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Saturday's NBA Guide: Encore? Hornets in Denver, Sixers Visit Spurs

Tom ZillerPosted Jan 3rd 2009 4:30PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: 76ers, Hornets, Nuggets, Spurs

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

The night after every team in the league played ball, half the association is back at it. Tired legs, burnt up hearts? We'll see ...

HEADLINER
New Orleans at Denver, 9PM EST

Chris Paul and friends thoroughly beat up the Blazers last night, and I'm not even talking about Tyson Chandler! Chandler and Joel Przybilla had a skirmish Friday night, seemingly instigated and heightened by Tyson's elbow. As such, no Chandler tonight. Ladies and gentlemen ... Hilton Armstrong!
Continue Reading Saturday's NBA Guide: Encore? Hornets in Denver, Sixers Visit Spurs

Trading Brad Miller, For Spencer Hawes' Sake

Tom ZillerPosted Dec 23rd 2008 12:30PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Kings, NBA Rumors

Oddly, not Travis Outlaw nor Lamar Odom or even Raef LaGiantExpiringContract have been the most spilled names on the rumor rags. It's been all Brad Miller, all the time. From "sure deals" in Miami to Charlotte to Cleveland to Chicago and nearly all points in between, the Big Redneck is getting more ink than ever. Meanwhile, he's had a mediocre season on a worse-than-mediocre team ... and he is "blocking" Kings bright spot Spencer Hawes from playing his natural position.

Reggie Theus promoted Hawes to starting power forward before being fired; Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee crunches the numbers. The result? In extra minutes with (theoretically) better teammates, Hawes has been worse. Why? It's assumed the positional switch -- Hawes is a natural center -- has hurt the kid.

Fellow youngster Jason Thompson is a true power forward, and probably belongs in Hawes' spot. But the real fix -- the smart fix -- would be for a Miller trade to upon up spots in the starting line-up for both Thompson (affectionately known as "Shock" due to his surprising lottery selection) and Hawes. The franchise needs to know whether the pair will work out going forward. As it is, the duo has gotten precious few games opportunities to work together. Miller's good enough that he'll be missed by the other Kings (namely Kevin Martin). It's not quite addition by subtraction. But it'd clear one fairly major problem, and hopefully some '09-10 cap space. Think of it as the Mike Bibby trade, part two.

Recently Benched Mikki Moore Wonders if the Kings are Tanking

Tom ZillerPosted Dec 9th 2008 3:25PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Kings

Mikki Moore has a lot to offer the hotblooded fan: his story is one of incredible perseverance and self-sacrifice, his body is electric with passion, and he's generally hilarious -- from the soundbite to the guttural yelps of glee to the fantastic "Double M" celebration after a big play. (For months, local fans thought the hand signal to be a gang sign.)

But Mikki Moore is not an incredible basketball player at the NBA level. He runs well in transition, has a sharp 18-foot set shot and knows how to take a charge. And that's about it. Consistently, he ranks among the worst power forwards/centers in rebound rate. Moore had 46 blocks in 2,400 minutes last season. Spencer Hawes has nearly that many this season in a quarter of the minutes. Moore also has turnover problems (a lobster would catch the ball more frequently near the rim) and scores only on a rare putback or when he is ridiculously open at the elbow or baseline. Basically, he's Eddy Curry without the post presence or the bowl full of jelly.

Sacramento struggled mightily with Moore at the starting power forward position. Hawes has played amazing basketball, given expectations. Reggie Theus fears for his job, and his bosses have made youth development a priority. Moore is 33 years old. Hawes is 20. Theus benched Moore last week.
Continue Reading Recently Benched Mikki Moore Wonders if the Kings are Tanking

Does Amare Have a Lack of Respect for Defensive Role Players?

Brett PollakoffPosted Nov 15th 2008 4:30PM by Brett Pollakoff (author feed)
Filed under: Suns, NBA Last Night

After tearing up the first few games of the season, including dropping an unstoppable 49 points on the Indiana Pacers, Amare Stoudemire has struggled a bit as of late. In his last two outings, he's had performances that were definitely sub-par: 11 points and nine boards against Houston, and just 12 points and five rebounds in last night's overtime win in Sacramento.

