FanHouse BorisDiaw

As teams get eliminated from the 2009 NBA playoff picture, Fork 'Em figures out what went wrong.

"Love bravely, live bravely, be courageous, there's really nothing to lose." -Jewel

And really, what says "Charlotte Bobcats" like Jewel?

The Lottery is littered with teams that failed to meet expectations. Their hopes broken, their efforts for naught, they're left with nothing but frustration and depression. They limp towards the offseason with hope for nothing more than pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.

You don't get that feeling from the Bobcats.

FanHouse's NBA Guide gives you a daily look at all the games that matter ... and some that don't.

HEADLINER
San Antonio at Utah, 9PM ET

The Spurs couldn't overcome a deeper, more talented Lakers team in L.A., no matter the moxie that runs through those San Antonian veins. The Jazz dropped back-to-back home games against the Cavaliers and Nuggets, and haven't come a shred closer to good health. This can't possibly be the shot in the arm Utah needs, can it?

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

Forgotten man Greg Oden must be tired of being ignored with all this Darius Miles errata going on. Oden went ballistic against a possibly tired road-trippin' Milwaukee team with 24 points, 15 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

Portland's starting line-up annihilated the Bucks; Oden was a +27 and Brandon Roy went +30. The Blazers aren't good enough to count victories before they hatch, so efforts like this from the rook mean something.

NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.

* "It amazes me how quickly the question 'Who is the best player in the NBA?' has been rendered moot." -- The Painted Area.

* "(Bleep) that guy, he's walking around rubbing everyone's nose in the deals he's made and even with all those lottery players his team is still not in the playoffs." -- The Oregonian, via TSB.

* "[Gerald] Wallace's true talent is much more valuable to the team than [Boris] Diaw's. What scares me about this little brushup is that Larry Brown probably has never understood that because he doesn't like Wallace's style, and this is just a preliminary indication that Brown wants to move him." -- Rufus on Fire.

* Ridiculously interesting "heat maps" from Obsessionism, photos of a young Mark Cuban squeezing some dames, and when good logos go bad.

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the lig. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

While everyone else was watching Darren Sproles make himself about a bazillion dollars en route to a San Diego win, the NBA had itself one heck of a night.

It started off with Kevin Martin unleashing a 45-point barrage in a losing effort against the Pacers and Danny Granger's 35, 6, and 4.

Then the universe decided to implode as the Bobcats, yes, the Bobcats, polished off the surprisingly good Bucks by 10. The Bobcats cruised in this one, which was both a model for the 'Cats' success and completely bizarre. And not just because the 'Cats won. It was a perfect setup for this roster because they were led by Gerald Wallace, Emeka Okafor, and Boris Diaw, who continues to be brilliant since his trade to Charlotte. They got 12 points and five assists from D.J. Augustin, and they attacked the Bucks in the paint. It was bizarre because the Bobcats were outshot (50 percent to 47 percent), out-rebounded (35-32), and had only two fewer turnovers. Still, if the 'Cats are going to get anything going this season, this has to be the model. Did I mention Wallace and Okafor only had nine rebounds between them? Bizarro World.

The Rotation is a weekly study on the NBA by one of our All-Star voices. In rotation this week is Tom Ziller.

This weekend's historically bad matchup between the Wizards and Thunder stood on its own awful pedestal while telling a really depressing truth about today's NBA: there are a bunch of really bad teams in the league.

For some of these teams, the depths are only a brief stop on the path to regained greatness. But for others, the stench of the blighted air they inhabit threatens to stick long after the current draft class matures and the Summer of 2010 passes.

For these -- the NBA's Bleak -- no days look bright. Which teams do I speak of? Follow us into the future, after the jump.

A clever rumor from Frank Isola of the New York Daily News cites a source who indicates the Bobcats rushed their deal for Boris Diaw and Raja Bell through in order to leave enough cushion before the deadline to flip the new players. The trade deadline is February 19.

Players acquired by trade during the season cannot be packaged with another player in a second trade until 60 days have passed. The Bobcats completed the Diaw/Bell trade last Wednesday, which gave them 70 days until the deadline.

But where on Earth could Diaw and/or Bell be headed? Alan Hahn of Newsday has the predictable suggestion.

The Knicks were very much interested in acquiring both Raja Bell and Boris Diaw, but with Mike D'Antoni now in New York after a bitter divorce from the Suns, they were not going to come directly from Phoenix. [...]

Another source has said the Bobcats have maintained interest in Eddy Curry, who has yet to play this season because of a bone bruise in his left knee.

And scene. If this happens -- any of the old Suns to N.Y. for Curry -- Charlotte's moves begin to make sense and infuriate all the more. Jason Richardson is a phenomenal scorer, the best the Bobcats had by a big margin. Curry's only attribute is scoring. It's just like Larry Brown to prefer a post scorer to a guard gunner.

And while that's good basketball theory, he's ignoring that Curry (who he dealt with in N.Y.) is a huge defensive liability who cannot rebound or block shots, while Richardson was a tough dude with a good spirit and some floor skills. No one on the planet could argue the Bobcats would win a Richardson-for-Curry trade. But then again, no one thought Charlotte won the Diaw-for-Richardson swap either.

You figured that despite his friendship with Steve Nash and cult hero status among Phoenix fans for services rendered, Raja Bell would be happy enough to take up residence in some other NBA town. Bell has been the most vocal critic of the new Steve Kerr/Terry Porter regime, as his role and efficacy have shrunk magnificently in the post-D'Antoni era.

Boris Diaw, though -- his entire career is based on the 2005-06 season in which Mike D'Antoni turned him into a five-position magician. While he has fit in under Porter, you have to think he'd be worried about re-entering the anonymous purgatory of the Eastern Conference dregs with today's trade to Charlotte. But in comments the Arizona Republic collected, Diaw makes it seem like he was over the Suns anyway.

"It definitely wasn't as fun. ... It wasn't as exciting for the fans. It's not as fun for everybody (on the team). I'll always remember Phoenix with Mike (D'Antoni). We went from a winning team that was the most exciting team in the league to a half-winning team that wasn't exciting at all."

Diaw just threw Kerr's promise ring into the river. Meanwhile, Bell seemed level and gracious to the old squad. Before tip-off of Lakers-Suns on ESPN, it was noted that Nash looked like someone shot his dog. (I'm paraphrasing here.) And of course, Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley have stopped doing back flips only to board to first plane to Arizona.

Diaw seems to be thinking, "Ta' hell with these Suns." I'm almost positive he'll be singing a different tune by the end of the month.

B. Edwards told y'all Phoenix shook up its core/corps/corpse by swapping out Raja Bell, Boris Diaw and Sean Singletary for Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley. J-Rich in a Suns jersey will provide all sorts of real basketball fodder over the next few months -- FanHouse's Nate Jones noted that between Rich and Amare Stoudemire, rims across the nation should really fear visits from the Suns.

Bell, while surely disappointed to leave his friend Steve Nash and a winning basketball team, did well under Larry Brown in Philadelphia and fits the Brown prototype exactly.

But the Diaw/Brown pairing -- that's what worries excites intrigues me a great deal.