Inside Hoops – Page 2106 – NBA Blog

Rob Kurz and Oliver Lafayette rocking the D-League

Rob Kurz and Oliver Lafayette of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants were today named NBA Development League Co-Performers of the Week for games played during the week of March 29, when the Mad Ants recorded a 3-0 record to close out the 2009-10 NBA D-League regular season. The award is a first for both Kurz and Lafayette.

Kurz, a 6-9 230-pound forward from Notre Dame, recorded three double-doubles last week in road wins over the Springfield Armor and Maine Red Claws. He scored 27 points, one shy of his season high, in a 100-83 win over the Armor on April 1, and returned on April 2 to finish with a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double in a 105-92 win over the Maine Red Claws in Portland. For the week, Kurz averaged 23.3 points on 56 percent (23-of-41) shooting from the floor to go with 10.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists. An NBA D-League All-Star, Kurz averaged 17.5 points and 10.1 rebounds (third in the NBA D-League) in 39 games, 25 starts, for the Mad Ants this season. He scored in double figures on 35 occasions, notching 21 double-doubles.

Lafayette, a 6-2, 190-pound guard out of Houston, scored a game-high 32 points in Fort Wayne’s win over Maine on April 2. He began the week with 26- and 24-point outings on March 29 and April 1, respectively. For the week, Lafayette averaged a team-high 27.3 points, 8.7 assists and 7.3 rebounds. A key contributor to the Mad Ants all season, Lafayette led the team in scoring 12 times, including a season-high 34 points in a 108-94 home win over Maine on March 16. For the season, Lafayette averaged 17.1 points, 6.5 assists and 4.6 rebounds.

Other top performers last week included Erie’s Blake Ahearn, who averaged 31.5 points, 10.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds in two games for the BayHawks; Rio Grande Valley’s Will Conroy, who averaged 22.0 points, 9.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds in four games for the Vipers; Idaho’s Joe Dabbert, who averaged 20.0 points and 14.7 rebounds in three games for the Stampede; Reno’s Desmon Farmer, who averaged 25.3 points and 7.7 assists in three games for the Bighorns; Austin’s Dwayne Jones, who averaged 19.0 points and 18.5 rebounds in two games for the Toros; Sioux Falls’ Joe Krabbenhoft, who averaged 24.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in two games for the Skyforce; Idaho’s Coby Karl, who averaged 22.7 points, 10.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists in three games for the Stampede; Sioux Falls’ Greg Stiemsma, who averaged 17.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in two games for the Skyforce; and Idaho’s Donell Taylor, who averaged 24.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 7.7 assists in three games for the Stampede.

Hall of Fame 2010 class announced

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame today announced that eight individuals and two teams have been named as the Enshrinement Class of 2010. The inductees include Jerry Buss, Cynthia Cooper, Bob Hurley, Sr., Karl Malone and Scottie Pippen, along with two celebrated teams: the 1960 USA Men’s Olympic team and the 1992 USA Basketball “Dream Team.” The Class of 2010 also includes three legendary players: Dennis Johnson, Gus Johnson and international star Maciel “Ubiratan” Pereira, all of whom will be honored posthumously. The announcement was made at a press conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, the site of the 2010 NCAA Final Four.

Full details and more info here.

Bosh scores 42 but Warriors edge Raptors

The AP reports:

Don Nelson might not be much of a dancer, but he’s one heck of a coach.

Nelson tied Lenny Wilkens for the most wins by an NBA coach when the Golden State Warriors held off the Toronto Raptors 113-112 on Sunday night…

Golden State’s players danced in a circle around Nelson after the wild finish, which saw Chris Bosh steal the inbounds pass only to have his game-winning layup attempt roll off the rim as time expired…

Stephen Curry had 29 points and 12 assists, and Corey Maggette scored 31 points for the Warriors…

Bosh had 42 points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who lost for the first time in four games. Jarrett Jack scored 19 points and Andrea Bargnani had 18 points and nine rebounds.

Rumors Talk: Banged-up Bogut

It’s obviously terrible news that Andrew Bogut is injured. Without him, chances are the Milwaukee Bucks will be sent home in the first round of the playoffs. What a nasty injury that was. All the best for Andrew in his recovery.

Channing Frye is right to become a free agent. He’ll make more money after proving himself with the Suns this season. I’m not sure he’ll get the full mid-level exception — if the economy, both in and out of the NBA was better then maybe he would — but he’ll probably get something close.

I’d have loved to see video of Kenyon Martin going nuts after being pranked.

The monster game that David Lee put up was great, but it was also against the Warriors, who I believe are playing 70-or-so-year-old coach Don Nelson at center. And their current backup center is a random hot dog sales guy. So, Lee wasn’t really up against pro-level competition. Still, a terrific game for him.

If Stephen Jackson really does have about 28 different injuries, he should consider just sitting out. But the problem is, the Charlotte Bobcats are currently the no.7 seed in the East and could very easily fall out of the playoffs. They’re just ahead of the Raptors and no.9 seed Bulls. What to do? If S-Jax is totally banged up, he won’t be as effective as a healthy backup and might as well not be there. Keep an eye on that.

I was a big Dennis Johnson fan (rest in peace, DJ), but I understand the Hall of Fame not putting him in right away. Good news that he’s going to make it this time around. But he was sort of a borderline guy to make it and definitely benefitted from a star-studded set of teammates. Anyway, I’m glad he’ll be in there.

Talk to you Monday.

This feature is an editorialized take on the day’s hot NBA rumors stories.

Raptors sign Joey Dorsey

The Toronto Raptors announced Sunday they have signed free agent forward-centre Joey Dorsey for the remainder of the season. Per team policy, financial details were not disclosed.

