FanHouse Chris Duhon

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.

Folks, when people talk about great players making everyone around them better, they're talking about Chauncey Billups.

He led the Nuggets in a 132-93 romp over the Raptors last night, scoring 24 points with 14 assists and just one turnover. That's an impressive line, but it's hardly mind-boggling given the score. But you know what is mind-boggling? How about the +48 Billups tallied in the new-fangled plus/minus column! He was efficient, too, racking up those gaudy numbers in just 32 minutes.

With the win, the Nuggets improved to 13-6 on the season, tying the franchise record for the most wins through 19 games. Yeah, I suppose you could say Denver came out ahead in last month's trade with Detroit. Even Cheikh Samb, who came over with Billups from the Pistons, got some burn last night, scoring four points with six boards and a pair of blocks in eight minutes.

The Knicks ultimately decided Cuttino Mobley's heart condition wasn't worth holding up their salary dump trade with the Clippers, but it doesn't mean that they're comfortable allowing Mobley on the court.

Since being acquired by the Knicks, Mobley has failed at least two heart tests, and he's set to undergo more tests over the next few days. Donnie Walsh confirmed that Mobley won't play the rest of the week. When asked if Mobley will play again this season, Walsh said, "I don't know that. We're taking the right precautions."

It must be odd for Clippers fans to hear Walsh speak in such ominous tones -- not only was Mobley playing before the trade, he was playing well. He last suited up a week ago today, tallying a season-high 23 points with seven steals in a win over the Thunder, and in 11 games this year he's averaged 14 points in 33 minutes.

That said, heart conditions can be tricky and don't always show themselves until too late, so if the Knicks think they found something, it's better to be safe than sorry. The downside, though, is that the Knicks will be terribly short-handed in the meantime, especially after Nate Robinson strained his groin last night. He's expected to miss a week, which means the Knicks will be down to just two healthy guards (ahem, not named Stephon Marbury) available tonight against the Pistons -- here's to hoping Chris Duhon and Anthony Roberson feel like playing 48.

FanHouse was all credentialed up for Saturday night's Wizards-Knicks game in New York. Here's a report from Madison Square Garden.

They dressed eight players, but only played seven. Their five starters put in more than 40 minutes of work apiece, while their $20 million man declined an offer to suit up and play for his team. At times they looked gassed, and they nearly squandered a sizeable lead late in the game.

Yet the scrappy New York Knicks still somehow managed to pull off a very surprising -- and very inspiring -- 122-117 home win against the Washington Wizards Saturday night.

In fact, the only unsurprising thing about the Knicks' triumph was the fact that, despite a selfless and energized team effort, the talk in the locker room after the game was ultimately about New York's next game: a visit from the King of 2010, LeBron James, next Tuesday.

I'm a native of Los Angeles, yet for some reason I always find myself watching a majority of the Knicks games on television. This season, I've watched the new look Knicks under Mike D'Antoni and have been scratching my head with a few things. The number one thing is the benching of Stephon Marbury.

Say what you will about Marbury, but he is an immensely better point guard than Chris Duhon. D'Antoni's system needs a point guard that can push the ball, penetrate and dish. Duhon does none of those things well. This became very clear to me last night when the Knicks would have great spacing, but couldn't get open shots because their point guard couldn't penetrate, draw defenders, and kick out to open shooters or cutters. The only time this happened in the entire game was when Nate Robinson was handling the point guard duties.

So, for whatever reason, people in New York feel like a Chris Duhon interview would be awesome, so they're airing it on television. Normally, I would scoff.

However, there's a pretty crazy little excerpt that the New York Post pulled out and ran in their politico-gossip-sports section today, in which Duhon says that Barack Obama is a total smack-talker while on the court.

"He talks the whole time. He's never quiet." In an interview with MSG's Jill Martin airing tomorrow, Duhon said he played the Illinois senator in a pickup game in Chicago, where Duhon played for the Bulls. "What are some of the things he would say?" Martin asked. " 'You can't guard me!' Just random talk," Duhon replied. "He knows the game. He's like a point guard out there, and so he's always telling guys where to go, what to do, very vocal." Who won? "Oh, I won - he may be running for president, but I'm not going to let him win, not going to take it easy on him. I don't take it easy on anyone."

Bit by bit, this guy is winning me over. Then I remember he's a Carolina fan. But allegiance aside, I very much like the idea of a [potential] future President making sure to run his mouth on the hardwood. It's just so ... Mavericky.

Oh, and Duhon -- come on, dude. No one actually believes you won. Barack's in tip-top shape; it's not like he's been smoking for years or anything.

Via MachoChip

In the past, the Knicks locker room sounded like a pretty tense place, what with all the constant losing, players sniping about roles and PR flaks giving beat reporters the evil eye.

Donnie Walsh promised he'd help change the atmosphere of the entire organization, and his decision to bring in a player's coach in Mike D'Antoni was sure to help the locker room mood ... right? As Marc Berman of the New York Post describes it, let's just say it's a work in progress:

Mike, do us a favor? Play Patrick Ewing Jr. in Boston Friday. It's time. Ewing has three straight DNPs and even got grumpy in the locker room. He brusquely asked a reporter, who was interviewing Chris Duhon next to his locker, to move away from his airspace. Hey Patrick, this ain't Georgetown.

