Inside Hoops – Page 1995 – NBA Blog

Theo Ratliff out at least 4-6 weeks after knee surgery

Los Angeles Lakers center Theo Ratliff underwent successful arthroscopic surgery to perform a partial meniscectomy on his left knee, it was announced today.

The surgery, which took approximately 30 minutes, was performed by Lakers team orthopaedist Dr. Steve Lombardo of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Group. Ratliff is expected to be out a minimum of 4-6 weeks.

Ratliff signed with the Lakers as a free agent this past summer on July 22. In eight games this season, he is averaging 0.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.63 blocks in 8.4 minutes.

One of seven players in NBA history to capture the blocked shots title three or more times, Ratliff ranks 18th in NBA history in career blocked shots (1,968) and owns career averages of 7.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.43 blocks and 25.4 minutes in 808 games.

Devin Harris ejected for foul on Blake Griffin

Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star-Ledger reports:

Devin Harris ejected for hard foul on Blake Griffin

Harris, the Nets’ floor leader and leading scorer, was ejected from the game for a hard foul on the L.A. Clippers’ young star, Blake Griffin with 6:42 remaining in the first half. But even without him, the Nets were still able to get their West Coast trip off to a winning start, as they grabbed an early lead against the Clippers and cruised to a 110-96 victory Monday night in Staples Center…

Harris, one of the Nets’ co-captains along with Lopez, grabbed Griffin, the Clippers’ exciting rookie, from behind on what would have been a breakaway basket and pulled him to the floor. For that, Harris was assessed a flagrant-2 foul, which will bring with it an automatic review by the NBA and could lead to a suspension.

“I was kind of looking up at the ball when I saw I couldn’t get it I tried to make sure he couldn’t get his arms up,” Harris said. “I didn’t think it was that bad when I did it, but once I came in the back and looked at it (on video), it looks pretty bad.”

Tayshaun Prince, coach John Kuester exchange words

Marc J. Spears of Yahoo reports:

Detroit Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince accepted blame for a heated exchange with head coach John Kuester during the team’s 101-97 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday night. Prince also didn’t guarantee it would be the last incident between player and coach.

“I hope it doesn’t happen again,” Prince said. “I can’t say it won’t because I’m the type of guy that if I don’t see something right, I got to say something.”

The confrontation started after Prince didn’t fight through a double screen in time to stop Warriors guard Reggie Williams from hitting a 3-pointer that put the Pistons in a 25-point hole with 4:27 left in the second quarter. Kuester called a quick timeout and voiced his displeasure to Prince, who barked back at his coach on the bench. As the argument continued, Kuester motioned for a Pistons security official to remove Prince from the bench. Kuester started to walk toward Prince, but was restrained by assistant coach Darrell Walker.

Mavericks beat previously undefeated Hornets

The AP reports:

Jason Terry scored 26 points, including the go-ahead jumper in the final minute, and the Dallas Mavericks handed the New Orleans Hornets their first loss of the season, 98-95 on Monday night.

New Orleans, which had been off to a franchise-best 8-0 start, got 22 points from Chris Paul, but only two came in the second half.

Dirk Nowitzki had 25 points and 10 rebounds to help the Mavericks stretch their winning streak to four games.

Peja Stojakovic added 17 points and Emeka Okafor pulled down 14 rebounds for New Orleans.

Robin Lopez out several weeks

An MRI performed on Suns center Robin Lopez revealed a moderate sprain of the medial collateral ligament (MCL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in his left knee. Lopez is expected to be out several weeks. Lopez will travel with the team when it departs on its four-game road trip Tuesday.

Lopez has started all nine games for the Suns in 2010-11, posting averages of 5.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 17.8 minutes.

Early in season, Heat lack rebounding

Tom Haberstroh of ESPN reports:

Along with their propensity to turn the ball over, rebounding has been a documented chink in the armor for the Heat. Currently, the team’s 23.0 offensive rebounding rate places them third to last in the NBA. It’s unfair to knock 7-foot-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas for not collecting offensive boards, considering he’s typically roaming the perimeter for pick-and-pops. But Joel Anthony’s a different story. The 6-foot-9 center has been a below-average offensive rebounder this season, collecting 8.6 percent of available Heat missed shots. This, despite being firmly planted around the basket in offensive sets.

For all the energy Anthony brings, his hyperactivity doesn’t translate to beating others to the live ball. On the defensive end, the UNLV product is too busy fly-swatting others shots, rather than preventing the opposition from acquiring second-chance points. In fact, the Heat’s defensive rebounding rate soars from 61.5 percent while Anthony’s on the floor to 70.9 percent after he exits the game.

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.