Author: Inside Hoops

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D-League expands to Penn. Bring a team to NYC!

Erie, Pennsylvania has been awarded an NBA Development League franchise. The team will join Reno, NV — which was awarded a D-League franchise on Feb. 29 — for their inaugural seasons in 2008-09. More on this here.

I’m actively rooting for the D-League to expand to my quaint, lovable town of New York City as soon as possible. It would be fitting. InsideHoops is run out of NYC. The select few basketball mags that matter are here. The league office is here. A zillion media people are here. Bring us a squad!

And, if not NYC, put a D-League team in Westchester, just north of NYC. But near a Metro North train line, please. We New Yorkers don’t have cars.

There was a rumor a while back, I think from the New York Times, that Harlem might get a team someday, but I asked a few people who know a thing or two about what D-League people are thinking, and no one could confirm anything concrete is in the plans.

– Jeff

Dirk tells InsideHoops Kobe is MVP

I recently met with current league MVP Dirk Nowitzki and got his MVP opinion:

InsideHoops.com: Other than yourself and any of your teammates, who are the official Dirk Nowitzki candidates for the league MVP?

Dirk Nowitzki: That’s tough. LeBron certainly has a case in the East. On the Celtics, KG has had a great year. And in the West, to me it’s been Kobe, the way he’s been scoring, really setting the tone every night for his team, and to me he’s the best player in the league anyway, scoring-wise and all-around player. I’d probably give it to Kobe. Those three definitely deserve it.

The item is here.

– Jeff

Gilbert Arenas speaks on his status

Gilbert Arenas on his knee: “Everything is healing.  They want me to wrap (my knee) up and go full speed.  I’m going to test it out tonight on the practice court.  I’m going to give it a real hard workout and see how it feels in the morning.”

Arenas on his first game back: “They say that when I do go back, it will just be an assist-game for me.  They don’t want me to go in there jumping or being acrobatic.”

Arenas on what he expects from himself upon his return: “They told me that this year I won’t be me.  Don’t go back and try to be me.  I have to come back as an assist man.  I have to try to stay out of going to the hole, and I have to be careful.”

Arenas on the timetable for his return: “I’m hoping to play this season.  I want to play.  It’s hard when you have done something your whole life and then it gets taken away from you.  Hopefully I can get back out there.”

More on his injury: “They haven’t actually cleared me to play.  I’m just going to practice hard today and tomorrow and the next day, and then see how it feels.  If it feels the same as it does now than I might just play, because that means it’s not getting any worse.  My main concern is not getting hurt again.”

Trail Blazers assign Josh McRoberts to D-League

The Portland Trail Blazers assigned rookie forward Josh McRoberts to the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League, it was announced Monday by Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard.

“Sending Josh back to Idaho will give him the best chance to develop as the season winds down,” said Pritchard. “Getting the opportunity to play extended minutes is an important step in his rookie season, and we saw good results from his last trip there.”

The D-League assignment marks the second of the season for McRoberts, who posted averages of 7.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 26.5 minutes in eight games with the Stampede from Jan. 9-Feb. 3.

McRoberts, 21, is averaging 2.0 points, 0.8 rebounds and 4.4 minutes in five games with the Trail Blazers this season after being selected by Portland with the 37th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.

This is the first season the Trail Blazers are affiliated with the Boise-based Stampede.

What if the 2007-08 champs come from the East?

The West is far superior to the East this year. That in no way guarantees that this year’s champions will come from that conference.

The East only has two true championship contenders right now, the Celtics and Pistons. The Magic and Cavs can be mentioned in Eastern conference finals conversations, and it’s certainly possible either of those teams could reach the league Finals, but neither is presumed to be on a championship level.

So what if the Celtics, Pistons or someone else does beat the Spurs, Suns, Mavericks, Rockets, Jazz, Hornets or Lakers in the finals? Should it count?

