FanHouse SalimStoudamire

It was pretty simple, actually. All Arizona had to do in the last seven days was get in a tournament they had no business being in, catch a lucky draw against a squad that couldn't handle the speed or pressure the Wildcats could bring and hope for the only 13-seed upset of the tournament to be their opponent in the second round. Pshhhh. That was simple.

In the second-round meeting against 13th-seeded Cleveland State, the Wildcats did what they've done best all year: rely on the big three and hope the reserve players don't hack the opposition with two seconds left when the game is tied. Oh, and in related news, Jamelle Horne had 15 points.

They were two of the most boneheaded plays you may ever see in college basketball, like Chris Webber somehow calling two timeouts instead of one.

The University of Arizona, battling the University of Alabama-Birmingham, was trailing most of the night in a contest to see who would advance to Madison Square Garden to face Oklahoma in the NIT semifinals, but then late in the game they started to come back. That comeback ended with two "seriously, guys?" fouls that could best be described as poorly coached and poorly executed.

After the Wildcats put together a comeback that had the team down three, Arizona's Garland Judkins got fouled, and after making the first and missing the second, freshman Kyle Fogg made a great play on the rebound, snatching it up, avoiding the defender and laying the ball in with just over 26 seconds left in the game. All tied at 71-71. Great. But what Fogg did next was inexplicable. The freshman, obviously confused on where he was or what the score was -- or even what game he was playing -- fouled Aaron Johnson right as the ball was inbounded, putting UAB on the line in a one-and-one opportunity.

As the foul happened, interim head coach Russ Pennell could only put his hands on his head in disbelief. You could almost read his mind, as you could most Wildcat fans, who probably have never played college basketball in their lives but know that when the game is tied you don't foul to put a guy on the line.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. The Sporting Blog. The way in which the NBA has dealt with mental illness is a sharp contrast from similar situations in the NFL.

2. Basketball Prospectus. Kevin Pelton's Pacific projections have the Warriors going ... 48-34. Andris Biedrins, people!

3. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. As we all feared, Ramon Sessions is locked in a battle for the Bucks back-up point guard spot with ... Tyronn Lue. The starter? Luke Ridnour. What a world.

4. Memphis Commercial-Appeal. Marc Iavaroni indicates Javaris Crittenton isn't an integral part of the Grizzlies' plans.

5. San Antonio Express-News. Salim Stoudamire isn't the Rosetta Stone for the Spurs after all.

6. Forum Blue and Gold. Taking individual metrics to project the success a team (the Lakers, in this case) will have.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. Bend It Like Bennett. The Thunder are selling "rivalry packs" of tickets focused on the old war with Portland: "The Portland Trailblazers and Oklahoma City Thunder will continue to duke it out for Northwest* supremacy, but perhaps we need to give this series a new name. We could call it the 'I-84 to I-80 to I-25 to I-70 to I-35' Rivalry."

2. Blog-a-Bull. On the chances Ben Gordon can get paid in '09.

3. The Bratwurst. Milwaukee has some saucy looking alternate jerserys this season.

4. True Hoop. Abbott doesn't understand why people think Stephon Marbury can help anyone.

5. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Salim Stoudamire has the 'fro going, and is read to hit Texas.

6. Orange County Register. Good news Lakers fans: "Andrew Bynum lay on the floor, his feet having been knocked out from beneath him on an alley oop pass during a recent pick up game. He got up immediately. No hesitation. No second thoughts. More importantly, no pain."

And one bad story of the day: The Big Lead. TBL writes about the retirement of the "reliable yet oft-injured" Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Reliable. Oft-injured. Reliable. Oft-injured. Something. Doesn't. Add. Up. (It's the "oft-injured" part. And the part where he blames Reef for not getting enough wins, man. Damn you, Shareef! Why didn't you ever want to win?! Can't you for once help your team try to win?!?!) For the record, until last season, Abdur-Rahim played in 94% of all possible regular season games.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. The Oregonian. Rudy Fernandez has made landfall. Cheer appropriately, you lucky Blazers fans you.

2. SLC Dunk. A great Jazz blog interviews a Jazz great: Mark Eaton (Part II is here.)

3. The Blowtorch. Salim Stoudamire's open, man.

4. Upside and Motor, via TSB. Who will think of Boris Diaw? (Put your hand down, Miss G.)

5. Hoops Avenue. Carnival of the NBA #60.

6. Ridiculous Upside. Yep, even the D-League has an expansion draft!

The Arizona Daily Star reports Hawk bench buddy Salim Stoudamire has signed a deal to join the Spurs (via SLAM). I know, I know ... even Roger Mason is bored by this news. But hear me out: Salim can help the Spurs a ton.

The Spurs have been a team which relies on three things on offense: the post play of Tim Duncan, the slashing ability of Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, and potent three-point shooting from a cast of role players. Historically, two of the three most important of those three-bombing role players have been Robert Horry and Brent Barry. Horry retired (or "was forced to retire because no one wants to pay him," if you want to get semantic). Barry plays for the Rockets. Bruce Bowen and Michael Finley remain, but turn 57 and 55 respectively* this year. Ime Udoka and Matt Bonner sit in the sidecar, but Gregg Popovich showed only mild levels of faith in them last year.

The one constant with Stoudamire: dude can shoot. Let's ignore last season, when he only totaled 400 minutes. Look at all seasons, college and pro, when he actually got a shot. Here are his three-point shooting percentages: 45% as a college freshman, 44% as a sophomore, 42% as a junior, 50% as a senior, 38% as a rookie, 36% as a second-year player. The league average is 36%, and the Spurs are accustomed to shooting slightly higher. Salim helps that, yes?

While Mason shot beautifully last season in D.C., his record indicates middling success from long range. Stoudamire shot poorly last season, but his record indicates strong aptitude for the longball. S.A. has made a brilliant hedge here: if Mason can't shoot appropriately well, and Pop needs some bench firepower for the guard position -- Bonner and Udoka aren't guards -- there is an option. He may not quite become Barry for a New Age, but there's an opportunity to hit some big, big shots here. Great move for everyone involved.


* On further review, Bowen actually only turns 37. Finley turns 35.

This post is not facetious, honest. As my FanHouse brother Bethlehem Shoals and a good cross-section of die-cast NBA fans have discovered the past few years, the Hawks have become the embodiment of something special. Of course, they've also sucked this entire century. In fact, here's a run-down of Atlanta's record after 20 games in each of the past eight years: 8-12, 4-16, 4-16, 6-14, 10-10, 6-14, 4-16, 9-11. So yeah, it's sort of a big deal the Hawks have managed to hit .500 at the 20-game mark for only the second time this decade.

More impressive? A big wire-to-wire win in Orlando last night to get there. Josh Smith managed to cram 25 points, 16 rebounds, five assists and four blocks into his duffle bag. Joe Johnson did not allow his recently reacquired swag to sneak away. Anthony Johnson threw down his mask and revealed he's the point guard the Hawks have always been looking for.

Yahoo!'s Kelly Dwyer notes Atlanta's need for another big to spell Al Horford (who suffered from foul trouble) and Shelden Williams (who suffered from awesome!). It almost seems like Atlanta's one of those teams who makes a possibly risky but certainly ballsy move at the deadline to really give the playoff push some oomf. Maybe add a reserve big man and a low-maintenance veteran point guard, like an Andre Miller, while letting one of the promising but underused prospects (Salim Stoudamire?) slip away. Then you remember this front office is a'shambles, and it seems impossible to get any deals done in this environment, and well... those happy thoughts go away. Smile while you can.