February 2011 – Page 8 – NBA Blog

First arrival in L.A. for 2011 All-Star weekend

By Jeff Lenchiner

I arrived Tuesday night in Los Angeles for 2011 NBA All-Star weekend. (Yeah. I’m a bit early. If you experienced New York City’s extra cold winter these last two months, you’d leave early for California, too.)

Nothing crazy here, but I figured I’d capture the first All Star-related store display I saw in the airport. You always remember your first. Here it is:

Also, the outdoor support beams that keep Los Angeles airport (LAX) from falling onto people’s heads have been customized to promote the big weekend. This is from right outside the airport near the baggage claim area:

There’s at least one huge long row of these things. Here’s the other side of that same beam:

Isiah Thomas continues to unofficially consult with Dolan

Marc Berman of the New York Post reports (via blog):

Isiah Thomas did not deny he was unofficially consulting with Knicks owner James Dolan on the Carmelo Anthony situation and suggested standing pat won’t win a championship.

“Everyone agrees they need to keep improving to get to a championship level,” Thomas said of the Knicks on Miami radio Tuesday. “I don’t think anyone’s saying, ‘This is it.’ I do think the organization wants to improve to get better and get to the next to level.

“But for me to speculate on this Carmelo situation, I just don’t think it would be proper to insert myself in such a public way knowing what I know.”

Thomas added, “In order to get to a championship level, which every team aspires to get to, you try to get the best players and try to get as many as you possibly can and see if you can win it.”

Michael Redd returning to action for Bucks

Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

Michael Redd has experienced the agony of an anterior cruciate ligament tear not once but twice in a 12-month period.

And now, 13 months after tearing up his left knee for a second time, the Milwaukee Bucks guard is ready to return.

Bucks general manager John Hammond confirmed Tuesday that Redd would be back with the team Monday for the team’s first practice after the NBA all-star break.

The Bucks are not expecting Redd, who ranks fourth on the team’s all-time scoring list, to make a startling impact in the final two months of the season. But they are glad to have him back.

“Just as he did last off-season, he has worked so very hard to get himself in a position where he can return,” Hammond said. “When he arrives Monday he’ll go through the next step in the process.

“He will continue to do his rehab. He will be on the floor with some individual skill work. From that point, then how soon can he progress to doing more basketball-related movements? And from that point, how soon can he progress to actually being able to practice?”

Bobcats extend contract of coach Paul Silas

Charlotte Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins announced today that the team has extended the contract of Paul Silas through the 2011-12 season and removed the interim tag, effective immediately. Silas becomes the fourth head coach in team history.

Silas was named Interim Head Coach on Dec. 22 and has guided the Bobcats back into playoff contention with a 15-13 record, highlighted by a 109-89 win over the Lakers on Feb. 14, a franchise-record 22-point comeback on Feb. 12 at Atlanta, a 94-89 victory over defending Eastern Conference Champion Boston on Feb. 7 and a pair of wins over Chicago.

“This team has made great strides in the eight weeks since Paul has taken over,” Higgins said. “Under his leadership we have seen our team play with confidence, enthusiasm and pride. He and his staff have helped make our young players better and have gotten positive contributions out of every player on our roster. Just as we were confident eight weeks ago that he was the right choice to lead this team for the remainder of this season, we are confident that he is the right choice to lead this club into the future.”

Currently in his 11th season as an NBA head coach, Silas has a career record of 370-413 with the Clippers (1980-83), Hornets (1999-2003), Cavaliers (2003-05) and Bobcats. He also spent 11 seasons as an assistant coach for the Hornets, Knicks, Nets and Suns.

During his four-plus seasons as head coach of the Hornets, Silas compiled a 208-155 (.573) record and led the team to the playoffs in each of his four full seasons. He remains the team’s all-time leader in coaching wins and ranks second in winning percentage. Silas was named interim head coach of the Hornets on March 7, 1999, and led the team to a 22-13 record over the final 35 games of the 1998-99 season after replacing Dave Cowens.

A 16-year NBA veteran, Silas averaged 9.4 points and 9.9 rebounds in 1,254 career games for the Hawks, Suns, Celtics, Nuggets and SuperSonics. He was a two-time All-Star (1972 and 1975) and won three NBA Championships (1974 and 1976 with Boston and 1979 with Seattle). Silas currently ranks 19th on the NBA’s career lists for rebounds (12,357) and games played (1,254).

