Author: Inside Hoops

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LeBron, Kobe win Players of Month

The Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James and the Los Angeles  Lakers’  Kobe  Bryant  today  were  named  the Eastern and Western Conference  Players  of the Month for games played in February.

James,  who wins the award for the second consecutive month, led the league in  scoring  in February, averaging 30.2 points and adding 8.9 rebounds and an  Eastern  Conference-best  8.5  assists. Cleveland was   8-6 mark on the month  as  James became the first player since Magic Johnson (1988) to post triple-doubles on consecutive days twice in the same season (Feb. 19-20 and Nov.  24-25).  James became the youngest player to reach 10,000 points with his 19th point at Boston on Feb. 27

Bryant  led the Lakers to a 13-2 mark, averaging team highs in points (27.2 ppg),  assists  (5.9 apg) and steals (2.07 spg). Bryant, who shot .507 from the  field,  scored  at  least 30 points on eight occasions and netted more than 40 points twice.

Other  nominees for Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week were Detroit’s  Chauncey  Billups,  Golden  State’s  Monta  Ellis, Houston Tracy McGrady, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Corey Maggette, Orlando’s Dwight Howard, Philadelphia’s Andre Miller and San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili.

Cavaliers sign Kaniel Dickens, Billy Thomas to second 10-day contracts

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed forward Kaniel Dickens and guard Billy Thomas to their second 10-day contracts, Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry announced today. Dickens has played nine minutes in three games. Thomas has appeared in four games with Cleveland and scored all nine of his points against Washington on Feb. 22. Both players signed their first 10-day contracts on Feb. 22.

Warriors re-assign Kosta Perovic to D-League

The Golden State Warriors have re-assigned center Kosta Perović to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Chris Mullin announced today.
 
Perović, 23, was previously assigned to the Jam on November 18 before being recalled on January 6.  During his most recent sojourn with Golden State, Perović saw action in one game on January 19 at Milwaukee.  He finished with four points, four rebounds and a block in seven minutes.
 
During his previous stint in the D-League, Perović appeared in 19 games (nine starts), averaging 8.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.37 blocks in 22.1 minutes per contest.
 
Perović is the second Warriors player to be assigned to the D-League since the current affiliation system began during the 2005-06 season.  Under the system, NBA teams can assign up to two players who are rookies or in their second season to their D-League affiliate. Players can stay with the D-League team for as long as the team wishes, and be recalled back to the NBA at any time. However, a player can only be sent to the D-League a maximum of three times during the season.

Euroleague Week 3 co-MVPs awards go to Dimitris Diamantidis, Terence Morris

Euroleague.net reports: One of the most exciting weeks in Top 16 history came to an end with two players tying for the best individual performance in this round. Dimitris Diamantidis of Panathinaikos and Terence Morris of Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv shared co-MVP honours, each with a 29 index. Diamantidis had 17 points on 2-for-2 two-pointers, 3-for-4 triples and 4-for-4 free throws in his team’s road loss against Montepaschi Siena. He added 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, a block and 4 fouls drawn to amass a 29 index. Morris had 16 points on 5-for-7 two-pointers in Maccabi’s pivotal home win against Real Madrid. He added 15 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks for a 29 index. Marc Jackson of Olympiacos, Willie Solomon of Fenerbahce Ulker and Daniel Santiago of Unicaja also shined with week, each with a 26 index.

Ilgauskas out a week or more

Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas missed the game today (Sunday, March 2) versus the Chicago Bulls with a back strain. He will be listed as Out for one week and will be re-evaluated after that with his status being updated at that point. No timeline has been established for his return to play.

Have not seen Semi-Pro, but I lack optimism

Hi. I’m Jeff. I run InsideHoops.com. Everyone who works in basketball or sports publicity who has heard of the internet knows about this website. We’re one of the world’s leading sports websites. And if we yell about something, word spreads, and directly or indirectly everyone who follows basketball closely quickly hears about it. Either by reading InsideHoops.com, or hearing from a friend who does, or reading a newspaper or another big website who heard about it because we said it, etc. etc. etc.

And now, my point. And yes, there is one, aside from reminding everyone that InsideHoops has a massive and extremely influential readership: No one promoting Semi-Pro got in touch with us to see a media screening of the movie before it came out.

I’ve seen literally every single basketball movie or documentary weeks in advance, for years now. All of them. Except Semi-Pro. Why is this?

Heck, just a few days ago I saw a screening of a basketball film I’m not allowed to even talk about it. Almost no sports media members have seen it yet, other than a select few. It’s terrific and you’ll hear about it in the near future.

Well, I just went to RottenTomatoes, and checked out the Semi-Pro reviews. And they’re awful. That site counted 109 reviews (none of which seem to be from anyone who works in basketball — it’s as if only “regular” movie reviewers got to see the film in advance) and it got a ranking of 25 percent. That’s out of 100. That’s very bad.

So, do PR people know the movie stinks? And therefore did they avoid inviting people like me in advance, because they didn’t want me to tell you it sucked?

And, I went to some basketball magazine websites, and a few of the big TV network-owned sites, and I don’t see any reviews of the movie. Just promotional stuff.

Anyway, I’m not saying a single bad word about the movie. Maybe it’ll be fun. Just saying, if InsideHoops isn’t seeing an advance screening of a basketball movie, then it’s quite likely that either the movie stinks, or the company needs to hire new PR people.

Ilgauskas has strained back

Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas was examined today at The Cleveland Clinic by head team physician Dr. Richard Parker. He was diagnosed with a strained back and is listed as Out for tomorrow’s game versus the Chicago Bulls at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. He will be re-examined tomorrow and his status will be updated after that.

Clippers sign Andre Barrett to 10-day contract

The Los Angeles Clippers today signed free agent guard Andre Barrett to a 10-day contract. Barrett comes to the Clippers from the NBA Development League’s Austin Toros, becoming the league’s 16th Gatorade Call-up and the 13th D-League player to be called to an NBA roster this season.

Barrett played 30 games this season for the Bakersfield Jam of the Development League, averaging 18.9 points, 8.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds in 38.2 minutes before being traded to Austin on Feb. 25.

A former stand-out at Seton Hall University, the Clippers will be Barrett’s sixth NBA team. He has averaged 3.4 points, 2.0 assist and 1.1 rebounds in 63 career NBA games over the course of three seasons.

Barrett started his NBA career with Houston in 2004-05, appearing in 27 games for the Rockets and averaging 2.1 points before finishing the season with Orlando.

Barrett played in two games for Phoenix in 2005-06 and then made 17 appearances for the Toronto Raptors that season, averaging a career-best 4.6 points in 15.4 minutes.

The Bronx, New York product played in six games for Chicago last season, averaging 1.3 points.

Yao Ming having season-ending surgery Monday

Rockets All-Star center Yao Ming will undergo season-ending surgery on Monday, March 3rd  in order to repair a stress fracture in the tarsal navicular bone in his left foot.  The surgery will be performed at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center by Rockets Team Physician Tom Clanton, who is regarded as one of the nation’s top orthopedic foot and ankle surgeons.

Injuries have really messed Yao and the Rockets up for years now. It’s tough to say how Yao can ever stop getting hurt, considering how huge he is. Hopefully he can somehow stay healthy eventually.