The Philadelphia Daily News (Paul Vigna) reports: Empty seats have been a chronic problem for the Sixers even before Allen Iverson left town. Now, even off last season’s playoff run and the offseason signing of Elton Brand, those low numbers are creeping back into the picture. Through four games, the Sixers are averaging 12,601 in attendance, ranking them 28th out of 30 NBA teams. That they started by losing five of their first seven hasn’t helped. Neither did that shadow the size of Yao Ming cast by the Phillies and their world championship.
Day: November 14, 2008
Barbosa`s mother dies
The East Valley Tribune (Jerry Brown) reports: The Suns won’t have Leandro Barbosa tonight and likely for up to a week after he left the team Thursday bound for his home in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Early Thursday afternoon, Barbosa received word that his mother Ivete had passed away. The relationship between Barbosa and his mother is a very close one. She visited Arizona every spring for an extended visit and the two talked by phone at least a half-dozen times a day. She survived a bout with cancer a few years ago but had been hospitalized in poor health for months. Barbosa lost his father to cancer in 2005.
Spurs assign Ian Mahinmi to D-League
The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have assigned center Ian Mahinmi to the Austin Toros, the NBA Development League team owned and operated by the Spurs.
Mahinmi is currently recovering from a sprained right ankle. He will use this assignment to the Toros as an opportunity to get back into basketball shape and complete his rehabilitation.
The 22-year-old Mahinmi is entering his second season with the Spurs. He split the 2007-08 campaign between San Antonio and Austin. Mahinmi started the season in San Antonio, appearing in six games with the Spurs, averaging 3.5 points in 3.8 minutes, before being assigned to the Toros on 11/21.
Mahinmi was named to the 2008 All-NBA Development League First Team. In 46 games with the Toros, he averaged 16.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.70 blocks in 29.6 minutes while shooting .615 (276-449) from the field and .766 (219-286) from the line. Mahinmi ranked 19th in the D-League in scoring, second in field goal percentage, eighth in rebounding and ninth in blocks. For the season Mahinmi posted 16 double-doubles. In four games in the 2008 D-League Playoffs, Mahinmi averaged 18.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.50 blocks in 38.3 minutes.
Mahinmi was selected by the Spurs in the first round of the 2005 NBA Draft with the 28th overall pick. He was signed by the Spurs on 8/23/07 after spending the previous four seasons in the French A League.
Lousy Iverson shooting stands out
Allen Iverson has made a career out of being a big-time scorer (27.7 points per game).
But he’s also always shot a low field goal percentage (career 42.6% and a lousy 31.4% three-pointers).
Typically, when a team shoots under 43% for a game, they tend to lose.
Now, Iverson does make up at least partially for his low shooting percentages by drawing so much defensive attention that opportunities get created for teammates that don’t necesarily show up on a stat-sheet, but still, ideally he’d have taken fewer shots per game over his career and hit around 5-7% more of them.
Last night, the Pistons edged the Warriors 107-102, and Iverson’s vast talents were on display as he scored 23 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished an impressive 9 assists. But he shot 8-for-23. The team won in spite of his shooting, not because of it.
When his career eventually winds down, “The Answer” will be known as an awesome offensive force, a super-quick, ultra-tough little scoring guard, but also as a player who took a lot of shots and missed too high a percentage of them.
Nov 13: Pistons 107, Warriors 102
The AP reports: Rasheed Wallace tipped a ball into the wrong basket at one end and missed two free throws at the other. Just when it seemed like his fourth-quarter mistakes might doom Detroit, Wallace hit back-to-back 3-pointers that gave the Pistons the lead for good and sent them to a 107-102 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night… Richard Hamilton scored 24 points and Allen Iverson added 23 as the Pistons won for the second straight time to open their four-game road trip after losing their first two games with Iverson… Wallace finished with a season-high 19 points and 11 rebounds. Prince grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds… Andris Biedrins had 17 points and 19 rebounds for his 16th straight double-double for the Warriors, who are still seeking their first back-to-back wins of the season. Watson and Stephen Jackson also scored 17 points apiece.
Nov 13: Bulls 98, Mavs 91
The AP reports: They barely had time to work up a sweat before the Chicago Bulls found themselves trailing by 19 points Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks. And less than six minutes into the game, the boos started rolling across the United Center… And that’s what the Bulls did. They turned up the defense, started running the floor, then caught up and passed the Mavericks for a 98-91 victory, sending Dallas to its fourth straight loss… “They were attacking us with transition and they put us on our heels early,” said Ben Gordon, who led the Bulls with 35 points… Derrick Rose, who shot 1-for-8 in the first half, was 6-for-7 in the third quarter, when he scored 14 of his 16 points. Luol Deng added 20 points… Josh Howard, returning after missing two games with sore wrist, led Dallas with 21 points and added 11 rebounds. Erick Dampier scored 16 and pulled down 18 boards… Dirk Nowitzki scored only 12 for the Mavs, shooting 5-for-17.
Nov 13: Cavs 110, Nuggets 99
The AP reports: LeBron James scored 22 points, most of them coming with good buddy Carmelo Anthony guarding him, and Williams scored a season-high 24, making a critical 3-pointer with James on the bench, as the Cavaliers improved to 5-0 at home and beat the Nuggets for the first time since 2005… Daniel Gibson snapped out of a shooting slump and added 15 points for the Cavaliers, who held the Nuggets to 18 points in the fourth on 39 percent shooting… Chauncey Billups scored a season-high 26 points — 16 in the first quarter — Carmelo Anthony had 18 and Kenyon Martin 12 with 10 rebounds for Denver. Martin, who had missed the previous two games with a sprained wrist, was ejected with 55 seconds left after he was called for a flagrant-2 foul for slamming his shoulder into Cleveland forward Anderson Varejao… Cleveland’s Ben Wallace had a season-high 11 points but sat out the fourth with a bruised left knee.