Dexter Pittman out 5-6 weeks after knee surgery

The Miami HEAT announced today that center Dexter Pittman underwent successful right knee debridement surgery. The surgery was performed by HEAT team physician Dr. Harlan Selesnick at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables. He will begin rehabilitation immediately and is expected to miss five-to-six weeks of action.

Pittman, in his second stint with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA Development League, was medically recalled after injuring his right knee in Saturday night’s contest against the Idaho Stampede on February 12. He was assigned to the HEAT’s D-League affiliate on January 6 and appeared in 14 games (all starts) and averaged 13.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.78 blocks and 1.2 assists while shooting 49.7 percent from the field. He recorded two 20-point games and posted five double-doubles, including a team-high 20 points and a team-high 12 rebounds vs. New Mexico on January 21. He led the team in blocks seven times, rebounds five times and points on four occasions.

Pittman, named to the 2011 NBA Development League All-Star Team, has now appeared in 22 NBA D-League games (all starts) with the Skyforce averaging 14.5 points 8.2 rebounds, 1.73 blocks and 1.2 assists while shooting 53.6 percent from the field.

Bobcats continue mastery of Lakers, 109-89

The AP reports:

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson was so upset he spoke to reporters for 5 seconds and then walked away. Kobe Bryant sneaked out of the locker room before addressing the press at all.

A once promising road trip has quickly turned sour for the two-time defending champions, although they probably should have seen their most lopsided loss of the season coming.

The Charlotte Bobcats somehow own them.

Gerald Wallace had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Gerald Henderson added 18 points and helped slow Bryant, and the Bobcats cruised to a 109-89 victory on Monday night to extend one of the more unusual one-sided matchups in the NBA.

The Bobcats have won eight of the past 10 meetings. The Lakers, 5-8 all-time against the NBA’s newest team, hold a losing record against only one other club — the Boston Celtics.

This latest loss, full of missed shots and poor defense and coming on the heels of an ugly defeat in Orlando, left Jackson steamed.

“I’m embarrassed about what we did and that’s it,” Jackson said as he began to stroll away. “Thank you.”

Jazz name Jeff Hornacek assistant coach

The Utah Jazz announced today that Jeff Hornacek has been named an assistant coach for the remainder of the 2010-11 season. Hornacek joins lead assistant Scott Layden on head coach Tyrone Corbin’s coaching staff. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not released.

Hornacek becomes a full-time assistant coach after having begun working for the Jazz as a shooting coach prior to the 2007 NBA Playoffs. In addition to that time working together, Hornacek and Corbin also were teammates twice as players covering parts of three seasons, first in Phoenix during the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons, and again in Utah in 1993-94.

“I am excited to have Jeff on board and to have him expand his role and become more involved with the team,” said Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin. “He has a great history with basketball, especially with the Jazz, and I think the players are excited about him being around more. I think he will bring a lot of positive energy and knowledge to the team.”

Hornacek becomes only the seventh different assistant coach for the Jazz since Jerry Sloan was promoted to head coach in December 1988, joining Phil Johnson, Gordon Chiesa, David Fredman, Kenny Natt, Corbin and Layden.

“I am thankful that Ty has offered me the opportunity to serve as an assistant coach for the rest of the year,” said Hornacek. “I am excited at the possibility to increase my involvement with the team in a coaching capacity, and to be a part of this staff, and look forward to working more closely with the coaches and players on a day-to-day basis.”

A native of Elmhurst, Ill., Hornacek played for three teams during a 14-year NBA playing career (1986-2000), including seven seasons with the Jazz from 1993-2000, where he averaged 14.4 points, 4.0 assists, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 477 games. He was originally selected by the Phoenix Suns in the second round (46th overall pick) of the 1986 NBA Draft out of Iowa State University. Hornacek appeared in a total of 1,077 career games, which included time with Phoenix and Philadelphia in addition to Utah.

Considered one of the premier shooters in NBA history, Hornacek connected on .496 percent from the field (5,929-11,957), including .403 percent from three-point range (828-2,055) and .877 percent from the free throw line (2,973-3,390). He still ranks eighth in league history in free throw percentage, 11 seasons following his retirement from the NBA following the 1999-2000 season. Hornacek was selected an NBA All-Star in 1992, and twice won the Three-Point Shootout during All-Star Weekend (1998 and 2000). His No. 14 jersey was retired by the Jazz on November 19, 2002.

Lakers sign 20-year TV deal with Time Warner Cable

Time Warner Cable and the Los Angeles Lakers today entered into a 20-year, wide-ranging agreement for rights to distribute all locally available pre-season, regular season, and post-season Lakers games, beginning with the 2012-2013 season.

