Month: October 2008

Oct 30: Cavs 96, Bobcats 79

The AP reports: LeBron James scored 22 points but was resting on the bench when Cleveland regained control in the fourth quarter, and the Cavaliers won their home opener 96-79 over Charlotte on Thursday night to spoil well-traveled coach Larry Brown’s debut with the Bobcats. Daniel Gibson scored 25 points—20 in the first half—and Mo Williams added 17 in his home debut for Cleveland, which put away the Bobcats while James sat… James barely missed a triple-double, adding nine rebounds and nine assists in only 30 minutes for the Cavs, who let the Bobcats trim a 19-point lead to five in the third quarter… Jason Richardson scored 24 and Gerald Wallace 13 for the Bobcats… Cavs C Ben Wallace had five blocks.

Lakers sign Andrew Bynum to extension

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed fourth-year center Andrew Bynum to a multi-year contract extension, it was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.  Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.

Appearing in 35 games last season, Bynum averaged 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks before suffering a season-ending knee injury during the Lakers 100-99 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on January 13th.

“We’re extremely happy to have signed Andrew to this extension, which will secure his immediate future with the franchise,” said Kupchak. “Andrew has shown a vast array of skills for a player his size and if he continues to stay dedicated and work hard to improve, he has an excellent chance to develop into one of the top players in the NBA.”

“This has been a fantastic week for me so far: turning 21, winning our first two games of the season, and now getting this new contract signed,” said Bynum. “This gives me and my family financial security, and more importantly, cements my future with the Lakers, which in my opinion is the best organization in all of professional sports. I couldn’t be happier.”

Bynum, an early entry candidate for the 2005 NBA Draft, became the youngest player in NBA history to be selected when the Lakers used their first round pick (10th overall) to acquire the 7’0” center. A McDonald’s High School All-American, Bynum averaged 22.0 points, 16.0 rebounds and 5.0 blocks his senior season at St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, New Jersey.

For his career, Bynum is averaging 7.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 19.3 minutes.

Rockets exercise Aaron Brooks option

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced tonight that the team has picked up the option on the contract of guard Aaron Brooks.

Brooks (6-0, 161, Oregon) led the Rockets this preseason in scoring average (14.4) and assists per game (4.1). He was the only Houston player to post two 20-point games this preseason, as well as topping the Rockets in assists a team-best four games. Brooks also registered a game-high 23 points (7-16 FG, 4-8 3FG, 5-6 FT) vs. Sacramento (10/17/08). He holds a regular season career high of 22 points vs. New York (1/5/08), which includes a career-best four 3-pointers made.

Selected by Houston in the first round (26th overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Brooks averaged 5.2 points and 1.7 assists in 51 games of his rookie season with the Rockets. He was also one of the top-10 young NBA players named to a USA Basketball Men’s Select Team that was chosen to help prepare the 2007 USA Senior National Team for its gold-medal run at the FIBA Americas Championship 2007. In addition, Brooks earned T-Mobile Rookie of the Month honors for 2007 NBA Summer League.

2010 All-Star weekend in new Dallas Cowboys stadium

Dallas  has  been  selected as the site of NBA All-Star  2010, Commissioner David Stern, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones jointly announced today during a press conference outside the American Airlines Center.

Following  the  mantra  that “everything is bigger in Texas,” the 59th NBA All-Star  Game  will  be played on Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010, at the new Dallas Cowboys  Stadium in Arlington, which will have a seating capacity in excess of  80,000. This collaboration between the NBA, and the ownership groups of the  Mavericks and Cowboys, will afford all Mavericks season ticket holders a chance to partake in the pageantry of the NBA All-Star Game.

The T-Mobile Rookie  Challenge  and  NBA  All-Star  Saturday Night festivities will take place  at  American  Airlines Center, home of the Mavericks. 2010 will mark the first time the All-Star competitions are split between two venues since Houston  in  1989  when  The  Summit hosted All-Star Saturday Night and the Astrodome hosted Sunday’s All-Star Game.

“Dallas  is  a  vibrant  city  with  a passionate sports fan base that will embrace  the  NBA  All-Star experience,”  said  Stern.  “We appreciate the collaborative  efforts of Mark Cuban and Jerry Jones on what will surely be one of the most memorable basketball events of all time.”

