Inside Hoops – Page 1833 – NBA Blog

Mike Beasley All-Star Classic coming to Minnesota Oct. 21

They can’t get into Target Center these days, so NBA stars John Wall, Joakim Noah and DeMarcus Cousins are among those expected to play in Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley’s “All Star Classic” at Osseo High School — of all places — next week.

Beasley’s Wolves teammates Derrick Williams, Wes Johnson, Martell Webster, Wayne Ellington and former Wolf Sebastian Telfair are scheduled to play as well in the Friday night, Oct. 21 exhibition game.

So, too, are Boston’s Jeff Green, Detroit’s Greg Monroe, L.A. Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan, Chicago’s Keith Bogans and Beasley’s longtime pal, former Dukie Nolan Smith.

— Reported by Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star Tribune

Ben Gordon expects more games to be canceled

“I think there will be more games missed,” Gordon said when reached by phone as he was driving to Chicago. “I expect it might be a year or two. I realized that when I was listening to both sides during the negotiations. I think there will be a lot of games missed and more money is going to go down the drain.

“I’m preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best.” …

Gordon was in New York for previous negotiating sessions and said until the past few days, he could tell the owners weren’t serious about making a deal and were looking forward to the eventual outcome.

“It just seemed scripted, and they were going through the motions,” said Gordon, calling it a valuable learning experience. “Sitting there in front of them you could tell they weren’t focused on getting a deal. I still don’t know the purpose of those meetings.”

— Reported by Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press

Sports media fight! Cameramen brawl outside NBA lockout meeting

While representatives of NBA owners and the players union wrestled using words and business negotiation in a posh Manhattan hotel, a pair of media members got into a fight on the street outside.

We don’t know what set these guys off, but the cameraman decided it was time to brawl. They went at it for a good minute and a half, and while it’s clear these guys have watched their share of karate movies and boxing matches, the fight was pretty tame.

Are you laughing at the idea of cameraman squaring up to brawl on the streets? I sure am.

This is exactly like Ali-Frazier, only the opposite.

Watch the video. Hat tip to a Nets fan named James who emailed it to us:

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Cavaliers to hire college assistant to coach D-League team in Canton

The Cavaliers are expected to name Alex Jensen, a St. Louis University assistant, as head coach of their new Canton D-League team, the Plain Dealer has learned.

Jensen has spent the past four seasons as a Billikins assistant under Rick Majerus for whom he played at the University of Utah in the 1990s. St. Louis is one of the Atlantic 10’s top defensive teams and it’s believed his focus on defense is one of the main attractions to the Cavaliers.

Walsh University coach Jeff Young also was believed to be among the finalists.

— Reported by Tom Reed of the Cleveland Plain Dealer

Steve Nash criticizes owners and league over NBA lockout

Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash isn’t happy over the NBA’s announcement that the first two weeks of the regular season will be canceled.

And the star player has taken to Twitter to vent his frustrations over the stalemate between the players and the league’s owners.

“The players are negotiating to take less money & let’s be clear that’s not going to lower ticket prices, it just lines the owners pockets,” said Nash.

Nash seems to doubt the league’s validity that most NBA teams are losing money.

“You believe that? There’s a reason they won’t open their books. You know we want to play & you understand the propaganda/misinformation from the owners,” said Nash.

— Reported by ArizonaSports.com

Mark Cuban will consider a Mavs TV network

The Lakers are going to have their own network, why not the Mavericks?

That’s the feeling from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who spoke to Multichannel News.

When asked about creating a Mavs network, Cuban said, “Yeah of course, when my deal is up. Absolutely. I think Time Warner [Cable] is kind of our incumbent [in the Dallas area] and HD Net is not on Time Warner. So will I package the two to get one? Absolutely.”

It likely wouldn’t happen soon. The Mavericks have a deal with Fox Sports Southwest through the 2016-17 season.

The Lakers and Time Warner Cable reached a deal in February launch two regional sports TV networks that will carry all locally available Lakers games, including one in Spanish. The networks are scheduled to begin in time for the 2012-13 season.

— Reported by the Dallas Morning News

City of Cleveland will be out millions if NBA cancels season

Already reeling from economic losses, Cleveland could be out millions of dollars in tax revenue if labor strife leads to cancellation of the upcoming National Basketball Association season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers paid the city $4.5 million in city admission taxes last season, plus income taxes charged against the team’s $53 million payroll. How much in income taxes was not known because Cleveland officials decline to discuss what they collect from specific taxpayers.