Of course, it does have to count, but to be fair, perhaps whichever team wins the Western conference finals should be crowned this year’s champion, and whoever comes out of the East gets a handshake, a cookie, and one of those gold stars given to schoolchildren when they tie their shoes correctly.

Dwight Howard in rare territory

Orlando’s Dwight Howard is averaging 21.6 points, 14.4 rebounds and is shooting .603 from the field. Only four players have finished a season averaging at least 20.0 ppg., 10.0 rpg., while shooting .600 from the field: Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia, 1966-67; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, L.A. Lakers, 1979-80; Charles Barkley, Philadelphia, 1989-90; and Shaquille O’Neal, Miami, 2004-05.

Rockets 22 straight wins, take lead in West

NBA News: With their 104-92 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, the Houston Rockets (46-20) extended their franchise-record winning streak to 22 games and took over sole possession of first place in the Western Conference. On Jan. 28, the day before the streak started, the Rockets were 24-20, in 10th place in the West and eight games out of first. Houston passed the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks on Friday for the second longest stretch in NBA history. The record of 33 straight victories was achieved by the Lakers in the 1971-72 season. The Rockets have won 26 of their last 27 games and 31 of their last 34. They’ve won 15 straight at the Toyota Center; 12 straight on the road; 10 straight since All-Star Yao Ming suffered a season-ending broken foot; and 11 of their last 13 games by double digits. The Rockets host the Boston Celtics tomorrow (8:30 p.m. ET, TNT).

The Celtics pace the league with a 52-13 mark and are an NBA-best 23-8 on the road. For the Celtics, however, tomorrow’s game in Houston is the start of a hyper-difficult Texas Triangle trip in which they will also play the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs. The three Texas teams are a combined 80-18 (.816) at home this season, and are riding a 26 game winning streak. The last team to sweep the Texas Triangle trip was the 2001-02 Sacramento Kings (Nov. 27-30, 2001).

Players of week are Stoudemire, Jamison

The Washington Wizards’ Antawn Jamison and the Phoenix Suns’ Amaré Stoudemire today were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, March 10, through Sunday, March 16.

Jamison led the Wizards to a 3-0 week, with wins over the Clippers, Cavaliers and Bucks. After collecting two double-doubles on the week, Jamison’s 37 double-doubles stand as the second highest total in the Eastern Conference (Dwight Howard, 59). Jamison averaged 25.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals during the undefeated week, helping Washington move above the .500 mark for the first time since Feb. 5.

Stoudemire led the Suns to a 3-0 week, with all three victories coming against Western Conference opponents. Stoudemire averaged 32.0 points on .660 shooting from the field, 11.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.7 blocks. The back-to-back 30-point, 10-rebound efforts on March 13 and March 15 marked the third time this year that Stoudemire recorded consecutive 30-point, 10-rebound games.

Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala, Cleveland’s LeBron James, Atlanta’s Joe Johnson, New Orleans’ Chris Paul, Orlando’s Rashard Lewis, Houston’s Tracy McGrady and Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki.

Bulls send several players to and from D-League

The Chicago Bulls announced Saturday that the team has recalled rookie forward Demetris Nichols from the Iowa Energy of the D-League. The Bulls also announced they have placed Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons on assignment with the Energy.

Nichols (6-8, 216) has appeared in four games with the Bulls since the team claimed him on waivers on Dec. 7, 2007. He has also spent time this season in New York and Cleveland, having appeared in three games with the Cavaliers before his stint with Chicago. In 14 games with the Energy this season, Nichols has posted averages of 19.3 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.14 spg and 1.00 bpg in 37.6 mpg.

Brown (6-4, 211) has appeared in four games since the Bulls acquired him via trade with Cleveland on Feb. 21, and holds averages of 6.0 ppg and 1.0 rpg in 12.3 mpg in 19 appearances this season with Cleveland and Chicago.

Simmons (6-9, 235), also acquired by the Bulls in the Feb. 21 trade, has seen action in four games in Chicago. On the season, he has played in 11 games and averaged 0.5 ppg and 1.5 rpg in 7.1 mpg.