The reason for Amare's slowdown might just be more mental than physical. After the game against the Rockets, some of Stoudemire's comments would lead you to believe that he's less than impressed with some of the players that end up checking him on defense.

"You got Luis Scola, Chuck Hayes, Carl Landry ... I mean, Scola, it's his second year in the league," Stoudemire said. "Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry, you know ... they're okay players, but I definitely can dominate those guys early. Anytime. Nothing against them, they played well tonight."

Those were some long pauses between those statements from Amare, and you could tell that he was trying not to say anything too disrespectful when discussing his opponents. But it's clear he feels that there's no way those guys should be able to stop him, even though the players he mentioned are more than capable NBA defenders.
Continue Reading Does Amare Have a Lack of Respect for Defensive Role Players?

Figuring Out The Rules of NBA Rookie Hazing

Nate JonesPosted Oct 31st 2008 1:00PM by Nate Jones (author feed)
Filed under: Bulls, Kings

Rookie hazing is as much a part of the NBA fabric as tattoos and the Cheesecake Factory. However, I am having trouble figuring out the rule on how long the hazing has to last.

This pre-season I saw some Rockets vets tell their second year teammates that they were rookies through the pre-season and that the hazing wasn't ending until tip off of the regular season. Then I read this Sam Amick report on second year player Spencer Hawes' in-house classification and became even more confused:
Veteran center Brad Miller has said Hawes must continue with the many humbling rookie rituals until he's logged 82 career regular-season games, the number in one full campaign (he's at 72). But veteran guard Bobby Jackson told Hawes he's free and clear after the first official tipoff of his second season.

Considering Jackson is the elder of the two, Hawes was asked if he should tell Miller that Jackson's ruling stands.

"That's a heck of an idea," Hawes said with a smile.
Continue Reading Figuring Out The Rules of NBA Rookie Hazing

NBA Essentials: Secret Life of Nightmare Ant

Tom ZillerPosted Oct 8th 2008 11:09AM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Bulls, Hawks, Kings, Lakers, Magic, D-League

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. ESPN The Magazine The Blog, via BDL. Investigating the birth of Nightmare Ant.

2. Third Quarter Collapse. Everyone thinks Hedo Turkoglu could be a great fit on the Lakers. Here's an exhaustive look at possibilities.

3. Chicago Tribune, via Blog-a-Bull. "[Derrick] Rose is having the best training camp of anybody on the team."

4. 48 Minutes of Hell. Joel Kimmel, the guy that does those awesome NBA portraits, has an art book coming out in a few weeks.

5. Ball Don't Lie. One-time European player Dominique Wilkins thinks Josh Childress made a bad move this summer. Of course, 'Nique works for the Hawks ...

6. The Blowtorch. More life lessons with Brad Miller.

Crystal Ballin': NBA Pacific Division

Brett PollakoffPosted Oct 7th 2008 10:00AM by Brett Pollakoff (author feed)
Filed under: Clippers, Kings, Lakers, Suns, Warriors


Check out FanHouse's NBA Preview.

Yesterday we had the overview; today we have the predictions. The Pacific Division appears to be no better than a two-team race, with a third team potentially in the mix, and the last two teams, well, finishing in last. Let's start things off in the cellar and work our way up, shall we?

The Los Angeles Clippers (again, regal) are going to have a tough go of it due to the enormous drop off in talent they have between their starting lineup and the players coming off the bench. In fact, if you want a visual of said drop off, go watch this, and pretend the guy jumping off the building is falling in the space between the talent of the Clippers' starting players and that of their bench players. And the parachute not opening represents the gigantic FAIL that the Clippers can expect this season anytime the bench takes the floor to try and hold onto a lead. It's not going to be pretty, folks.

