The AP reports: Houston Rockets guard Tracy McGrady is expected to miss three more games as he recovers from a left knee injury. McGrady, averaging 23 points and five assists per game, has sat out the last eight games with strained tendons, tendinitis and a bone bruise in the knee. The Rockets are 6-2 in the stretch without him heading into Friday night’s game against Minnesota.
Day: January 11, 2008
Judge dismisses petiton against future Brooklyn arena
The AP reports: A judge threw out a petition by neighbourhood groups to stop the US$4 billion redevelopment of Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards, where construction of an arena for the NBA’s New Jersey Nets is planned. U.S. State Supreme Court Justice Joan Madden ruled Friday that developers of the 22-acre site did enough studies on the impact of traffic, crowds, potential terrorism and other environmental factors on the area to satisfy legal requirements. The petitioners, a coalition of 26 neighbourhood groups, had claimed they would be “directly affected” and “harmed by the substantial adverse environmental impacts of a project of such enormous scale.”
Troy Hudson out 3-4 months after hip surgery
Golden State Warriors guard Troy Hudson underwent successful surgery on his left hip on Thursday, January 10, the team announced today. The surgery was performed by Dr. Bryan Kelly at the Hospital for SpecialSurgery in New York and involved the repair of a torn labrum.
Hudson, 31, will commence basic rehabilitation immediately and advance as his progress allows. He is expected to be sidelined for 3-4 months.
In nine games this season, Hudson has averaged 3.1 points and 1.0 assists in 10.4 minutes per contest. Originally signed as a free agent by the Warriors on September 24, 2007, Hudson last appeared in a game on December 12 at Portland, where he tallied a season-high 10 points in 17 minutes of action.
Nene takes indefinite leave due to personal medical issue
Beginning today, Nuggets F Nenê will take an indefinite leave of absence from the team to tend to a personal medical issue.
“I’m very upset that I have to put a little delay on being with the team to take care of my health,” said Nenê. “It is hard to go through when things seem to be going so well. I thank God that he showed me this issue so I can take care of it. I want to get back on the court as soon as possible to help my teammates. My family and I ask that you respect our privacy during this time.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Nenê and his family,” said Nuggets Head Coach George Karl. “Our main focus is to support him as a family and as teammates.”
The Nuggets organization will continue to support Nene’s wishes and respect his privacy. The team will provide further information when it becomes available.
Nenê, 6-11, 260, is in his sixth season with the Nuggets.
Glen Rice arrested for battery charge
The AP reports: Former Miami Heat star Glen Rice was arrested Friday on a felony battery charge after police say he beat a man he found hiding in his estranged wife’s closet. Rice went to the home of estranged wife Christina Rice and punched Alberto Perez several times, police said. Perez fled the home and called police. He received a cut to his forehead that needed nine stitches, police said.
Bulls bench Joakim Noah after verbal altercation with assistant
The Arlington Heights Daily Herald reports: Bulls rookie Joakim Noah was placed on the inactive list for Friday’s game at Philadelphia due to a disciplinary action. Noah admitted getting into a verbal altercation with one of the assistant coaches at the morning shootaround, but chose not to provide reporters with many details.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports: The altercation is believed to have been verbal with Ron Adams. Noah’s also been late on several occasions this season.
A Brief Look Inside the Raptors Season
To some teams, 18-17 is respectable. There are at least 19, 763 fans in New York who would be delirious if the Knicks were that good. To Michael Grange, who covers the Raptors for the Toronto Globe and Mail, 18-17 is fine considering the hand the team has been dealt. Chris Bosh was hurt before the season began, then strained his right groin against Memphis on Nov. 28. He’s just rounding into form.
Additionally, T.J. Ford developed a left arm ‘stinger’ on Nov. 20, and Jorge Garbajosa underwent surgery on his left ankle on Dec. 11. Each of them sat out against the Knicks on January 11.
Grange also said, that despite the Raptors’ influx of foreign-born players [five countries outside the US are represented], there doesn’t seem to a lack of communication on the court. In fact, several players do speak Italian, and have used their bilingualism to confuse opponents.
Chucky Atkins out 8+ weeks after hernia surgery
Denver Nuggets guard Chucky Atkins underwent successful surgery today to repair a right groin/abdominal strain – also known as a sports hernia.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Robert MacDonald at Rose Medical Center.
Atkins is expected to be sidelined for a minimum of eight weeks.
Heat, Hawks to replay end of game after NBA approves Miami’s protest
The NBA today granted a game protest filed by the Miami Heat after its 117-111 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on December 19 at Philips Arena, which will result in the replay of the final 51.9 seconds of the game’s overtime period with the Hawks leading 114-111. The replay will occur immediately prior to the next scheduled game between the two teams — on March 8, 2008, also at Philips Arena.
The Heat protested the game because, with 51.9 seconds remaining in overtime, the Hawks’ scoring table personnel incorrectly disqualified the Heat’s Shaquille O’Neal – asserting that a foul committed by O’Neal was his sixth foul of the game, when in fact it was only his fifth. The error occurred because the Hawks’ Official Scorer mistakenly attributed to O’Neal a foul at 3:24 remaining in the fourth period that was actually called against the Heat’s Udonis Haslem.
NBA Commissioner David Stern found that the Hawks were grossly negligent in committing this scoring error, since they failed to follow league-mandated scoring procedures and failed to respond effectively when the members of the statisticians’ crew noticed the mistake. Because of this conduct by Atlanta’s personnel, Miami suffered a clear competitive disadvantage, as O’Neal – the Heat’s second leading scorer and rebounder that night – was removed from a one-point game with only 51.9 seconds remaining. Under this unprecedented set of circumstances, the Commissioner granted the Heat’s protest, and fined the Hawks $50,000 for their violation of league rules.
The protest is the first granted by the NBA since December 14, 1982 when then-NBA Commissioner Larry O’Brien upheld a protest by the San Antonio Spurs concerning their 137-132 double overtime loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 30. The Spurs and Lakers finished the game on April 13 with San Antonio collecting a 117-114 win.
Suns assign Alando Tucker to D-League, recall D.J. Strawberry
The Phoenix Suns have assigned rookie forward Alando Tucker to their NBA Development League affiliate Albuquerque Thunderbirds, President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr announced today. Tucker was previously assigned on Nov. 28 and recalled on Dec. 24. Tucker’s second assignment is the 30th of the season.
The 29th overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, Tucker has made appearances in five games for Phoenix this season, averaging 2.4 points in 4.5 minutes. During his first assignment, Tucker played five games for the Thunderbirds, averaging 28.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists. He earned D-League.com Performer of the Week honors for the week of Dec. 17, 2007.
A product of the University of Wisconsin, Tucker finished his college career as the all-time leading scorer with 2,217 points, averaging 16.5 points, to go along with 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 134 games. During his senior season he earned Big Ten Player of the Year and was named First-Team All-America by the Associated Press.
Phoenix recalled Strawberry Thursday following his D-League.com Performer of the Week nod after averaging 34.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists while shooting 24-of-41 (.585) from the field and 8-of-14(.571) from behind the three-point arc.