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Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports:
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Gilbert Arenas’s troubles were magnified recently, when he discovered that his estranged mother, Mary Francis Robinson, died in Miami.
Robinson passed away on March 13, but Arenas didn’t find out until a few days later, according to multiple sources. The cause of her death is not known.
Arenas wasn’t close to his mother, who abandoned him at young age and left him to be raised by his father, Gilbert Sr., from the time that he was 3.
Tim Buckley of the Deseret News reports:
Longtime Jazz coach Jerry Sloan has escaped punishment for his recent run-in with referee Michael Smith.
A review of the incident is complete and there is “nothing” in terms of a fine or suspension for Sloan, an NBA spokesman said Sunday.
“It’s good news, and business as usual,” Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor said Sunday night.
Sloan made contact with Smith with 0.2 seconds remaining in Friday night’s loss at Phoenix, but the contact — according to a Jazz spokesman — was deemed “incidental” by the league.
The last time he made contact with a referee, shoving Courtney Kirkland during a 2003 game in Sacramento, Sloan was suspended seven games without pay.
A similar incident in 1993 cost him one game.
The Phoenix Suns today recalled rookie forward Earl Clark from the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr.
The 6-10, 225-pound Clark was originally assigned to the Suns’ D-League affiliate on March 15 and appeared in three games with the Energy. Clark averaged 20.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.0 block in 34.3 minutes in those three contests, shooting 50.0 percent from the field overall (24-of-48).
Clark’s stint included two double-doubles, 16 or more points in every game, and a 27-point, 12-rebound performance in his debut with the Energy on March 17.
A three-year standout at the University of Louisville, Clark was selected by the Suns with the 14th overall pick (first round) of the 2009 NBA Draft and has appeared in 45 games this season for Phoenix.
Currently fifth in the Western Conference, the Suns (43-26) return to action tonight, taking on the eighth-place Portland Trail Blazers (42-28) at US Airways Center at 7:30 p.m. The game can be seen locally on both FOX Sports Arizona and ESPN and heard on Sports 620 KTAR.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have recalled forward Darnell Jackson from the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League, Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced today from Cleveland Clinic Courts.
Jackson was assigned to Erie yesterday and played in the BayHawks’ 101-100 loss against the Dakota Wizards last night. He posted game highs of 32 points on 14-21 shooting (.667) and 11 rebounds while adding two steals and one block in 41 minutes. In two games (both starts) with Erie this season, he is now averaging 33.0 points on .651 shooting, 11.5 rebounds, 1.0 assist, 3.0 steals and 1.0 block in 41.5 minutes per game.
He will be available to play tonight for the Cavaliers in their 6 p.m. game versus the Pistons.
The BayHawks are the D-League affiliate of the Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors.
Janis Carr of the Orange County Register reports:
Lamar Odom and Shannon Brown are world champions and also world-record holders.
The Lakers teammates made 25 free throws in 60 seconds Saturday, Brown’s final attempt hitting at the buzzer, to set the Guinness Book of World Records mark of made free throws in 60 seconds or less. The record of 10 makes had been held by a pair of British non-professional basketball players, who set the mark last month.
New Jersey Nets forward Yi Jianlian is not a good basketball player. He can make open mid-range jump-shots, drive past slower defenders, and not a lot else.
Julian Garcia of the New York Daily News reports:
Nearing the end of his second injury-plagued season in New Jersey, Yi has already worn out his welcome with many in the organization, and his biggest supporter – GM/interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe – may not be around long after the season finale on April 14 since he is in the final year of his contract. With Vandeweghe gone, the Nets would be more likely to trade Yi in the offseason, or at least bring him back in a significantly reduced role.
Vandeweghe helped bring Yi to the Nets from Milwaukee as part of the Richard Jefferson deal two summers ago and has continued to stick with Yi while others have called for his benching, even putting him right back into the starting lineup last night against the Raptors after he missed six games and took part in just one practice after suffering a high ankle sprain two weeks ago.
In 31.8 minutes per game this season Yi is averaging 11.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game, but those scoring and rebounding stats are actually a bit inflated as quite often those numbers come when the game has already been decided.
