I had factored in the "seven man rotation" factor and the "sent to Denver" factor, I might have realized that they'd be absolutely dead on their feet mid-way through the second half of their second game... which, of course, is what happened.

Now that you've had a chance to actually see some college ballers this year, anyone jump out at you as an NBA prospect?

That aside, there are two big NBA stories on all the back pages -- Dirk Nowitzki's injury and Donnie Walsh's job status.

Not much to say about Nowitzki that I didn't already say in this week's Barometer -- I love Brandon Bass as a short-term pickup in every fantasy format, and I think there's a very real possibility that the Mavs will fall out of the playoff picture. Agree? Disagree?

As for Donnie Walsh... as I wrote on my blog last week, I was really beginning to think Walsh was just using the Knicks to secure a better deal from the Pacers. (Actually, I'm not convinced that wasn't the case -- it may be that it just didn't work.) Now most of the NBA press is reporting that Walsh will take a job at Madison Square Garden any day now.

You think he's the right man for the job? He has an excellent reputation -- but the Pacers haven't exactly been the picture of stability over the last several seasons. Would you rather have him running your team, or one of the other oft-mentioned candidates -- a Kiki Vanderweghe or Jerry Colangelo or -- dare I suggest it -- Jerry West?

Personally, I'm a Colangelo guy. Jerry West, it has been reported, hates New York -- at best, hiring the Logo means giving an NBA legend one more payday... but the Knicks just did that with Isiah Thomas.

I'm not sure what Kiki did to merit the reputation he seems to have as a front-office guy, aside from having 'Melo fall into his lap. Tell me again where he drafted Nikoloz Tskitishvili? Fifth overall? In a draft where Amare Stoudemire went ninth and Caron Butler 10th?

Actually, a lot of guys would like a do-over in that draft... after Yao Ming (1st) Stoudemire and Butler there's a whole lot of "unfulfilled potential" in the top of that draft.

Column continues on RotoWire.com...

Working the Wire

Last week in this space, I wrote about injuries as the main source of useful fantasy players at this point of the season.

This week, we’ll put that theory to the test.

The Injury: Dirk Nowitzki suffered the dreaded “high ankle” sprain as well as a sprained knee during Sunday’s game.

The prognosis: The ankle injury is being called “moderate” while the knee injury is “slight.”
Initial estimates had him returning in as little as a week to two weeks – but short of a pilgrimage to Lourdes, high ankle sprains don’t typically heal that fast.

The options: You’d generally expect him to be shelved for 3-4 weeks with this sort of injury – but the season ends three weeks from today.

Dallas is in a particularly tough spot. They’re currently sitting in seventh place in the West and are very much in danger of falling out of playoff position. At the same time, they really can’t risk losing Nowitzki for the playoffs, should they qualify. So the scenarios might break down like this:

Story continues on NBA.com...

Bass Fishin'

Before you read the rest of this column, go put in a waiver claim on Brandon Bass. Hurry. I'll wait.

All set?

Good.

Now then... unless you've been in deep seclusion due to the fact that you had Duke, Georgetown and Pittsburgh in the Final Four, you know that Dirk Nowitzki suffered a "lower leg" injury during Sunday's game. As of Monday afternoon, that Bill Belichick-ian diagnosis has been clarified – Nowitzki has a high ankle sprain and a knee sprain. As you know if you read Jim Russo's "In Street Clothes" column here on RotoWire, a high ankle sprain is bad news. To quote Mr. Russo:

A high ankle sprain is more severe than the ankle sprains you typically see because it involves not only the stabilizing ligaments on the inside and outside of the ankle, but also the syndesmotic ligament, a circular shaped structure which wraps the distal end of the tibia and fibula, the long bones of the lower leg. When the ankle rolls severely, it can stretch this ligament causing those two bones to separate to a small degree. It's not much but the swelling and pain is extreme and the ankle becomes unstable.

Now I'm not much on book learnin' – but based on that explanation and the official diagnosis, it seems to me that the initial report that Dirk would return in two weeks is a bit aggressive.