On that note, there was another telling moment in the locker room tonight. Stephon Marbury told a writer to move away from inside his locker-room cubicle as he emerged from the shower. The two had an exchange, nothing big. The more telling part was Jamal Crawford motioning to a couple of media members to check out the scene. It's apparent which combo guard wants Marbury out of town.

I won't hold it against a player for telling a reporter to move -- after all, the locker room is the players' domain, and reporters should anticipate that the tall, wet guys walking around wearing towels want to get to their clothes. That said, the most interesting nugget from Berman's anecdote is obviously Crawford's decidely un-Crawsome decision to draw attention to Marbury's tiff. It's going to take a bit more cooperation than selling out your teammate to get this little experiment to work, fellas.

When the Knicks opened training camp, Stephen Marbury wasn't shy about his demands expectations -- the money quote was, "I'm not coming off the bench here in New York." Less than two weeks later, though, he's already changed his tune. From Marc Berman of the New York Post:

"I don't want to go through any more distractions," Marbury told The Post. "I want all of us to concentrate on winning and not if I'm going to start or not. I want us to be able to go forward. If the Knicks want me to come off the bench, that's what I'm going to do. I just want to win a championship in New York because we as New Yorkers deserve a chip."

Of course, it's one thing to say all right things now, before the first tip-off of the first preseason game, and it's another to still mean it come December or January when the Knicks are riding a 10-game losing streak. To his credit, though, Marbury finally seems genuinely concerned about his status as a locker room pariah. Why didn't he seem to care last season? Perhaps because Isiah Thomas was equally responsible for all of the drama and controversy.

This year, with a new coach that's still universally revered by the fans, players and media, even Marbury has to realize that he's solely responsible for whatever fate awaits him. If he embraces his role as a sixth-man behind Chris Duhon and handles the switch from point guard to shooting guard, he still has a chance to re-write his legacy. If he pouts and makes life uncomfortable, he'll cement his status as one of the franchise's biggest mistakes.

You have to feel a little sorry for Stephon Marbury. Not only is today the day that Steve & Barry's, the company that produces his signature shoe line, expected to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but it's also the day that Chris Duhon, the man Donnie Walsh recruited to replace him in the starting lineup, can officially sign with the Knicks.

But while losing his biggest endorsement and (most likely) his starting gig has to sting, at least he can go to bed at night sleeping on a pile of money. He's set to make $21 million this year, the final year of his contract, and there's a good chance he won't have to do anything to earn it. While he's still going through the motions of preparing to play for the Knicks this year, no one on the team actually expects that he'll be around come the start of the season. From Alah Hahn of Newsday:

Most of the Knicks players aren't expecting Marbury to be there, despite his reported plans to come to Las Vegas this weekend to participate in voluntary workouts with other Knicks veterans while the team prepares for the NBA Summer League opener Monday. Marbury's effort to show up in Vegas is viewed by some teammates as a ploy, not a sincere effort.

"He's trying to show he's still dedicated," said one Knicks player, who asked not to be identified. "Come on, man, your teammates know. We see it every year."

It did not take long for the Sacramento Kings to lock up their point guard of the future (I'm not crowning him, but he will be there for the foreseeable portion of it), as Sam Amick is reporting that the Kings and Beno Udrih have agreed to a five year deal that will pay him $30 million.

The deal for the fifth-year point guard can officially be signed when the free agency moratorium lifts on July 8. According to numerous sources, Udrih received the full five-year deal for the entire midlevel exception (approximately $6 million per season).

"It's good for everybody," Cornstein said. "They've expressed tremendous interest not just starting at 12:01 last night New York time but really from the get go.

"They took a chance on Beno when he was really kind of an outcast from San Antonio, and put him in a fantastic position and believed in him and gave him a chance to run their team. I think he's great for Sacramento, and I think Sacramento is great for him."

Whether he is great for Sacramento remains to be seen, because Beno does have his issues as an on-the-floor leader and distributor. However, out of the remaining options available to the Kings (all-in on Gilbert -- unlikely -- or someone like Chris Duhon) he was clearly the most realistically appealing.

Beno's return gives the Kings essentially the same roster from last season, injury aside, that actually made some noise in a tough Western Conference. And even if he's not the perfect slam dunk, the Kings locked up their starting point guard without having to sacrifice any other parts.

Every night there are some stupendous, silly, stupid, or downright outlandish individual lines from around the L. Doing Lines lets you know which one tops the list.

With just two games on the slate it's slim pickin' in terms of finding an interesting line of the night. For lack of better alternatives, I'll go with Jason Terry, who had a decent enough game with 29 points on 12-23 shooting but only three assists.

In fact, his three assists accounted for all of the assists the Mavericks got out of their three guards (Eddie Jones had none in 38 minutes and Jose Juan Barea had none in 23) on Thursday. Dirk Nowitzki had four dimes, Devean George one and ... that's it.

Yes, as a team, the Mavs finished with eight freaking assists. Yeah, maybe adding Jason Kidd to the mix (or at least getting Devin Harris healthy) isn't that bad of an idea. With such little ball movement, it's not all that surprising the Mavs fell to the Suns 109-97.

Also Receiving Votes:
Chris Duhon: He scored only three points (1-5 shooting) but also tallied eight assists in only 26 minutes. Seriously, Dallas, pass the ball. When Chris freaking Duhon matches the output of your entire team, you know something is messed up.

Leandro Barbosa: He scored 26 on 7-13 from the field and 11-11 from the stripe. That's a lot of free throws without a miss, eh? (Yeah, I'm stretching. I told you there wasn't much to pick from ...)