Up north where the Golden State Warriors play, it won't be pretty either, at least for the first few months of the season. That's because their best player (apologies, Mr. Maggette) decided to engage in low-speed moped riding during the off-season (this still amazes me ... the moped = injury part), which will lead to his absence from the lineup, and an unavoidably bad start for the Warriors.
Continue Reading Crystal Ballin': NBA Pacific Division

Headlines to Watch: Pacific Division

Brett PollakoffPosted Oct 6th 2008 10:00AM by Brett Pollakoff (author feed)
Filed under: Clippers, Kings, Lakers, Suns, Warriors


Check out FanHouse's NBA Preview.

A season ago, the Pacific Division was able to send just two of its teams to the playoffs, but one of them went all the way to the Finals. And while that's not likely to change this season -- at least the part about the two playoff teams -- each club definitely has its share of intriguing story lines.

Let's start off in Los Angeles, where the Lakers' playoff run last season took place with one of the team's key components on the sidelines. There are always many stories in Laker-land, but a lot of the team's fans seem to be most interested in this one: With the return of Andrew Bynum, do the Lakers have a shot to win 70 games?

Despite the recent flood of positive Andrew Bynum stories hitting the L.A. papers lately (seriously, his P.R. machine is working overtime), I'm not convinced that his addition to the lineup automatically makes the Lakers unstoppable. There's the whole thing about figuring out how to co-exist with Pau Gasol, and how Lamar Odom will perform (likely) playing further away from the basket. When you add in the fact that even if the team was capable of winning 70 games, there's really no motivation to do so, unless someone else is on the same ridiculous pace and it would mean home court advantage.
Continue Reading Headlines to Watch: Pacific Division

Reggie Theus Goes Elk Hunting

Matt WatsonPosted Sep 12th 2008 7:15PM by Matt Watson (author feed)
Filed under: Kings, Western, NBA Videos

It's Friday, so you know what that means? It's time for the "NBA coach hunting big game" video of the week! Here's Reggie Theus and friends hunting elk in New Mexico. (via Sam Amick)



If you want to make any sense of what you just watched you'll have to read Shari Vialpando's story for the La Cruces Sun-News, which, to be perfectly honest, often reads like some kind of grotesque fan fiction:
Reggie blasted an arrow into the top of the animal's shoulder. The bull flipped onto its back kicking all four of his legs after being blasted by 90 foot-pounds of kinetic energy from 30 yards away.

Reggie let out a loud scream that jolted the bull, who quickly flipped himself over and ran in the opposite direction.

"I've never seen an elk flip over like that," Reggie said.

"Hurry Reggie, draw again," Joe whispered firmly.
Somewhere, someplace, Brad Miller is smiling.

Brad Miller on Weed, Booze, and Coping

Tom ZillerPosted Jul 18th 2008 5:23PM by Tom Ziller (author feed)
Filed under: Kings, NBA Police Blotter

Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee has a Q&A with Brad Miller that's well worth a read. Miller got caught on his third marijuana violation towards the end of the regular season, and had been mum on the subject since the league's announcement of his five-game suspension. With Amick, Miller opens up on his old demons and why he smoked.
All the stress gets to you, and this is one way to take my mind off of everything. I'll look for something different. [...] It's tough to sleep, you know. And you know, the people who might think I'm a bad guy for this. I'm not a bad guy. I'm still me. It's just one thing I thought would help. It obviously wasn't the right thing to do, but it was helpful to my mental state. [...] The thing is, I don't like drinking anymore. A couple years ago - I'll say it - I drank way too much and didn't like who I was. It wasn't good for my relationship and basketball and everything. I'm just trying to find a way to change out of that, that relief.
Bethlehem Shoals seems conflicted in that other known NBA smokers (Josh Howard, Lamar Odom) aren't offtered the calm understanding Amick gives in his question framing, but should be. I agree: calling Howard or Miller names for admitting to or getting caught smoking is immeasureably less valuable than hearing them out. Not to get all foo-foo, but more listening and less judging would be excellent. Someone call up and get David Harrison on to a couch.

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