Posts tagged AlonzoMourning at FanHouse

Miami has myriad concerns but only three real problems heading into 2008-09: the point guard position, fitting the team's three starter quality forwards together, and perimeter depth. The Heat remains damned on the PG tip until Mario Chalmers has an epiphany or the trade market ratchets up, and I count myself again the horde which finds the Shawn Marion-Michael Beasley-Udonis Haslem triumvirate more interesting than problematic. But depth ... with only James Jones, Dorell Wright, Daequan Cook and Yakhouba Diawara available behind Dwyane Wade and Marion at the swing positions. That's a little good but a whole lotta bad, at least on offense.

Now Jones is out at least three months after ripping a tendon in his wrist. That ensures Wright or Diawara will get some minutes; in the event of an injury or a Marion trade that doesn't send a quality wing back, this ensures substantial burn for both those guys as well as Cook, who appears to sit on the fringes of the NBA (which is where Diawara rightfully exists). Mention was made during the summer that Shaun Livingston could play some two-guard or small forward, but no one will say when he'll be ready for real NBA action.

Another blow to the bench brigade: Jamaal Magloire will be out until December at the earliest with a broken hand. As Erik Spoelstra resists Forwardpalooza, Mark Blount will be the starting center. Magloire's a zombie, but he's better than Joel Anthony and potentially better than Blount. Alonzo Mourning is working out in some secluded bunker or something, but he doesn't figure to get live until at least January.

This is all to say that Miami could be the shocker we all dream of, but it could also be a really bad team with nothing past Wade and a good forward rotation.

Last week, FanHouse brought you a couple of great interviews with Dwyane Wade and Alonzo Mourning, who were doing the media circuit in order to promote their charity All-Star game that was going down in Miami over the weekend. Besides watching a bunch of sick dunks and alley-oops with zero defense, fans were treated to a dance off between D-Wade, LeBron James, Damon Jones, and Zo. Here's a little sample.



Looks like LeBron is the big dancer of the group, and if you ask me, D-Wade looked a little tentative out there. I guess a 15-win season will do that to you.

If you want to see more, including Damon Jones getting on the mic and encouraging the best looking ladies to come down and dance with him, there's a 10 minute version after the jump. (Hey, it's the off season. What else are you going to watch?)

Alonzo Mourning will be remembered for a lot of things. Like this. And these. But maybe most of all for his passion. After fifteen years in the league, two Defensive Player of the Year awards, a kidney transplant and subsequent comeback, and one, satisfying championship, Mourning has built his legacy in the NBA on that passion. Since overcoming the illness that nearly ended his career, however, Zo has also begun building his legacy off the court, through extensive charity work. The crown of that legacy is his annual Zo's Summer Groove event in South Beach. It's going on this weekend, and Zo took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to talk to me about Zo's Summer Groove, his defensive legacy, and where he sees his life after basketball.


MM: Alonzo, thanks so much for your time, I know you're busy this weekend.

Zo: No problem, man, no problem at all. Nice to talk to you.

MM: So, what are you up to down in Miami?

This morning, World Champion NBA guard and All-World charity machine Dwyane Wade took some time out of his busy day -- chillin' in the G2 lounge is hard work, people -- to answer some questions from FanHouse about blogging diarying, the Olympics, Mike Beasley, Supernintendo Chalmers, Zo's Summer Groove and his iPod.

Will Brinson: Dwyane, what's up, man? Good morning and thanks for taking time to chat with FanHouse.

Dwyane Wade: Good morning, Will. Thanks for having me on, man.

WB: For there not being any games on, the NBA is pretty hectic right now, and suddenly the East looks pretty tough, especially with yesterday's craziness. What are your thoughts on where the Heat stand for 2008-09 in terms of addressing needs at the draft and free agency to get back to where you guys were a few years ago?

DW: Well, we were very excited about the guys we picked up in the draft this year. You know Beasley has a chance to be special -- a great player -- and Chalmers is a guy that could shock a lot of people. I can't believe he even fell to the second round, to the 34th pick, so we're very, very excited about getting those two guys.

I think we approach free agency very cautiously as well. We have a couple names, a couple guys we're targeting. But it's all about putting the right pieces together, not about the big names every summer, it's about adding the right pieces to the team and Coach Riley has done a great job with that.

When something works (and by "works" I mean "gets a $400,000 debt paid off") you usually become pretty willing to use that method again. Which would explain why the Wynn Casino, who publicly shamed Charles Barkley into paying off a six figure debt, is getting busy in court again.

Wynn Las Vegas claims NBA Entertainment, NBA Properties and co-defendant Alonzo Mourning Charities have failed to pay a $50,000 bill for convention and meeting space and related services used during the 2007 NBA All-Star weekend.

[...]The casino claims to have entered into an agreement with NBA Entertainment for use of the resort's hotel and convention space during the February 2007 event.

NBA Entertainment then authorized the charity to use some of the convention and meeting space for a fund-raiser, according to the lawsuit.

But, in a vicious strike by karma, the casino quickly backtracked, stating that an "administrative error" led to the filing of the complaint against the NBA; they were only trying to sue Mourning's Charity organization. Which, while terribly stupid looking for the attorneys that represent the Wynn, is still just as embarrassing for Mourning.

Now, odds say that his charity organization either a) forgot to pay the bill or b) got crossed up with the NBA on who was going to pay the casino off. But that doesn't make it any less awkward for them, and you can bet the Wynn gets the 50k paid to them pretty fast. Or else they're coming to collect. And they don't take "no" for an answer. Just kidneys.

