November 2010 – Page 8 – NBA Blog

Raptors assign Solomon Alabi to D-League

The Toronto Raptors announced Monday they have assigned rookie centre Solomon Alabi to the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League. Alabi will continue to be included on the Raptors’ roster and will be placed on the team’s inactive list.

Alabi, 22, made his Raptors debut Saturday at Miami, going scoreless in eighteen seconds of action. He participated in five preseason contests, totaling 10 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes. He played for the Raptors’ entry in the 2010 Las Vegas Summer League where he averaged 8.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 18 minutes in five games. He shot .565 (13-23) from the field and .938 (15-16) from the foul line.

A native of Nigeria, Alabi, was named All-ACC Defensive Team in his two full seasons at FSU. He started all 67 games, leading the Seminoles to the NCAA Tournament twice and the ACC Tournament Championship Game as a redshirt freshman. He averaged a school record 2.1 blocked shots per game for his career. He also shot .534 per cent from the field in his two-plus seasons with the Seminoles.

The club acquired the draft rights to Alabi from the Dallas Mavericks on June 24. He was the 50th overall selection in the 2010 NBA Draft.

Alabi is the fourth Raptor to be assigned to the D-League. Nathan Jawai was designated on two occasions in the 2008-09 season to the Idaho Stampede. P.J. Tucker was assigned twice to the Colorado 14ers during the 2006-07 season and Pape Sow was assigned to the Arkansas Rimrockers in the 2005-06 campaign.

Erie, which is led by head coach Jay Larranaga, has been appointed as Toronto’s D-League affiliate for the 2010-11 season.

Amare stoudemire wants urgency from Knicks

The New York Knicks are struggling. And while Amar’e Stoudemire is playing fairly well, he hasn’t been at at the top of his game, and his teammates aren’t providing much support.

Although the final score in Sunday’s Knicks loss at home to the Houston Rockets was a close-sounding 104-96, the visitors steadily pulled away in the second half and weren’t threatened.

Marc Berman of the New York Post reports:

The Knicks shockingly were blown out by the Rockets, 104-96, last night to drop their fifth straight game to fall to 3-7 at the boo-filled Garden, with the West Coast beckoning and Stoudemire finally going off on a rant on his teammates.

Amar’e, you’re not in Phoenix anymore.

“I don’t understand why we’re not playing with the urgency,” Stoudemire said. “I’m not used to that. We’re not playing like we’re on a four-game losing streak, now five. It almost seems as if it doesn’t matter.” …

“I’m talking to them constantly,” Stoudemire said. “Maybe I’m talking too much. I’m not accustomed to it. We have to do a much better job out there. It’s not fun. I know we are a young team, but we can’t keep doing the exact same thing.”

The Knicks now hit the road, beginning with the Denver Nuggets. Sounds like another loss for New York.

Udonis Haslem adjusting to Heat bench role

The Miami Heat are still adjusting to each other, and the process will continue for much of the season.

One of the most important pieces of the supporting cast is veteran forward Udonis Haslem, who is learning to contribute in big ways coming off the bench.

Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald reports:

Haslem’s role off the bench has expanded gradually over the past six games. Beginning with his 24-minute contribution against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 2, Haslem’s minutes have increased steadily in each game. On Saturday, he played 37 minutes in the Heat’s 109-100 victory against the Toronto Raptors. Only starter LeBron James (40 minutes) logged more time on the court…

For now, Haslem will continue to provide a spark off the bench. Officially, Haslem is Bosh’s backup at the power forward position, but many times through the first 10 games of the season both Haslem and Bosh have been on the court together late in games.

“I like having Udonis in the game but right now I don’t plan on starting him,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “I don’t plan on starting Chris at the center. I like having a veteran warrior who knows our system, who knows what’s important to us coming off the bench.”

Said Haslem: “I feel like when I come in, I think I got to get more done faster, instead of just coasting into the game. Coming off the bench, it’s just full speed ahead automatically because you don’t know how many minutes you’re going to get or what’s the situation. When I come in the game, I’m real aggressive. I’m attacking the boards.”

The Heat have started the season exactly how I thought they would. They’re beating the bad teams, and losing to the really good ones. It’s still super-early. Keep watching the development.

Steve Nash is getting divorced

The AP reports:

Steve Nash has announced that he and wife Alejandra are in the process of a divorce.

The Phoenix Suns’ point guard and two-time NBA most valuable player revealed the situation in a statement Saturday, a day after the birth of the couple’s son, Matteo.

