Month: October 2012

Metta World Peace kisses a female fan

ron artest

Ron Artest once went into the stands with gruesome results. That was a long time ago, though.

Metta World Peace went into the stands Saturday night at Staples Center with hilarious results.

World Peace, who won the NBA’s 2010-11 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award and changed his name a year ago, was displaying his regained agility with a nifty block as Utah guard Gordon Hayward drove toward the basket. Then World Peace displayed his usual wacky sense of humor.

After his momentum carried him under the basket and out of bounds, World Peace fetched the ball — and then took the hand of a nearby female fan and kissed it.

— Reported by Kevin Ding of the OC Register

Adam Morrison describes life outside of basketball

Adam Morrison

And besides catching the occasional Gonzaga game on television, Morrison didn’t so much as watch basketball, let alone pick one up.

“People think I was all depressed, but I was like, ‘This is awesome,'” he said. “I got to spend time with my family, have Christmas at home, relax. I was able to exhale. It gave me a lot of perspective on things. I think it was good for me.”

He remained content for about a year, until he wandered down to the McCarthey Athletic Center to watch the Gonzaga players work out. One visit become two and two became three. Before Morrison knew it, his competitive juices were flowing, his mind contemplated a return to the court and he got the itch to play again.

So Morrison started his comeback. He hadn’t touched a basketball or worked out for a year and he was in the worst shape of his life. The first month, he said, he was “horrible.” But Morrison slowly worked himself into shape and his love for the game slowly worked itself back into him. His heart was back in it.

— Reported by Joe Freeman of the Oregonian

Chris Paul returns in exhibition victory in Shanghai

Chris Paul

All-Star point guard Chris Paul played for the first time since off-season thumb surgery, and the Clippers used a dominant inside attack to dispatch reigning NBA champion Miami Heat 99-89 in an exhibition match today (late Saturday PDT) in front of a sell-out crowd of 18,000 in Shanghai.

With Paul guiding the offense, Clippers big men DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin thrilled the crowd with dunks and alley-oop baskets as the Clippers took advantage of a height advantage and jumped to a first quarter double-digit lead and maintained it for much of the game.

Jordan was 7 for 7 in the first half, as the Clippers ran out to a 57-43 lead on a 26-13 rebounding advantage. The Clippers’ center all nine of his rebounds before intermission and added two blocked shots.

Jordan, who was a perfect 8 for 8 from the floor, scored 13 of his game-high 18 points in the first quarter, while power forward Griffin scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Clippers avenged a 94-80 loss to Miami in Beijing on Thursday. Paul finished with four points, six assists and five rebounds in 22 minutes. Caron Butler, Jamal Crawford and Matt Barnes also scored in double figures.

— Reported by Los Angeles Daily News services

Jeremy Lin playing, but still recovering from knee surgery

Jeremy Lin playing, but still recovering from knee surgery

Tough times for everybody’s favorite point guard. Everybody but James Dolan, that is.

More than six months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus, not exactly a catastrophic injury by any stretch, Jeremy Lin continues to cite problems with his left knee for his early struggles with the Rockets.

“My speed and my explosiveness and my agility (are not) there yet,” Lin said the other day.

So it was hardly ideal circumstances when the ex-Knick made his Houston debut against the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook. even if Lin had two completely healthy knees, that’s a mismatch, going up against one of the NBA’s top athletes.

Predictably, in his first action since injuring his knee last March against Detroit at the Garden, it got ugly in a hurry. Lin made only one shot and couldn’t stay with the fleet Westbrook, who went for 19 points in 16 first-half minutes.

— Reported by Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News

UCLA to unveil John Wooden statue outside Pauley Pavilion

UCLA will unveil a statue of the late basketball coach John Wooden outside newly renovated Pauley Pavilion on Oct. 26.

Members of Wooden’s family are expected to attend. The bronze statue was paid for by a donation from athletic boosters and was created by Blair Buswell, who has sculpted many busts of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees.

The $136 million renovation of UCLA’s basketball arena began in March 2011. The building will re-open at the end of the month.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Emir Preldzic wins Euroleague Week 1 MVP

In a game that produced the two best individual performances to start the Turkish Airlines Euroleague season, Emir Preldzic walked away as bwin Week 1 MVP because his career-best showing had one deciding statistic in his favor: a victory for Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul! Preldzic’s near-flawless performance on Thursday pushed his team to a surefire 92-80 win over visiting Khimki Moscow Region before almost 10,000 delirious fans at Fenerbahce Ulker Sports Arena. The 25-year-old point forward climbed off the bench late in the first quarter and by halftime had 11 points without a miss to push Fenerbahce Ulker ahead for good. When he was finished, Preldzic had compiled a performance index rating of 31, the best of his six-year Euroleague career.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

NBA plans China basketball facility

The NBA and a Chinese partner say they plan to open a basketball center near Beijing.

The partners say the facility in Tianjin, a port city east of the Chinese capital, will include NBA-style basketball courts, a fitness center, a restaurant and other features, according to NBA China and the Yatai Lanhai Investment Group.

The announcement was made as the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers played exhibition games in Beijing and Shanghai.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Ekpe Udoh injury tests Bucks frontcourt depth

It didn’t take long for the Milwaukee Bucks’ power forward depth to be tested.

Reserve forward Ekpe Udoh suffered a strained left knee in the team’s preseason opener against Cleveland on Tuesday, and Bucks coach Scott Skiles said Udoh would be sidelined 10 days to two weeks.

Fortunately for the Bucks, they have starter Ersan Ilyasova, Drew Gooden, Larry Sanders and rookie John Henson. All four can play power forward.

“We don’t think it’s anything serious with Ekpe, but we are very deep there,” Skiles said. “We are going to play at least two or three games without him and see where it goes.

“We’d like him ready for opening night (Nov. 2 in Boston). We’ll just go by what the doctors say.”

— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Celtics may bring Brandon Bass off bench

Brandon Bass

If Brandon Bass is upset over potentially losing his spot in the Celtics starting lineup, he isn’t saying. Then again, Bass isn’t saying much on the topic at all.

“I have no comment on that question. No comment,” Bass responded when asked if he cared whether he started. “We have to keep getting better as a team. I think (coach Doc Rivers) will make the best decision for the team.”

Rivers raised eyebrows earlier in the week when he speculated about employing different starting lineups. The variations could send Bass to the bench in favor of rookie power forward Jared Sullinger or free agent center Darko Milicic.

“We may go to a transitional starting lineup, you know, have three different lineups,” Rivers said Wednesday. “We put a lot of thought into it. We just will figure it out.”

— Reported by Dan Duggan of the Boston Herald