Via Ballhype

When most fans think of Alonzo Mourning, one of the first words that comes to mind is "passionate." Mourning's game was always considered incomplete, though versatile. He was never able to establish himself as a dominant force, but was certainly one of the most influential players of the 90s. He was best known, though, for the outrageous amount of passion he has for the game. After suffering a severe knee injury to go along with that whole losing a kidney thing, it was expected that Mourning would hang up the laces this year. Especially with that ring on his finger after 06.

But apparently, he wants one more year on the hardwood. While his comments aren't an iron-lock either way (shocker), it at least indicates where Zo's head is at.

Mourning is 38 years old. Which is kind of a lot in the NBA. But he still feels that he can "contribute" and wants to try and give it another go, depending on how his body reacts. The question is whether Mourning's return helps or hinders Miami's rebuilding effort. Surely having a 38 year old with chronic injury issues is probably not the young and athletic direction they're searching for, but at least it provides veteran leadership, and possibly a role model for a young frontcourt that may get younger with the draft.

Mourning's return will almost certainly not help the Heat in terms of on-court play, but you have to at least admire a guy with his passion who's not only willing but eager to come back and help in any way, shape, or form.

In the East Regional, the forgotten team is Washington State. With UNC blowing away everyone and fans salivating over the Tennessee-Louisville game, the Cougars are right under the radar.

That happens. Carolina and the Vols are relatively close to Charlotte, the site of the games, with Louisville not tremendously far away. Pullman, WA may as well be on the other side of the planet.

Still, WSU coach Tony Bennett knows a bit about Charlotte. After a nice career as a player at Wisconsin-Green Bay, Bennett was drafted by the NBA's Charlotte Hornets.

"I don't think too many people will remember me and be pulling for the Cougs down there," said Bennett, whose fourth-seeded team plays No. 1 seed UNC in the NCAA Round of 16 on Thursday. "They'll be cheering for the Carolina blues."

When Alonzo Mourning went down with a torn patella tendon and quadriceps in his right leg last month, most of us assumed that his career had come to an end. After all, he was pretty clear before the injury that this would be his final season, and considering how badly he messed up his knee, there's really no chance of him returning this year.

But while talking to reporters on Monday, Mourning made it clear that he's un-made up his mind about 2008-09 and is leaving the door open for a return to the court:

"Right now, my focus is just to get healthy," Mourning said. "I haven't really thought about if I'm going to retire or not. But my focus is getting healthy, being able to run and walk, and once I overcome that hurdle I'll be prepared to let you know if I'm going to play again."

Especially considering all that he's overcome in his career, Mourning has actually aged quite gracefully and remains a tenacious defender and capable rebounder -- before going down, he was certainly one of the top backup centers in the league.

But what's his incentive to return? Is it just to prove that he can? He's already won a title, he's already made more money than he'll ever spend and he's cemented his status as one of the toughest players to ever play the game. The Heat, meanwhile, are simply terrible, and while they'll be better next year (imagine Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley joining the starting lineup), it's too early to think they'll be a legitimate playoff team. Mourning has been loyal to Pat Riley, but Riles might not even make it through this year before moving to the front-office full-time. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing we've seen the last of Mourning.

Remember the story about how Damon Jones was singing Christmas carols in front of reporters the other day, replacing the actual lyrics with his own lines about wanting to be traded? Just in case the Cavaliers management didn't get the message, he's stepped up his efforts by openly campaigning for a trade to Miami. From the Palm Beach Post:

"Oh, man, that would be the icing on the cake for me," he said. "Especially with the group of guys that they have now, still, some of the key guys that were there when I spent the best year of my career. It would be special."

Jones was one of the league's leading three-point shooters in 2004-05, his only season with the Heat. He also formed a close bond with center Shaquille O'Neal and guard Dwyane Wade.
[...]
"Man, I'm very comfortable with the system," he said. "I don't know if I could really say what I want to say, but I would definitely enjoy being back in that system and trying to get back that success we had some years ago."

I don't get it: what more does he want to say that he hasn't already? He wants to get out of Cleveland so bad he's willing to leave behind a team that played in the NBA Finals last year for a squad that's posted the second-worst record in the league thus far.

Well, this is kind of depressing: two (potentially) career-ending injuries on the same day. On Wednesday afternoon, the Warriors announced that Troy Hudson's hip condition may prevent him from returning to the court, and later that night, Alonzo Mourning tore the patellar tendon in his right knee. Although it completely caught him off guard, Mourning knew right away the severity of his injury. From the AP:

"We tried to help him up and he just said 'It's over, it's over,"' Miami's Udonis Haslem said.

With that in the back of his mind, Mourning was determined to leave the court on his terms: he was placed on a stretcher but refused to ride. Instead, he stoop up with the help of his teammates and limped off the court.

"That's not the way I envisioned myself walking off the court for the last time in my career," he said. "I've been through so much in my life. If I had to crawl off the court I would have. Nobody was going to push me off on a stretcher off the court. That wasn't going to happen."

Mourning will go down as one of the best defensive players of all time, as well as one of the most inspirational after missing time with a kidney condition and eventually returning after receiving a transplant. Of course, there's still a slight chance that he could return this year, but these types of injuries generally require at least three months to return from. The way Miami has played this year, the playoffs look like a distant possibility at best (especially without Zo), which means that a speedy recovery would only result in being able to play a handful of meaningless regular season games in late March and early April. I wouldn't put it past him to do just that just so he can go out on his terms, but he's already definitively ruled out any chance of his returning to play for a 16th season.