Article continues on Rotowire.com...

Working the Wire

With the NCAA Tournament starting this week, it seems appropriate to kick off this week’s column with a quote from a legend in the college hoops ranks, Mr. Rick Pitino.

Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans. Kevin McHale is not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door.

Now, Rick Pitino was addressing what he felt were overly negative Boston fans at the time… not fantasy basketball owners. But the point is a good one for fantasy GMs to consider. By this point of the season, it’s incredibly unlikely that you’ll land a superstar – or even a solid top-of-rotation player on the waiver wire. It’s time to set your sights a bit lower.


Column continues on NBA.com...

The Donnie Walsh Bait & Switch

The New York Daily News has reporters following Donnie Walsh around like pararazzi chasing a panty-less Britney Spears.

He's considering leaving the Pacers, they say... He doesn't like sharing responsibility with Larry Bird... Bird doesn't think the power-sharing arrangement in Indiana is working either.

Yadda yadda yadda.

And today, via ESPN.com, we have the kicker. Bird isn't sure he'll be back as Pacers president next season.

Doesn't this all seem a bit strange?

If Walsh is leaving, why would Bird be leaving too? Unless all this talk with the Knicks is simply Walsh's way of saying "you can have Larry Legend... or you can have me. Oh, and FYI... when I was running the show, we were actually pretty good."

Like maybe... just maybe... ol' Donnie Walsh is using an extended flirtation with Jim Dolan to drive out a rival and win back control of the Pacers.

Brackets

Selection Sunday has come and gone, and now it's time to get down to business...

Here's our breakdown of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, region by region.

Story continues on About.com...

Sure they can shoot... but how are their grades?

By one standard, the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky should be the top seed in this year's NCAA Tournament.

That standard is academic achievement.

According to the report Keeping Score When It Counts: Graduation Rates for 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Teams, released March 17th by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida, the Hilltoppers boast a 100% graduation success among student athletes in the basketball program over six years.

The rest of the "academic final four" would be Butler at 92%, with Notre Dame and Purdue tied at 91%.

Most of the tournament's top seeds didn't fare nearly as well in the study.

Story continues on About.com...

Skip to My Lou

The Rockets were so dissatisfied with their point guard position this offseason, it seemed they were very close to bringing guys in off the street for tryouts. Rafer Alston was the most unpopular incumbent this side of George Dubya Bush.

Mike James, Steve Francis, rookie Aaron Brooks, Luther Head, and John Lucas III were all considered candidates to take over the spot.

A few months later, the Rockets are riding the second-longest winning streak in NBA history even after losing Yao Ming for the season, and Rafer Alston has been a major factor – even before his 31-point explosion against the Lakers on Sunday. No less an authority than former Houston coach and ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy has called Alston the key to the Rockets' winning streak and one of the top point guards in the league this season.

While we're not quite ready to group Skip to My Lou in the same league with Nashie, Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Jason Kidd, Alston has been remarkably efficient of late. In eight games this March, he's averaging nearly 19 points on over 42 percent shooting from the field and from three -- with five assists, and just under four boards. He's also been an adept thief, with 1.6 steals per game.

Meanwhile – all those other guys who were supposed to take his job have faded into the background. Brooks has played in just four of eight games in March, and averaged under 10 minutes when he's gotten in. Mike James is gone, as is John Lucas. Francis is out for the year with a torn quad.

Of that list of backcourt players that at times resembled an American Idol audition, only Luther Head plays a significant role for the team today. He and Bobby Jackson – who arrived in the trade that sent James to New Orleans – are valuable 10-15 minute/night bench players for Houston; neither is considered a serious challenger for Alston's job.

Column continues on RotoWire.com...

Planting Seeds

Here's a trend that's unlikely to surprise even the most casual observer of the NCAA Tournament:

The higher-seeded teams do better.

