FanHouse EricSnow

Earlier this week, the NBA detailed a content partnership with the Turner-owned Cartoon Network. The first fruits of the deal have a face now, as the NBA has announced Eddie House and his 7-year-old son Jaelen will star in a live-action show called My Dad's a Pro beginning this fall.

House plays for the Celtics, a journeyman who has done time in Miami, Sacramento, Phoenix and New Jersey. His stint in Phoenix, in particular, has helped build a persona as a real personality -- Jack McCallum's Seven Seconds or Less paints House (or "Casa," as he had been dubbed) as the locker room's real wild card. He's built on that reputation in Boston as the Celtics' designated assassin -- he isn't exactly shy about letting the world know when he hits a big shot.

It's hard to believe now, but once upon a time the Central Division was a powerhouse. As recent as 2006 it sent all five of its teams to the playoffs, and in 2007 it featured the top three records in the East. But last year? Only two made it to the postseason, including the disappointing Cavs, who followed up their NBA Finals appearance by winning five fewer games than the season before and failing to score as many points as they gave up.

Can the Central regain its luster in 2008-09? Well, the Pistons are still the Pistons, which means their ticket to the postseason is already punched, and the Cavs are tagging along for the ride so long as LeBron James is around. The Bulls, Pacers and Bucks will still bring up the rear, but at least there's honest-to-goodness hope they're headed in the right direction after making a series of offseason moves. Let's take a look at the most compelling storylines.

The Bulls are taking their time with this whole "finding a coach" thing, interviewing just about anyone with a shred of interest in the job. According to Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times, John Paxson has already talked with ...deep breath ... Lakers assistants Brian Shaw and Kurt Rambis, current Jazz assistant Tyrone Corbin and former T'Wolves coach Dwane Casey -- and that's just this week!

Paxson was also scheduled to meet with Jeff Hornacek today and Kings assistant Chuck Person sometime this weekend, as well as John Lucas and Eric Snow sometime in the yet to be determined future. And, of course, don't forget about Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau, who won't get permission from his current employer until Boston completes their playoff run.

Oh, and remember Avery Johnson? Forget what you heard about him giving Chicago the cold shoulder. Now that the Bulls have the No. 1 pick, he's had a change of heart and was expected to talk to Paxson today.

Count 'em up: that's 10 names, and that doesn't include Mark Jackson, who already interviewed, nor Pistons assistants Terry Porter and Michael Curry, who have been suggested as candidates in the past. Do you notice a recurring theme with all these names? With the exception of Thibodeau and Casey, they're all former players, which makes you wonder if a career coach who never had the chance to rub elbows with Paxson as a player stands much of a chance.

If anything good happened to the Cavs last night, it was Larry Hughes. Hughes is too banged-up to stay with Parker or get to the basket himself, which means he's useless. He's no pure point guard, so don't look for him to become a distributor. Yanking him from the starting line-up wouldn't be a gamble for Brown--it's the only sane thing to do.

The question is, would they go with Daniel Gibson or Eric Snow? On the surface, this looks like an easy offense/defense decision. But in terms of raw speed, which is a lot of Parker's game, Gibson's in better shape. And while Boobie is looking like the second-most scoring-est Cav, Snow has playoff experience and understands the mid-range game.

It probably comes down to how the Cavs approach guarding Parker. Snow is stronger, a more sound defender, and more likely to keep Parker in check. On the other hand, that assumes he can be checked. If Brown's thinking that his player should just hang on for dear life, then Gibson might be the better choice. Think about it this way: if Parker's going to get around Snow, the basket's guaranteed. Gibson will make mistakes, but in theory he can stay with Parker all the way to the hoop.

Obviously, it's not going to be an either/or decision. We'll probably see more of both players, as well as a healthy dose of Pavlovic. Should be interesting, though, to see if one emerges as the clear favorite, or who Brown has on the floor in certain key situations. Provided there are any of those in this series.

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