Dorsey, 26, was selected 33rd overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2008 NBA Draft. Following the Draft, he was traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for the draft rights to the 25th pick, Nicolas Batum. In 18 career games with Houston and Sacramento, the Baltimore native averaged 1.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 6.3 minutes. As a member of the Kings, he grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds February 5 at Memphis.

Dorsey has spent parts of two seasons with the Houston Rockets’ NBA D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He averaged 14.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 31.6 minutes in 16 games (all starts) this season. During the 2008-09 campaign, Dorsey appeared in seven games, starting five, and averaged 9.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 29.4 minutes.

A two-time Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year in his junior and senior seasons, Dorsey averaged 6.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 21.7 minutes in 149 career games at the University of Memphis. He finished his collegiate career as the school’s second all-time rebounder (1,209) and all-time leader in C-USA history.

The Raptors face the Golden State Warriors on Sunday at Air Canada Centre. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. (TSN/FAN 590).g

Celtics recall Marcus Landry from D-League

The Boston Celtics announced today that forward Marcus Landry has been recalled from the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League. Landry appeared in 13 games for the Red Claws and posted averages of 11.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 24.9 minutes per game.

The 47-28 Celtics are currently 4th in the Eastern conference, behind the no.3 Atlanta Hawks and ahead of the no.5 Miami Heat.

Jrue Holiday a bright spot for Sixers

Tom Moore of the Burlington County Times reports:

Jrue Holiday is the best – only? – good thing to come out of the Sixers’ disappointing 2009-10 season.

Despite being the youngest player in the league, Holiday is showing he can defend, run the offense and even score in this league. The more he plays, the better he gets.

Holiday had a season-high 25 points Saturday on 10-for-12 shooting, hitting a 3-pointer with 58.9 seconds left in regulation and another with 3:44 to go in overtime, in a 128-123 home loss to the Raptors.

While Holiday looks like a core player for years to come, the Sixers should still take Kentucky point guard John Wall if they’re fortunate enough to land the No. 1 overall pick in the May 18 draft lottery.

Heat plane diverted to Chicago

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports:

The Miami Heat’s three-game road trip added one more city to the itinerary early Sunday morning, when the team plane was diverted to Chicago after a member of the flight crew became ill.

Team trainers tended crew member who lapsed into what appeared to be a diabetic coma. He then was transported to a hospital there before the flight from Saturday night’s 97-84 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves resumed.

The team charter plane eventually landed in Miami at 5:04 a.m., roughly an hour behind schedule.

Michael Wallace of the Miami Herald reports:

Heat guard Dwyane Wade sent out a message through his Twitter account at 1:27 a.m., asking for his followers to pray for the mechanic.

“Hey everyone pray for our pilot,” Wade wrote on Twitter. “We just had a emergency landing in Chicago. He went into a coma. God bless this man and his family.”

A Heat spokesman confirmed that the team’s plane landed about 1:30 a.m., about 90 minutes after its 11 p.m. scheduled departure from Minnesota. The team was waiting at the O’Hare airport as the mechanic was taken to a hospital. The team resumed its flight to Miami at 2:27 am.

Nets win 4th time in 6 games, beat Hornets

The AP reports:

Rookie Terrence Williams is finally figuring out how to play in the NBA, and so are the New Jersey Nets to be honest.

Williams had 14 points and a career-high 14 assists and the Nets posted their biggest win of the season with a 115-87 decision over the slumping New Orleans Hornets on Saturday night.

“Terrence was terrific,” Nets interim coach Kiki Vandeweghe said.

Unstoppable might have been a better word because the Hornets had no answer for Williams, who was 7 of 13 from the field and was the undeniable catalyst as the Nets (11-65) won for the fourth time in six games…

David West, who had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead New Orleans, noticed Williams in the game in which the Hornets allowed 40 fast-break points.

InsideHoops.com Notes:

Obviously it’s a bit late in the season for the Nets to come somewhat alive, but better late than never.

Williams has had a slightly better season than some may realize, only shooting 39.5% from the field for 7.9 points and a well-balanced 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 21.6 minutes per game.

In his last five games, Williams has averaged 15.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 7.2 assists.

The Nets yesterday beat a Hornets team that looked to have very little interest in competing, but still, T-Will’s improved play as of late is a rare New Jersey bright spot.

Andrew Bogut breaks hand, injures arm

Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond announced the following information on center Andrew Bogut:

“After falling hard to the floor after a dunk in the second period of the Bucks win over Phoenix, Andrew was examined at the Bradley Center by team orthopaedic physician Dr. Michael Gordon and then taken to Aurora Sinai Medical Center by ambulance for more tests.

“Further testing and imaging at Aurora Sinai showed that Andrew sustained a dislocated right elbow, a sprained right wrist and a broken right hand. He was released from the hospital and no timetable has been determined for his return.”

In 69 games this season, Bogut is averaging career-highs in points (15.9) and blocked shots (2.5), while adding 10.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He ranks 2nd in the NBA in blocked shots, 9th in rebounds and 17th in field goal percentage (.520). Bogut’s 175 blocked shots to date are the most for any Bucks player since Alton Lister had 177 in 1982-83, giving him the sixth highest single-season total in franchise history. Bogut and Dwight Howard are the only players in the NBA averaging at least 15.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.

The AP reports:

With Milwaukee leading late in the second quarter, Bogut took a long outlet pass in for a fast break slam dunk. He hung on the rim afterward, was touched in the back by the Suns’ Amare Stoudemire and crashed to the court. He wrenched his right elbow in ugly fashion trying to brace his fall.

Bogut appeared to be in serious pain, briefly writhing on the floor before being helped to his feet by the team’s medical staff. Hunched over and clutching his arm, he ran down the tunnel toward the locker room.

Video clip of injury and fan discussion is in this forum topic.