Here's a deeper look at that shocking trend, as well as some others that may assist as you fill out your NCAA brackets:

One Seeds in the Final Four

Here's another unsurprising factoid. Since 1979 -- the year the NCAA started assigning seeds to tournament teams -- number one seeds have landed 47 of a possible 116 slots in the Final Four. That's a rate of just over 40.5 percent.

Number one seeds have:

• Won 16 of 29 titles (over 55%)
• Been runner-up 11 times (38%)

That said, there has never been an NCAA Tournament where all four number one seeds have advanced to the Final Four.


Column continues on About.com...

Domino Effect

Sometimes waiver wire transactions are obvious. When the “Dwyane Wade: out for the year” story hit the Internet, fantasy players everywhere put in claims on Ricky Davis. That’s a no-brainer.

But Ricky Davis was already owned in a lot of leagues – the savvy owner knows to dig a bit deeper. Davis had value coming off the bench, right? That means if Davis moves into the starting rotation, the guy who replaces him as bench scorer will have value too.

Call it the transitive property of fantasy NBA rosters.

Watching for these chain reactions becomes far more valuable at this time of year, when players like Wade start shutting things down for the season due to nagging injuries or opt for early surgery in the hopes of being fully rehabbed for the start of the 2008-09 campaign.

Here’s a look at the two examples (with percent-owned stats from Ultimate Fantasy Commissioner in parentheses):

The injured player: Dwyane Wade
The obvious fill-in: Ricky Davis (94.1%)
Secondary options: Marcus Banks (0%), Daequan Cook (0.7%)

The injured player: Eddy Curry
The obvious fill-in: David Lee (90.8%)
Secondary options: Malik Rose (0%), Randolph Morris (0%)

Obviously, some of the secondary fill-ins come with a really big “approach with caution” label. We’re not suggesting you put in a waiver claim on Malik Rose – just outlining a strategy to use in digging for help on the wire when the next frontline player packs it in for this year.

Article continues on NBA.com...

Curse of the Zegers

From: zegers@rotowire.com
Subject: Give and Go
Date: March 11, 2008 7:43 AM PDT
To: liss@rotowire.com

As jinxes go, the "Curse of the Zegers" has a ways to go before it catches up to the "Curse of the Bambino" or that of that billy-goat. The Rockets are 6-0 since you accused me of jinxing them in this column. Of course, they're also riding a 19-game winning streak -- the second-longest in NBA history -- and seem to have two more highly-winnable games (at Atlanta, Charlotte) on the schedule before they face a real challenge against the Lakers this Sunday.

This streak would be remarkable even if they hadn't lost their all-NBA center in the middle.

How are they doing this? It seems that they've landed in a "best of both worlds" situation -- they're still executing Jeff Van Gundy-style stifling defense, but they've become comfortable in Rick Adelman's open and flexible offense -- and the two systems seem to complement each other far better than most would have expected.

Adelman also seems to be doing a remarkably good job of pulling the strings -- he got 11 points out of little-used Steve Novak last night, and his decision to start 74-year-old Dikembe Mutombo is looking particularly brilliant. Did you see how ol' Deke goaded Richard Jefferson into a technical last night with his finger-wagging?

And we can't forget our kindred spirit, stat-geek general manager Daryl Morey, who assembled a very deep roster.

Since you're our resident Rockets scientist, I'll defer to you for a full explanation. How far can they carry this momentum? Are they a legit title contender?

Column continues on RotoWire.com...

D is for Dikembe and That's Good Enough for Me

Thank god for Henry Abbott at True Hoop. Without him, I'd probably never see things like this:



Of course, I still think the most convincing Dikembe Mutombo impression comes from this guy:

Let's Get One Thing Straight...

Quick note to Bill Simmons, and the guys at Str8Balling, and anyone else making suggestions:

Trading David Lee is not an option.

Trading David Lee is the last thing the Knicks should do.

David Lee is just about the only thing that's right with the Knicks currently...

(I say "just about..." because the jury is out on Wilson Chandler, but I'm encouraged.)

