Day: January 3, 2008

Damon Stoudamire wants trade from Grizzlies

Looks like Memphis point guard Damon Stoudamire, who this season in 21.5 minutes per game has averaged 7.3 points and 3.9 assists on 39.7% shooting, has no interest in being bench fodder while young Mike Conley and Kyle Lowry pass him on the depth charts. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports:

Grizzlies veteran point guard Damon Stoudamire will seek a trade or contract buyout, his agent said Thursday. Stoudamire was removed from the starting lineup in favor of first-round draft pick Mike Conley. Stoudamire was on the inactive list for the Grizzlies’ victory Wednesday over Indiana. Aaron Goodwin, an experienced NBA agent with a star-studded client list, called the decision to relegate Stoudamire to an insurance player at the point unacceptable and disrespectful.

The Grizzlies have struggled this season and with 9 wins and 22 losses are tied for the 5th lowest winning percentage in the league.

Crumbling United States Basketball League (USBL) won’t play in 2008

The USBL, which has been steadily shrinking in size, for now has suspended their operations and not even setting up their 2008 season until they find more teams. The AP reports:

The United States Basketball League, down to only a handful of teams, has suspended operations. “We’re not going to schedule for the ’08 season until we have enough teams we feel comfortable going forward with,” USBL director of public relations Jake Gordon said. The league began the 2007 season with eight teams and lost two during the year, he said. One of the six remaining teams, the Albany Patroons, decided not to play in the post-season, leaving only five squads for the summer tournament — the Oklahoma Storm, the Gary Steelheads, the Dodge City Legend, the Kansas Cagerz and the Brooklyn Kings.

InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner used to attend a few Brooklyn Kings games per season around 2003-2005, and estimates that around 75-125 fans attended an average game. And they played in a college gym that made no mention of an actual event going on outside on the street, so people walking by wouldn’t even know a semi-pro basketball game was taking place.

McGrady injury update: Out 7-10 days

Statement from Dr. Tom Clanton: “Rockets guard/forward Tracy McGrady underwent further examination and a second MRI at the Roger Clemens Institute at Memorial Hermann, which revealed a strained popliteus tendon in his left knee. This is in addition to his patellar tendinitis and bruised bone that had been diagnosed previously and were confirmed by the first MRI. McGrady is expected to miss between 7-10 days as he continues his current rehabilitation program.”

Latest All-Star voting results are in

Thursday afternoon, the latest updated results for fan voting that picks the All-Star game starters came in. InsideHoops.com has the full voting counts posted here (click this).

If voting ended today, here’s who would start:

East: Kidd, Wade, LeBron, Garnett, D-Howard.
West: Kobe, McGrady, Melo, Duncan, Yao.

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Rumors commentary: Hughes May Stay

Losing Chris Mihm for a few weeks hurts the Lakers frontcourt depth a tiny but but it won’t make a huge difference. The 7-0, 265-pound player gets 13.3 minutes per game but contributes just 4.1 points and 3.7 rebounds on awful 36.9% shooting. Though, still, you never want to lose anyone to injury… I agree with the league for suspending Lamar Odom for one game. I hope that Dikembe Mutombo, now age 62, keeps playing and doesn’t retire at season’s end, though he’s said for a while now that he will. The 74-year old center is playing just 8.5 minutes per game this season, putting up a whopping 0.5 points and 2.5 rebounds on awesome 16.7% shooting. Clearly, the 83-year-old has some game left in the tank… Larry Hughes is shooting 33.5% from the field and 27.3% from three-point range. He does make his free throws, though, nailing 86.5% of them. He’s scoring just 9.7 pppg, the lowest average since his rookie season. His career FG% is 41.1%… I think the Hornets and Bobcats should combine into one team, and move to Oklahoma City… New Orleans clearly can’t support an NBA team right now. Me, my friend Mike, you, and a random hot chick chosen from the background of an MTV music video could stand centercourt, do the “Crank Dat Superman” Soulja Boy dance, and draw the same number of fans that have been going to home Hornets games.

This light, unedited editorial is a response to today’s NBA rumors stories. You absolutely need to hit the insidehoops rumors page every single day — with one main morning update, and more stories later in the day as they develop. Also hit that page to see the photo caption that accompanies the commentary. And of course, read the read of insidehoops.com as well.