FanHouse Thabo Sefolosha

Talks have ended and no contract extension is expected on Utah guard Ronnie Brewer by Monday's deadline, his agent told FanHouse on Friday.

"Kevin (O'Connor, Utah's general manager) and I have talked, but we have a different point of view (on contract figures),'' said agent Henry Thomas.

Barring the unexpected, Thomas said no more talks are expected to take place by Monday's deadline of players from the 2006 first round able to sign extensions that will kick in for the 2010-11 season. Thomas said the final talks with O'Connor were Friday.

Oklahoma City has signed guard Thabo Sefolosha to a contract extension to beat Saturday's deadline, his agent confirmed Wednesday to FanHouse.

The agent, Guy Zucker, had told FanHouse on Monday an agreement wouldn't be reached. But he said everything began to change by Tuesday when the Thunder stepped forward with an improved offer.

The deal is for four years, starting with next season. Zucker would not comment on dollars.

Saturday is Halloween, but don't expect many NBA owners and general managers in this shaky economy to dress up as Bill Gates and throw money around.

Oct. 31 is the annual deadline for one-time first-round picks entering their fourth seasons to be eligible to sign extensions that would kick in for their fifth seasons. For stars, it's a chance to land their first really big contract.

But much is silent as the deadline approaches, meaning the overwhelming number of eligible players from the 2006 first round will become restricted free agents next summer. Three players from that draft -- Andrea Bargnani of Toronto and LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy of Portland -- have inked extensions, but not a lot more activity is expected.

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.

During the ABC pregame and halftime shows Sunday, the panel somehow argued that Tony Parker is underrated and should be mentioned in the same breaths as Chris Paul and Deron Williams. Later, it was decided that Williams is wildly overrated. I guess this makes Paul overrated, or something. I don't know. I'm confused.

All I know is that D-Will went off against the Raptors, offering up 25 points and nine assists. Sure, Parker also went big with 30 points and nine assists. But Parker had six turnovers. Williams offered just one.

The 3 PM ET trade deadline in the NBA has come and gone, and while there were plenty of big names rumored to be on the move, few teams actually had the guts to pull the trigger. There were plenty of deals made, however, including one that might have one Eastern Conference team feeling like it's back in the title conversation. A wrap-up of today's events after the jump.

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

Cup of Coffee
Interestingly, Chris Quinn is not, to my immediate knowledge, injured. Yet he did not play last night against the Bulls. Why? Because Marcus Banks got 21 minutes of backup point guard time for Jason Williams. Marcus scored nine points and recorded four turnovers with four personal fouls. Auspicious at best, indeed. However, Banks is probably more talented and certainly better than anything his time in Phoenix showed and if he's going to get between 20 and 30 minutes a game, he's definitely worth at least taking a flier on.

Hot CakesThabo Sefolosha stayed hot heading into the All Star Break, scoring 17 points with 12 boards and four steals. In February, he's averaging 14 points, six boards, three and a half assists and a block and steal per game each. There's certainly some question as to whether or not he will keep starting/playing big minutes when everyone gets healthy, but Ben Gordon has been mentioned a lot in trade talks, and if he gets shipped, Thabo will have value for the rest of the season. I say take the gamble and "buy high".

The alleged altercation between Joakim Noah and Ben Wallace following Tuesday's game has received more publicity than it ever actually deserved, especially in hindsight as we discover it was completely blown out of proportion. Steve Kyler of HOOPSWORLD was one of the first reporters to enter the Bulls' locker room, and in talking with several players, pieced together exactly what happened:

Here is basically what happened – as retold to me: Joakim and Thabo Sefolosha were talking to each other in French, when out of the blue Joakim started "talking" in English loudly, saying something about people laughing after being blown out by 30 points, and how he was punished for comments about a coach, but it seemed OK to lose by 30.

Ben Wallace simply told Noah that nothing he was going to say was going to change the loss and he had to let it go and get ready for the next one – and apparently Joakim wouldn't and the two continued jawing at each other in a loud, open way.

And that was that -- it ended long before things got physical or players had to be restrained. All in all, it was just a verbal spat between teammates after an embarrassing loss. I can understand why Noah takes losing so harshly -- he's already lost more games as a pro (22) than he did in three years at Florida (19). Wallace, on the other hand, is a seasoned pro who understands one loss in January, no matter how embarrassing, won't make or break a season. (It was the 3-13 start that did them in -- they've actually played .500 ball since the end of the November.)

It's always easier to have a clear-cut villain and hero, but neither player really seems to be in the wrong, although Noah obviously carries a bit more resentment about the team's veterans voting to suspend him than he's publicly let on.

Under Scott Skiles, the Bulls have become a team renowned for hustle and no-nonsense professionalism. For some of us, this is a drag, though we're probably the kind of people who don't deserve to watch basketball in the first place. But lo, there is hope. The above shows part-time Bull and full-time Swissman Thabo Sefolosha in international play, pulling off a move that would make vintage Tracy McGrady blush. T-Mac's auto-oops were in transition, but this one goes down in a stalled half court. If there's anything a defense shouldn't let the ball-handler get away with, it's this.

Combining our recent tradition of videos featuring athletes singing and athletes speaking in foreign languages, here's Thabo Sefolosha singing in a foreign language. I don't have any idea what he's saying (any Francophones want to help out?), but considering he's from Switzerland I'm sure it has something to do with chocolate, tax-free bank accounts and cheese ... which, as luck would have it, are my three favorite things -- I'm totally buying the CD. Tony Parker, watch your back.

Hat-tip to Kelly Dwyer, who's the only reason I'm cool with Henry Abbott taking the occasional day off.

Playoff Revelations honors playoff players without big names, but who are having a big impact in the postseason.

Kirk Hinrich does a pretty good job defensively against Dwyane Wade ... at least, as good a job as anyone could expect. So when Hinrich went to the bench with foul trouble on Saturday, you might've thought the Bulls were in a little bit of trouble. 'Twas not the case, though.

Thabo Sefolosha (and I'm sorry, TrueHoop, but I can't call him "Swiss Mister" ... it's clever, but it makes me think of hot chocolate and Martina Hingis, and that makes my mind wonder to places from which it doesn't like to come back) stepped in for Chicago, and D'd Wade up even better than Hinrich. Why was he able to do this? Because he's 6'7", has a 7'0" wingspan, has quick feet, and plays for Scott Skiles. Through genetics and circumstance, he doesn't really have a choice.

Of course, some of this was because Wade isn't completely healthy. Regardless, Sefolosha, in the time he spent guarding him, took Wade completely out of the game. Luol Deng turned Wade into Smush Parker on the defensive end, and Sefolosha turned him into Smush Parker on the offensive end. It's gotta be nice for Scott Skiles to know he has this option later in the series.

I don't know if Sefolosha will continue to be a huge factor in this series, mainly because Kirk Hinrich isn't likely to be picking up a bunch of quick fouls every game. Sefolosha got 18 minutes, after averaging just 12.9 on the last month of the season. Even if he doesn't have this kind of an impact again in the series, he deserves some shine for what he did in Game 1.