If I was running the team -- and it seems I have a better chance than Isiah Thomas of making the decisions for next season -- here's what I'd do: Tear this sucker down and start over.

1. Get rid of either Zach Randolph or Eddy Curry. I don't care if you have to take pennies on the dollar -- one of them has to go. The other can start alongside Lee in the frontcourt. Moving both would be ideal, but hey, I'm a realist.
2. Get rid of Jamal Crawford. He could help a contender as a scoring sixth man -- think Ben Gordon, back when the Bulls were considered a big man away from title contention. But as a lead player, his horrifying defense and decision-making hurts more than it helps.
3. Fill these needs in the offseason -- either via the draft, trade or free agency: a point guard, a shooting wing, and a shot blocker.
   
4. Quentin Richardson and Jared Jeffries should have no place in next year's plans. Same goes, obviously, for Stephon Marbury.

Much will depend on the lottery -- there are some excellent point guard options at the top of the draft, assuming Derrick Rose and Jerryd Bayless come out.

Operation Shutdown

We've hit the point in the season when the status of several key players will be governed by the law of diminishing returns. Why force a player to hobble through 20 more games, when he can get a jump-start on surgery or treatment or rehab and increase the chances he'll be healthy for the start of the 2008-09 campaign?

The biggest name to initiate Operation Shutdown so far is Dwyane Wade. (We don't include Yao Ming in this count – it's not like Yao had a choice about sitting out the rest of the season.) We've been expecting this for several weeks - the Heat aren't winning games with him, he hasn't been 100 percent healthy all season - letting him heal seems like the most logical course of action.

Of course, like Yao, Wade is reportedly targeting the Olympics, and not the start of next season, for his return to the court. Expect that to be the subject of much controversy in the offseason, particularly if either superstar experiences any sort of setback in rehab.

The next player who might appear on this list is the Knicks' Eddy Curry. With Zach Randolph on the shelf, Curry was actually very productive for three straight games, scoring 19, 20 and 23 points. Apparently the exertion was too much for him; the New York Post reports that he has torn cartilage in his knee and may need surgery.

Other candidates: Milwaukee forward Yi Jianlian, who continues to suffer from an as-yet undetermined wrist injury, Washington swingman DeShawn Stevenson, who reportedly needs a cane to walk after games due to the pain in his knee, and Caron Butler, whose hip injury is still weeks away from healing.

As more teams are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, look for this list to grow.

Column continues on RotoWire.com...

Did Anyone Else See That?

I could swear I just saw the New York Knicks block two shots...

On one possession.

One of them by Eddy Curry.

Did anyone else see that? Or am I experiencing some sort of fever dream?

That's it. I must have malaria.

Malaria. In New York. In March. That must be it. That's far more plausible than the Knicks actually playing some defense.

George Karl is a Big Fat Idiot

Eh, I don't really believe that. Ol' George seems to be a good guy. He's done a lot of charity work. He has little use for Isiah Thomas, which obviously earns him points in my book.

I'm just hoping Furious George's lawyer will get into a snit and send me tons of free traffic.

Y'know, the way he did when he sent threatening e-mails to the guy behind FireGeorgeKarl.com.

For giggles -- or for yet another example of how you don't need common sense or media savvy to earn a law degree, check out the original e-mail from Bret Adams to Andrew Feinstein. Then check out some of the feedback and analysis from the legal community, posted on True Hoop.

Working the Wire: Rockets Blasting Off

The news of Yao Ming’s season-ending injury broke last week as I was writing this column, so I spent a little time in that piece discussing how the absence of an all-world center would impact the production of Houston’s waiver-available players.

Now that we have a few games’ worth of stats to review, let’s take a second look and see who’s stepping up.

Each player is listed with his Ultimate Fantasy Commissioner percent-owned stat in parentheses.

Column continues on NBA.com...