To showcase the games, Time Warner Cable will launch two regional sports networks in HD, including the nation’s first Spanish-language regional sports network, with new state-of-the-art facilities in Los Angeles, to bring fans the most compelling Lakers content using the latest technology. The networks will be available to all satellite, cable and telco distributors in the Lakers’ territory, which includes all of Southern California, Nevada and Hawaii.

The networks will include a number of elements custom-designed for Lakers fans, including:

– A single destination where Lakers fans can find all locally-televised home and away games and a variety of new and original Lakers’ content featuring behind-the-scenes, personality and classic programming.

* All Lakers games will be produced in high definition, with state-of-the-art technology and high production values in English & Spanish. The Spanish-language channel is a stand alone RSN with its own dedicated production of game telecasts and other unique content tailored to Spanish speaking Lakers fans – not a SAP feed.

* All games will feature pre and post-game shows produced separately in both English and Spanish.

* A Lakers news and magazine show throughout the season.

* Joint community relations initiatives.

* New online and on demand multi-platform content featuring the Lakers.

“This long-term agreement represents a huge win for all Lakers fans, providing destination channels, more content and more platforms for the Lakers, one of the premier brands in professional sports today,” said Glenn Britt, Time Warner Cable’s Chairman & CEO. “It allows us to secure great ‘must-have’ content for our customers in an advantageous arrangement that affords us greater control over our own economic destiny for decades to come. We’ll be able to fully leverage our experience in local and regional programming; we have been at the forefront of the industry with 24-hour regional news and 24-hour regional news in Spanish, and now we’re breaking ground with the nation’s first Spanish-language regional sports network, something that’s tailor made for Southern California.”

“The Buss family is thrilled to join forces with Time Warner Cable in building the TV home for Lakers fans,” said Dr. Jerry Buss, Lakers Owner. “Time Warner Cable has been producing quality sports programming for over a decade and the Lakers have been producing championship seasons for even longer. I am particularly proud of being part of the first ever Spanish-language RSN in the country. Together I’m confident we will delight our fans.”

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Kings fine DeMarcus Cousins for altercation with teammate

The Sacramento Kings today fined rookie forward/center DeMarcus Cousins for his involvement in a post-game incident with Donté Greene following Saturday’s (2/12/11) contest versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. Cousins will rejoin the team and be available for Tuesday’s rematch against the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

“There is no place in the NBA for violence, either on or off the court,” said Kings President of Basketball Operations Geoff Petrie. “Upon investigating the events of Saturday night, we feel it is necessary to impose an appropriate fine related to DeMarcus’ behavior. We will now move forward together. We do not intend to give up on DeMarcus’ talent or potential. We look forward to watching his continued improvement and development, which has been significant since the beginning of the season.”

“I wish to apologize to my teammates, the Kings organization and Kings’ fans for my role in an unfortunate altercation between teammates,” Cousins said. “I accept full responsibility for my actions and know that I must keep raising my standard of professionalism to be my best and a great player in the NBA.”InsideHoops.com editor says: Cousins keeps living up to his pre-draft reputation and making mental/emotional mistakes. Hope it stops sometime.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Wizards win first road game of season

Getting to play the Cavaliers tends to cure whatever ills an NBA team tends to have.

After breaking their 26-game losing streak to beat the Los Angeles Clippers, the Cavs immediately returned to their losing ways and got dropped in dramatic fashion by the Wizards Sunday.

The Wizards were 0-25 on the road coming into this game.

The AP reports:

Nick Young scored 31 points, John Wall had 19 points and 14 assists and Washington snapped its 25-game road winless streak with a 115-100 win Sunday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who reverted to their losing ways one game after ending their record skid.

The Wizards opened a 25-point lead in the third quarter, survived a Cleveland comeback and got their first road win since April 9 at Boston.

Antawn Jamison scored 21 and J.J. Hickson added 16 and 13 rebounds for the Cavs, who stopped their losing streak at 26 on Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers but failed to post back-to-back wins for the second time this season.

Washington finished four losses shy of matching the league’s longest losing streak to start a season, 29 in a row by the 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks.

Blown out and embarrassed in a 118-94 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, the Wizards came out focused on getting a win outside D.C.’s city limits. They started 9 of 11 from the field and opened a 17-point lead in the first quarter on Young’s second straight three-point play.

The Cavs were down 68-46 at the half, showed some life in the third quarter but never seriously threatened the Wizards.

Point guard Mo Williams, who recently returned for Cleveland, struggled tonight, but should be worth watching over the next few games as he regains form.