George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal reports
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Ask Cavaliers forward Anderson Varejao about his reputation as a flopper, and his reply is direct.
”I don’t flop; I samba,” said the curly-haired Brazilian.
For this season, he’s right. Varejao isn’t the King of Flop in the NBA. In fact, the number of offensive fouls he’s drawn this season is down markedly from past years.
Last year, he had lured competitors into 52 offensive fouls. In 2006, it was 99. This season, he’s drawn a mere 25 offensive fouls.
It would be easy to assume, then, that Varejao’s game is off. Not at all. Varejao isn’t drawing as many offensive fouls on opponents, but he is still bringing needed energy off the bench for the Cavs and contributing in more ways.
The AP reports:
The biggest upset in a tournament full of them was done. Northern Iowa had taken down mighty Kansas.
Playing with poise down the stretch and getting another big 3-pointer from Ali Farokhmanesh (16 points), Northern Iowa pulled off one of the biggest NCAA upsets in years by knocking No. 1 overall seed Kansas from the bracket with a program-defining 69-67 win on Saturday…
Trailing 66-62, Kansas had one last chance, but Tyrel Reed was called for an offensive foul and Farokhmanesh sealed it with two free throws with 5 seconds left, sending the Panthers to the round of 16 for the first time…
The Jayhawks trailed by as many as 12 points and used defense to pull within one with 44 seconds left. But they let Farokhmanesh sneak out for the deciding 3 to go down for the mid-major count like they did to Bradley in 2006 and Bucknell the year before, also in Oklahoma City.
Cole Aldrich had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Marcus Morris added 16 points and Sherron Collins ended his stellar KU career with 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting.
InsideHoops.com Notes:
For Kansas, Marcus Morris shot 5-of-8 for 16 points but more turnovers than assists. Cole Aldrich shot 6-of-8 for 13 points and 10 rebounds. Sherron Collins shot a miserable 4-of-15 for 10 points, just four assists and five turnovers. Markieff Morris hit 3-of-4 for 10 points. Xavier Henry had eight points and eight rebounds.
For Northern Iowa, Ali Farokhmanesh shot 5-of-12 for 16 points, but little else. Jordan Eglseder shot 6-of-11 for 14 points and five rebounds. Jake Koch shot 1-of-7 for 10 points.
As a team, Kansas shot 44.4%, Northern Iowa 40.0%. Kansas grabbed five extra rebounds, Northern Iowa dished a pair of extra assists.
The AP reports:
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The fans sure expected a bleary-eyed, weary-legged Milwaukee Bucks team to show up at the Pepsi Center, where the Denver Nuggets were 30-5.
Chauncey Billups swears he knew better, even though he and his Denver teammates were powerless to do anything about it in a 102-97 loss Saturday night to the Bucks, who didn’t arrive in their hotel rooms until 3 a.m. following a double-overtime win in Sacramento…
The surging Bucks secured their signature road victory even though point guard Brandon Jennings (nine points) and center Andrew Bogut (two points, three rebounds) had nights to forget.
Carlos Delfino scored 26 points, John Salmons added 21, Ersan Ilyasova pitched in 14 points and 10 rebounds and Luke Ridnour hit 5 of 8 shots for 11 points.
The AP reports:
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The Boston Celtics got the split they wanted with the Dallas Mavericks.
Paul Pierce scored 29 points, Rajon Rondo added 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the Celtics stretched their winning streak to four games with a 102-93 victory over the Mavericks on Saturday night.
Ray Allen had 21 points for the Celtics, beaten by the Mavericks 99-90 in Boston on Jan. 18 in their only other meeting this season.
Boston’s Rasheed Wallace vowed “retribution” in the rematch, complaining after the game in January that the referees give Dallas’ top scorer Dirk Nowitzki preferential treatment. Wallace refused to comment after Saturday night’s game, but Rondo said the Celtics weren’t dwelling on the past…
This time, Garnett and Wallace took turns guarding Nowitzki, who still went 11 for 19 from the floor and finished with 28 points.