Give and Go: Injury Reports

Caron Butler has been the best player on one of my teams for the better part of this season. So like a lot of fantasy NBA players, I was pretty frustrated by the way the Wizards have handled his latest injury. For those who haven't been keeping close tabs, the updates went something like this:

Day 1: Ah, he tweaked his hip. He's day-to-day.

Day 2: He's day-to-day.

Day 3-10: He's day-to-day.

Day 11: He's got a torn something-or-other, he'll be out for a while.

(I'll leave the actual description of the injury and its ramifications to our esteemed colleague Mr. Russo.)

I don't know if the Wizards weren't being honest, or if they just didn't know the extent of the injury at first. But I can't help but think that they weren't being 100 percent straight with me. I imagine it's a similar feeling to what baseball owners went through with B.J. Ryan of the Blue Jays last season. (That was, "it's a sprain... it's a sprain... it's Tommy John surgery," for those who blocked out the details.)

So my question is... how much information do sports teams owe fans/fantasy players, where player injuries are concerned? On the one hand, there's an obvious competitive advantage to playing these things close to the vest. But on the other, there are any number of reasons that it's only fair for fans to know whether or not their favorite players are suiting up on a given night. If I'm dropping a couple hundred dollars on tickets to an NBA game, I want to have some assurance that I'm going to see Kobe Bryant and not Sasha Vujacic, y'know?

Column continues on RotoWire.com...

How's That Working Out For You?

In last week's Give and Go column, Chris Liss and I talked about how difficult it is for NBA teams to handle major personnel changes at mid-season. Comfort level and familiarity with teammates is so crucial to success at both ends of the floor – and that really only comes from practice reps. And yet, several teams with title aspirations decided to roll the dice this year and make major changes at the deadline or just before.

How's it working out so far?

Dallas is 4-4 with Jason Kidd in the lineup, having lost to New Orleans, San Antonio, the Lakers and the Jazz. (In other words, the four teams they'll most likely need to get past in order to make the Finals and justify the Kidd trade.)

Phoenix is just 2-4 with Shaq, and some fans are getting restless, questioning whether Mike D'Antoni is able to adjust his system to a more half court-oriented team.

Cleveland is 3-2 since their extreme roster makeover… but the level of competition they've faced leaves a lot to be desired. They beat Memphis, Minnesota and the Bulls, but dropped games to Boston (the only real elite team they've faced) and Milwaukee.

Phoenix and Dallas are now 6th and 7th overall in the stacked Western Conference… with the Mavs just 2.5 games ahead of Golden State, currently in eighth. (Denver is ninth, 1.5 games behind the Warriors and three in back of Dallas).

Cleveland has much less to worry about – they don't stand much of a chance of catching Detroit for the Central Division crown and one of the top three seeds in the playoffs, and the bottom half of the East is so dreadful there's little chance they could fall any lower than the sixth seed. Besides, the level of competition the Cavs will face – such as tonight's game against the Knicks – is sort of training camp-esque anyway. The Cavs will have a much better chance to jell as a result.

Column continues on RotoWire.com...

There's Never Been a Better Time to be a Geek and a Sports Fan

Exhibit 2,254: The Schmap:



This widget creates a map-based view of your favorite team's schedule, free for posting on a blog, homepage, etc.

If only we could harness this technology to make the Johnnies' record somehow suck less.

Bracket Busters

The standard NCAA Tournament bracket pool -- along with the weekly football picks and the "Superbowl boxes" -- is part of the holy trinity of American sports gambling. Even casual sports fans will participate in a betting extravaganza that has been estimated at $2.5 billion in wagers -- with only a little over 3 percent of that number handled by legal gambling outlets like the sports books at Las Vegas casinos.

That leaves over $2.4 billion dollars changing hands -- mostly in tens and twenties -- at offices nationwide. Which raises an important question: is any of this legal?

The simple answer is "No, but the FBI has better things to do than chase down cubicle-dwellers for dropping a ten-spot on UCLA." But simple answers are rarely satisfying, so let's examine the question in a little more detail.

Story continues on collegebasketball.about.com...