The city also took in hundreds of thousands of dollars in parking taxes on Cavs’ game days. The 8 percent tax generated $300,000 for municipal operating expenses, according to Finance Director Sharon Dumas, and a possibly larger sum to pay debt on parking garages.

Effects also could be felt in Independence, which is the site of the Cavaliers’ practice facility and splits income taxes from the home team’s players with Cleveland. The Cavaliers rank as the suburb’s second-biggest source of income taxes this year, accounting for $326,664 through September, according to the weekly Sun Post newspaper.

— Reported by Thomas Ott of the Cleveland Plain Dealer

Nets forward Travis Outlaw knows he can play better than he did last season

“I know I’m way better than what I showed last season,” he said. “I just have to come in there to prove a point and make my team better.”

So what does that mean for Outlaw? He’s working with a conditioning coach and said he’s in better shape than he was at this point last year, when coach Avery Johnson felt compelled to enlist the small forward in his Breakfast Club.

He also is playing in local tournaments, under the radar compared to his teammates competing in New York and overseas.

“A lot of running,” Outlaw said of his offseason training. “I’m putting myself in the best position possible.”

— Reported by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News

Guard Patty Mills named NBL Australia player of the week

It didn’t take long for Portland Trail Blazers point guard Patty Mills to make his presence felt in Australia’s National Basketball League.

Mills, left idle by the NBA lockout, was named the NBL’s player of the week Tuesday after scoring 28 points to lead the Melbourne Tigers to an 82-76 comeback win over the Sydney Kings on the league’s opening weekend.

— Reported by the Associated Press

NBA lockout update: First two weeks of NBA regular season canceled

By Jeff Lenchiner

The NBA announced late Monday night that it has canceled the first two weeks of the 2011-12 NBA regular season because a new collective bargaining agreement has not been reached with the National Basketball Players Association.

This cancellation includes all games originally scheduled to be played from November 1 through November 14.

“Despite extensive efforts, we have not been able to reach a new agreement with the players’ union that allows all 30 teams to be able to compete for a championship while fairly compensating our players,” NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said.

Refunds plus interest are available for all NBA season-ticket holders for all preseason and regular-season games that are canceled.

After an unexpected meeting Sunday night in New York City, key representatives of the NBA owners and the players union stayed in town and got together again Monday afternoon. They got started around 2:15 or 2:30 p.m. ET or so and didn’t finish until around 9:45 p.m. at night.Earlier in the day, progress was reported on a near agreement in regard to changing the mid-level exception in free agency, but that’s a minor issue in the labor disputes that caused and prolonged the ongoing NBA lockout.

According to Ken Berger of CBS Sports, after the meeting the first person to speak to the media was David Stern, who said: “I’m sorry to report … that the first two weeks of the season have been canceled.”

More from Berger: Stern says owners’ proposal would’ve raised average player salary from $5-$7m/year. … Issues on the “competition side” have “separated us greatly.” … Stern says players requested raised of 10.5 pct. And 9 pct… Stern: “we depart on good terms with negotiators. We just have a gulf that separates us.” … Stern: Yes, cancellation means no chance of an 82-game season… Stern: we couldn’t close the gap. … underpinning was union was at 53 and we were at 47… Stern: we remain very, very far apart on virtually all issues.

Still more from Berger: Adam Silver: What’s separated us over the past two days are not economic issues, but the system… Stern says further negotiations have to “account for the losses we are incurring” by canceling games… Stern on whether season itself is in jeopardy: “I’d like to think not.” … tern to fans: “I say that we tried awfully hard. We made, in our view, concession after concession.”

That’s from the owners side. As for the players union, here is president Derek Fisher, as tweeted by Berger:

Fisher: “I continue to believe that we’ve been more than fair and reasonable in our approach.” … Fisher: “This is what we anticipated would happen, and here we are.” … Fisher: “This is not just about dollars and cents for players. It’s about a system for our guys to operate under.” … Fisher says owners’ proposal of punitive luxury tax is “still as close as you can get, if not a hard cap.” … Hunter: “I don’t know that the season is in jeopardy. I think it would be foolish.”

Will the first two regular season weeks be all we lose? Or could another two weeks soon be taken? No one knows.

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