Nets exercise 3 player options but decline Mo Ager option

The New Jersey Nets have exercised a fourth year contract option on Josh Boone and third year contract options on Sean Williams and Yi Jianlian while declining to pick up the fourth year contract option on Maurice Ager, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.  Boone, Williams and Yi are now signed through the 2009-10 season.  Per team policy, terms of the agreements were not released.

Boone was selected by New Jersey with the 23rd pick in the first round of the 2006 NBA Draft.  The third year center has appeared in 131 games in his first two seasons with the Nets, averaging  6.3 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting .557 (337-of-605) from the field in 18.6 minutes.

Sean Williams, drafted 17th overall in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft by New Jersey, appeared in 73 games as a rookie.  He tallied 5.6 points on .538 (164-305) shooting, 4.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 17.5 minutes.  His 106 blocks on the season marked the second highest block total for a Nets rookie in team history, trailing only Kenyon Martin’s 113 blocks during the 2000-01 season.  Williams was selected to the 2008 Rookie All-Star team and recorded eight points and 10 rebounds in the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge at NBA All-Star Weekend in New Orleans.

Yi was selected with the sixth pick in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft by Milwaukee.  He was traded to New Jersey, along with Bobby Simmons, for Richard Jefferson on June 26, 2008.  In 66 games with Milwaukee, Yi averaged of 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds in 25 minutes.  Yi is a member of the Chinese National Team which competed in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and 2004 games in Athens.

Ager was selected by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, 28th overall, of the 2006 NBA Draft.  He was acquired by the Nets along with Devin Harris, Trenton Hassell, DeSagana Diop and Keith Van Horn, along with Dallas’ first round draft picks in 2008 and 2010 and cash considerations from the Mavericks in exchange for Jason Kidd, Antoine Wright and Malik Allen on February 19, 2008.  In his first two NBA season, Ager played in 58 games with Dallas and New Jersey, averaging 2.1 points and 0.6 rebounds in 6.5 minutes.

Iverson not a Nuggets captain

The Denver Post (Benjamin Hochman) reports: The votes are in. The Nuggets’ players have elected co-captains for this season — forwards Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin. Allen Iverson, a tri-captain last season with Anthony and Marcus Camby, will not be an official captain. Karl said he wanted only two. Veteran Chucky Atkins was one of the players who voted for Anthony and Martin. “I picked those guys based on the fact that they’ve been around here the longest, and the expectations of our team, pretty much, rests on their shoulders,” Atkins said.

Spurs hack-a-Shaq 5 seconds into game

UPDATE: See the video of it here.

The East Valley Tribune (Jerry Brown) reports: With Shaquille O’Neal’s “coward” comment still ringing in the ears of Spurs fans before Wednesday’s game, a reporter asked San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich if he would consider a mock “Hack-a-Shaq” on the first possession of the game to jokingly prove that he wasn’t backing down from his strategy in last year’s playoffs. Popovich stopped. He ran his fingers through his new white beard. And then he started to grin. “You know, that’s not a bad idea now that I think about it. It’s a better suggestion than any of our (assistant) coaches have had all summer,” Popovich said. “I could get a couple of guys in front of me and act like they were holding me back … a typical NBA fight.” Funny guy. He was just kidding, of course. Right? Sure enough, the Suns won the tip and ex-Sun Michael Finley wrapped his arms around O’Neal to stop play five seconds into the game — a nonshooting foul. O’Neal quickly looked over at Popovich, who gave him two thumbs-up and the two shared a laugh. “Classic Pop. I loved it,” Steve Nash said. “It would have been a fine if he didn’t do it.”

2010 All-Star game to be at new Dallas Cowboys stadium

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Jeff Caplan) reports: Dirk Nowitzki is a big fan of bringing NBA All-Star Weekend to North Texas. “I always thought that [Dallas Mavericks owner Mark] Cuban, at the beginning when he took over, he wasn’t going to do an All-Star Game, so I was always in that mind-set that we’re not going to have it,” Nowitzki said. “If it’s really going to happen, it’s going to be something special.” A joint effort by the Mavericks and Dallas Cowboys will produce the 2010 All-Star Game at the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington, with the related festivities such as the slam dunk competition at American Airlines Center and the NBA Fan Jam at another Dallas venue. The NBA isn’t commenting, but multiple sources have confirmed that the official announcement is set for 4 p.m. today at Victory Plaza outside AAC.