Imperfect February for Houston

The Rockets' perfect February has suddenly developed some very deep flaws, with the news that Yao Ming will miss the remainder of the season and playoffs due to a stress fracture in his foot.

Fantasy owners will want to act quickly and put in a claim on Luis Scola. Scola was a decent pick even before this news – we wrote about his progress in last week's column. With Yao out of the mix, Scola likely becomes Houston's primary offensive option in the frontcourt. Scola is under 10 percent-owned in Ultimate Fantasy Commissioner – expect that number to rise quicker than the price of oil when the news of Yao’s injury really gets around.

Story continues at NBA.com...

Memo to Zach Randolph...

You aren't going to get traded playing like this.

Thanks for Nothing, Darby Conley

I read the funny papers as a means of escape... nothing harshes my morning caffeine buzz like a dose of reality in my comics.

This morning's buzzkill came from Darby Conley's strip Get Fuzzy. The panel in this post is the punchline... here's the entire strip.

Two observations about this:

1) Seriously, dude... if I wanted a harsh dose of reality on my comics page, I'd read Doonesbury. (For my money, nothing says "funny papers" like the amputee veteran visiting the wounded at Walter Reade.)

2) Is this the absolute low point for a sports franchise? Open mockery in pop culture? I mean, when a team is so well known for badness that it becomes useful for a punch line in a comic... well, that's pretty bad. Even worse than an appearance in Letterman's Top 10.

On the other hand, maybe ol' Satchel (the dog) has a point here. Why would Bigfoot want to play for the Knicks? They already have a big, slow-moving, rarely-seen phantom on the roster: Jerome James.

(In all seriousness... Get Fuzzy is one of the few consistently funny newspaper strips published these days... and since I stole art for this post, I feel I should give 'em an appropriate callout like this...)

NBA Barometer

As much as we love the trade deadline, it's sort of refreshing to stop dealing in conjecture and start dealing in facts.

That said, let's take a look at some of the early returns on last week's flurry of trades.

Cleveland:

The Cavaliers wasted no time getting new arrivals Ben Wallace, Delonte West, Joe Smith and Wally Szczerbiak involved. Wallace and West started Sunday's game against the Grizzlies, and all four played 25-plus minutes.

Wallace put up a "Big Ben in Detroit" type line, with 12 points, 10 boards, two steals and a block. West scored five points and dropped six dimes. Smith scored 14 points with six boards off the bench, and Szczerbiak scored 10 and hit two threes.

In terms of fantasy value, Szczerbiak might be the best play; the Cavaliers have wanted to add a lights-out shooter to their rotation for forever, and LeBron should have an easy time finding Wally World on the perimeter. We'd rate West – who gets a value boost due to Daniel Gibson's ankle injury – ahead of Smith or Wallace, who might have to compete with Anderson Varejao for minutes very soon.

Story continues at RotoWire.com...

The College Hoops Beat...

My loyal readers... all five of you... are probably wondering where I've been for the last couple of weeks.

There's no truth to the rumor that Madison Square Garden security "disappeared" me for promoting Fire Isiah T-shirts. I've been publishing columns and blogs on RotoWire on NBA.com, but Three Seconds has been quiet.

Too quiet.

Directly above this post, you'll see the reason. I'm now covering college basketball on About.com. There's a feed of my latest posts right here on Three Seconds, and when I launch new features I'll post links here as well.

A New Cottage Industry

I have finally figured out James Dolan's master plan.

He's not keeping Isiah Thomas as coach out of stubbornness. Or incompetence.

No, he's doing it as a way of jump-starting New York's garment industry.

The latest "Fire Isiah" T-shirt making the rounds
-- hand-made and hand-printed by a graphic artist named Ivan Cash -- is by far the best. It's also the version that has generated the most media attention, mostly due to the ham-handed efforts of Madison Square Garden security officers and the NYPD on patrol outside the World's Most Mis-Managed Arena.

Cash's shirt sells for $20, and he accepts PayPal.