FanHouse Raja Bell

I would say this is poor timing for the Bobcats, but really, is there a good time to have any of your players tear a wrist ligament? Because to me, what Raja Bell suffered this week, a partial tear in his left wrist in a preseason game against Utah, is not something that's ever good.

But the implications are more than just "lost a veteran player" for the Cats. This injury impacts them on multiple levels and springs more than one leak on the good ship Bobcats.

Plus, it probably hurts a lot, too.

Allen Iverson is arguably the top name on the albeit limited 2009 free agency list. And though his stint in Detroit could accurately be described as disastrous, and his skills are diminished with age, he's still The Answer, and scorers of his mold will always be sought after.

Except by his former coach from Philadelphia. Kind of.

Larry Brown said this week that while he 'loves' Allen, he doesn't see a reunion between the hard-line coach and the temperamental superstar next season with the Charlotte Bobcats. What's surprising is in saying that, he's looking out not for his own squad, but for Iverson.

As teams get eliminated from the 2009 NBA playoff picture, Fork 'Em figures out what went wrong.

"Love bravely, live bravely, be courageous, there's really nothing to lose." -Jewel

And really, what says "Charlotte Bobcats" like Jewel?

The Lottery is littered with teams that failed to meet expectations. Their hopes broken, their efforts for naught, they're left with nothing but frustration and depression. They limp towards the offseason with hope for nothing more than pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.

You don't get that feeling from the Bobcats.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

There are many French players in the NBA. But if there is one team that has more of a French connection than most, it's the Charlotte Bobcats. In this video we talk to NBA star Raja Bell, who tells us he loves French people -- but as far as as his teammates -- well, that's another story. We also hear from Frenchman Boris Diaw, Sean Singletary -- who is American, but understands French -- as well as Cartier Martin, who is proud to have a French name. And then there's always Alexis Ajinca, who is French but says people here don't believe that he's from France.

Check out the video after the jump.

When a trade goes down like Wednesday's five-player deal between the Suns and the Bobcats, it has ramifications beyond those of the players involved simply changing zip codes. The teams have to make the adjustment of bringing the new players into their family unit, and the players that remain need to come to grips with the fact that people they trusted on the court and befriended off of it are no longer a part of the family.

It seems that no one realizes this more than Steve Nash.

Nash will tell you himself that he was pretty stunned by the news of the trade, as Raja Bell was his best friend on the team, and left town without a proper goodbye. (Bell texted Nash from the airport, as he didn't want to wake him from his pregame nap.) Nash admitted after Wednesday night's game against the Lakers that he was "emotionally drained," and his 2-of-12 shooting backed up that assertion.

The surprise of the loss of a close friend being shipped out of town without warning likely makes one think about what else might be in the pipeline as far as changes are concerned.

We have our second deal of the NBA day, and it's way more interesting than the first one. It's being reported that the Suns are sending Raja Bell, Boris Diaw, and Sean Singletary to Charlotte, in exchange for Jason Richardson, Jared Dudley, and a second round draft choice in the magical year of 2010.

Steve Kerr explained some of what he likes about J-Rich:

"He's athletic and gives us a really potent offensive player," Suns General Manager Steve Kerr said. "He's also an excellent defensive player and he's in his prime. He's a very high-character guy and well-regarded around the league for his professionalism."

Bell and Diaw both played big minutes in Terry Porter's rotation, but that shouldn't be an issue for Richardson, as he's been averaging over 35 minutes per game this season. Bell has been known as a solid perimeter defender and three-point shooter, but Richardson shoots a similar percentage from downtown, and defends well enough that there shouldn't be too big of a drop-off on that end of the floor.

After the Suns dropped their season opener to the Hornets, there were some rumblings that Raja Bell may not have been on the same page as his new head coach Terry Porter. Bell was yanked in the first quarter of that game after shooting a three-pointer that probably wasn't an ideal shot at the time, and sat for the remainder of the half. He came out and played well in the second half, but remained frustrated after the team's loss, giving a response of "no comment" when asked about his second quarter benching. It appeared there was some heat brewing between Bell and Porter. If that was the case though, everything seems to be just fine now.

Before the Suns' win over the Blazers, when asked if he had to address anything with Raja after the last game, Porter laughed it off and chided the media for trying to make a story out of something that wasn't there.

"Come on man, get off the Raja stuff," Porter said lightheartedly and with a smile. "Enough already with Raja, y'all are killing me with that. We are so good, I mean, there is nothing wrong with Raja and I." If you saw how Raja played against Portland, you would have no choice but to believe that Porter was telling the truth.

34-13 is all you need to know about the whoopin' that the Phoenix Suns put on the San Antonio Spurs Sunday afternoon. That was the score after the first half, and even Gregg Popovich acknowledged that it was not so much what the Spurs weren't doing as it was what the Suns were doing. That would be getting ridiculously aggressive and, to use the classic boxing analogy, punching the Spurs hard enough that they didn't get back up and crawl into the ring again.

It reminded me a lot of the Carolina - Kansas Final Four game, honestly, only if Tim Duncan had freaky bug-eyes and an unstoppable Will.

The Suns won 105-86 and the general consensus at the NBA 'Haus is that if there is one team that has a shot at pulling off a comeback down 3-0 to the defending NBA champions, it's these Phoenix Suns. Oh, and by "consensus", I think I actually mean "a few of us delusional enough to hope that evil won't kill good this week."

In another of our continuing series, five things to keep an eye out for tonight in the Suns at Spurs, Game 2 tonight.

1. Down In A Hole: It's only one game, but it feels like more, doesn't it? I mean, the Suns had the Spurs on the brink, against the wall, down 16, on the road. They weathered the come back and were ahead. Finley hadn't been that hot. Boom. Okay, that's fine. Up again in overtime. No problem. As long as Tim Duncan doesn't hit a three ... Boom. Okay, again, they're tougher than that this year. Big shot by Nash. As long as they don't let Manu just drive to the hole ... game. There's no way the Suns can have woken up the last two days and felt anything but sick with the reality that there's just no way to beat these guys. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see the Suns come out flat and disheartened. They're turning into a Cure song at this point.

2. As The Groin Turns: Well, Manu's groin is fine. Grant Hill? Not so much. Hill tweaked it in game 1, and that was a primary reason why Manu Ginobili went left and scored on the same play about a million times in the last three minutes. It's pretty unlikely that Hill's going to be considerably better, and that means Ginobili may be in line for a huge game. The Suns lack a true shut-down man on him, with Raja Bell not 100%, Leandro Barbosa too small, and Boris Diaw too slow. And they could trap, but that of course would mean waving a giant flag that reads "Please score on us, tiny/old wing men!"

Check out Nike, getting all super-creative with their ads lately. First they gave us Kobe jumping over a car, and now we have Steve Nash starring in "The Sixty Million Dollar Man." Observe.

I loved the fantastic cameos by Amare Stoudemire and Raja Bell, and the hair stylist on the shoot obviously worked overtime. Am I the only one though that was creeped out when Nash's leg shattered, along with the rest of his body? Thankfully the only thing that was actually shattered was the Suns' hope of stealing home court advantage in Game 1, but they'll have the opportunity to try it again when Game 2 tips off later this evening.

UPDATE: Turns out Steve Nash's own production company made this one for the folks at Nike. Nice.

[via SLAM]