You're going to have to forgive us here in the early season for a bit. If we don't report on trends that are developing, we're ignoring what we're seeing. If we do tell you what we see, we're over-emphasizing games that are so young in this season that they can't even legally get into a screening of New Moon.
Basically, that's my way of imploring you to remember that we do take these things with a gigantic mountain of salt, but here's what happened. And trust me, the Spurs are going to want to brush this one off.
Perenially disappointing France dropped some jaws today by destroying Italy in last-gasp Eurobasket qualifying, ratcheting up a 81-61 win on the cape of healed Tony Parker (23 points, 5 assists). The French have assured themselves a place in the Eurobasket play-in game, which will be decided late next week. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the likely foe, though Belgium (where Parker was born) can bully in.
The Italians had been the favorite to move on from the qualifier, but they're bruschetta toast. Not only will Italy miss Eurobasket for the first time since 1961, but the Azzurri will also likely miss the 2010 World Championships. It could be argued that the break-up of Yugoslavia and the U.S.S.R. has hurt Italy's performance, as a host of Slavic states and former Soviet republics have leaped the Italians in international competition.
A few years ago, when I began to get interested in European basketball, it was difficult to grok just how important a tournament Eurobasket is. In the United States, the only international competition we tend to care about is the Olympics, with the World Championships an event that usually registers as a blip instead a marquee. But it's really different in Europe.
The championship of Europe -- Eurobasket, a biannual tournament -- is as big as the Olympics or the Worlds for ballers in the Old World. Legends are made in the tournament, and reputations earned. This year's European Championship kicks off in September. But beginning today, six teams will battle to grab the last spot in the tournament.
Tony Parker, training with the French national team in advance of the Eurobasket 2009 qualifying tournament, suffered what appeared to be a minor ankle injury during a scrimmage against Austria last week. He left the gym on crutches, but an MRI executed by the French and overseen by a Spurs official on location revealed no ligament damage. Parker planned to be ready for this Wednesday's tournament opener against Italy.
In the dog days of summer, every NBA team is filled with championship dreams.
OK, that's a crock of Jerome James-flavored gumbo. Most teams are well aware that the only gold at the end of an NBA season's rainbow is named Jose. And I'm not talking about just the Clippers or Kings here. I'm also talking about the Hawks and Sixers and Hornets and Jazz. There are only a handful of teams that are genuinely in the hunt. And most champions will tell you it takes a precious combination of talent, obscenely hard work, and lots and lots of luck to cash in the ticket to immortality. Some teams expect to contend for a championship. Rarely does any team expect to win a championship, if it's not currently holding the ring (or waiting for it to arrive in the mail).
The San Antonio Spurs, of course, are a pretty rare team. And they have been for the last decade. And much of their success is due to their equally rare head coach.
When I was six, I lifted a pack of gum from a grocery store. I was quickly busted by my mom as I tried to eat the gum, immediately, in the car. After my Dad got through with me, including, and this was not the most severe bit, duct taping the window shut, removing the light bulb and putting a towel at the door overnight when I was afraid of the dark, he asked me a question. "What could you possibly have been thinking?"
There's a dude in San Antonio that makes six-year-old me look like a freaking genius.
Our story begins at the house of San Antonio Spurs superstar point guard Tony Parker.
Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash presented the 2nd annual "Showdown in Chinatown" charity soccer event on Wednesday in downtown New York City. The game benefited the Steve Nash and Claudio Reyna Foundations, and was an 8-on-8 match filled with NBA and soccer greats. Predictably, NBA stars Chris Bosh and Grant Hill didn't fare as well as the likes of Thierry Henry and Edgar Davids. However, international hoopsters, Nash and Tony Parker, definitely held their own on the pitch. Okay, now I'm just name-dropping. Check out FanHouse's look at what was a fun, if not somewhat awkward, game of soccer. The video is below.
San Antonio needed a major infusion of offensive talent this season, and it appears the team has found it. Multiple league reports indicate the Spurs have traded for Milwaukee's Richard Jefferson, sending away only bit players Bruce Bowen (age 38), Kurt Thomas (age 36) and Fabricio Oberto (age 34), according to Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Jefferson has been in Wisconsin for one year, following last June's draft day trade which sent Yi Jianlian and others to New Jersey. Jefferson has always been a moderately efficient scorer, and he should provide some relief for Tony Parker and Tim Duncan in the Spurs starting line-up. He's not quite an ace defender, but he played hard for Scott Skiles last season and hasn't missed a game in two seasons.
After two putrid drafts, the NBA returned to form in 2001 -- but not right away. This draft will forever be known as the day Michael Jordan transformed from the greatest player on Earth to a below average general manager. With the No. 1 overall pick, Jordan held the fate of the Washington Wizards in the same hands that dunked on many of opponent, and he had a rich variety of players for which to don the savior of the franchise.
And he chose Kwame Brown. It really wasn't Kwame's fault. He was the victim of an amazing workout that impressed Jordan so much -- was this thing on video? -- that Air was convinced Brown would emerge as an All-Star. The brutal truth is that this prep player from Georgia faded into one of the biggest busts in draft history, hanging out in the same club as LaRue Martin, Joe Barry Carroll and Michael Olowokandi.
There have been many debates over the MVP award over the last few years -- from Kobe v. LeBron to the merits of Steve Nash's back-to-back awards. You can debate all you want about who should have won each year's MVP, but it is clear that a particular season's MVP is no longer likely to have playoff success.
With LeBron James' elimination at the hands of the Orlando Magic, this season marks the eighth time this decade that the MVP hasn't won the championship, and the sixth time that the MVP hasn't even made it to the NBA Finals. Compare those numbers to the 1990s, when the winner of the MVP award made the NBA Finals seven times and the won the championship five times.
You're going to have to forgive us here in the early season for a bit. If we don't report on trends that are developing, we're ignoring what we're seeing. If we do tell you what we see, we're over-emphasizing games that are so young in this season that they can't even legally get into a screening of New Moon. 
Perenially disappointing France dropped some jaws today by destroying Italy in last-gasp Eurobasket qualifying, ratcheting up 
A few years ago, when I began to get interested in European basketball, it was difficult to grok just how important a tournament Eurobasket is. In the United States, the only international competition we tend to care about is the Olympics, with the World Championships an event that usually registers as a blip instead a marquee. But it's really different in Europe. 
When I was six, I lifted a pack of gum from a grocery store. I was quickly busted by my mom as I tried to eat the gum, immediately, in the car. After my Dad got through with me, including, and this was not the most severe bit, duct taping the window shut, removing the light bulb and putting a towel at the door overnight when I was afraid of the dark, he asked me a question. "What could you possibly have been thinking?"
Phoenix Suns point guard 
San Antonio needed a major infusion of offensive talent this season, and it appears the team has found it. Multiple league reports indicate 
There have been many debates over the MVP award over the last few years -- from Kobe v. LeBron to the merits of 