He said in the statement to Life & Style Magazine that he and his wife have lived separately for several months but remain firmly committed to raising their children “in the most positive, nurturing way possible.”

The couple, together for nine years and married since 2005, also has 6-year-old twin daughters, Lola and Bella.

Nazr Mohammed puts up 22/20 in loss

The AP reports:

The Utah Jazz are making a habit of comeback victories.

Deron Williams hit a running hook shot from seven feet out with 0.8 seconds left to cap a fourth-quarter rally and give the Jazz a 96-95 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday night.

Williams finished with 17 points and nine assists for Utah, which overcame a 16-point halftime deficit to win its fifth consecutive game and fourth straight on the road.

Al Jefferson had 19 points, Paul Millsap 17, C.J. Miles 14 and Andrei Kirilenko 12 for the Jazz, who also had to overcome double-digit deficits in winning its previous four games.

InsideHoops.com reports:

In the loss, Nazr Mohammed in 36 minutes shot 10-of-16 for 22 points, 20 rebounds, two assists, four blocks and no turnovers. For the season, the 6-10, 250-pound Bobcats center is averaging 8.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 19.2 minutes per game.

Hornets release Joe Alexander

The New Orleans Hornets announced today that they have released forward Joe Alexander.

Alexander did not appear in a regular season game this season. He averaged 1.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in six preseason games (one start) with the Hornets.

The third-year pro has career averages of 4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in 67 regular season games.

The Hornets roster now stands at 14.

Kevin Love gets 31 points, 31 rebounds in Wolves win over Knicks

The AP reports:

Kevin Love grabbed a franchise-record 31 rebounds and scored 31 points, the NBA’s first 30-30 game in 28 years, and the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied from a 21-point third-quarter deficit to stun the New York Knicks 112-103 on Friday night.

“I just got a good mindset that every single one was mine,” said Love, who had 23 points and 24 rebounds in a loss to the Lakers on Tuesday.

Love grabbed 15 boards in the third quarter alone to will the Timberwolves to victory. Moses Malone was the last player to do it with 38 points and 32 rebounds for Houston against Seattle in 1982.

“It seemed like no matter what anybody did I was going to go and get those rebounds. I don’t know what to tell you,” Love said sheepishly. “I impressed myself. I don’t even know what to say to be honest with you.”

Beasley had 35 points and six rebounds for the Wolves, who were carried to their second victory in a row by the two players who are being advertised as the building blocks of the latest rebuilding project.

InsideHoops.com editor says: What an amazing performance by Love. Who does he think he is, Moses Malone? Thanks to Kevin, I’m going out of my way to watch the next few Wolves games, and I’m sure tons of others will, too.

David Lee to have elbow infection surgery, may miss two weeks

Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Golden State Warriors power forward David Lee did not travel with the team to Milwaukee on Friday, instead returning to the Bay Area for surgery to clean out an infection from the inside of his left elbow.

The Warriors said the surgery will be performed by Dr. Frank Chen, but they were unable to release a timetable for Lee’s return. Early estimations are that Lee will miss about two weeks.

Lee was injured in Wednesday’s victory over the Knicks, when his elbow caught Wilson Chandler’s face on a rebound and knocked out two teeth. Lee completed the game with a three-layered tape job that couldn’t completely restrain the blood from coming to the surface and his best game of the season (28 points, 10 rebounds).

Allen Iverson debut in Turkey likely Tuesday

The AP reports:

Former NBA All-Star Allen Iverson’s debut with Turkish basketball league team Besiktas has been postponed.

Team manager Murat Murtezaoglu told The Associated Press the 11-time NBA All-Star “did not feel ready” to play Friday and instead watched from the stands as his new team beat Oyak Renault 87-81.

Murtezaoglu said he expects Iverson to make his debut at Besiktas’ European Cup home game against Hemofarm Stada on Tuesday.

Connections between Rockets and Pacers

Connections between Houston Rockets and Indiana Pacers:

Houston forward Jared Jeffries averaged 14.4 points and 7.2 rebounds over 70 games in two seasons at Indiana University.

Rockets guard/forward Courtney Lee was born in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Houston center/forward Brad Miller was a collegiate standout at Purdue and played over the course of two seasons with the Pacers (2001-03).

Indiana guard T.J. Ford attended Willowridge High School in Houston prior to his standout career at the University of Texas.

Pacers forward James Posey played in 58 games with 47 starts in his lone season with the Rockets (2002-03).