The Rocky Mountain News reports: Allen Iverson was playing with plenty else on his mind. He had missed practice Monday and Wednesday (the Nuggets were off Tuesday) because his 4-year-old son, Isaiah, had fallen off a stool early Monday morning and suffered what Iverson called a “big gash under his mouth” that needed plastic surgery. “He had hands in his shirt, and it was a high stool,” said Iverson, who said there was lots of blood and his son must go back to the doctor every other day in the next week. “When he fell, he couldn’t brace it. . . . (It was tough because) my wife had to go through what she went through and my kids and (Isaiah) having to go through it. The toughest part was when they sedated him. . . . I was just mentally out of it.”
Author: Inside Hoops
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Damon Stoudamire wants trade from Grizzlies
Looks like Memphis point guard Damon Stoudamire, who this season in 21.5 minutes per game has averaged 7.3 points and 3.9 assists on 39.7% shooting, has no interest in being bench fodder while young Mike Conley and Kyle Lowry pass him on the depth charts. The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports:
Grizzlies veteran point guard Damon Stoudamire will seek a trade or contract buyout, his agent said Thursday. Stoudamire was removed from the starting lineup in favor of first-round draft pick Mike Conley. Stoudamire was on the inactive list for the Grizzlies’ victory Wednesday over Indiana. Aaron Goodwin, an experienced NBA agent with a star-studded client list, called the decision to relegate Stoudamire to an insurance player at the point unacceptable and disrespectful.
The Grizzlies have struggled this season and with 9 wins and 22 losses are tied for the 5th lowest winning percentage in the league.
Crumbling United States Basketball League (USBL) won’t play in 2008
The USBL, which has been steadily shrinking in size, for now has suspended their operations and not even setting up their 2008 season until they find more teams. The AP reports:
The United States Basketball League, down to only a handful of teams, has suspended operations. “We’re not going to schedule for the ’08 season until we have enough teams we feel comfortable going forward with,” USBL director of public relations Jake Gordon said. The league began the 2007 season with eight teams and lost two during the year, he said. One of the six remaining teams, the Albany Patroons, decided not to play in the post-season, leaving only five squads for the summer tournament — the Oklahoma Storm, the Gary Steelheads, the Dodge City Legend, the Kansas Cagerz and the Brooklyn Kings.
InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner used to attend a few Brooklyn Kings games per season around 2003-2005, and estimates that around 75-125 fans attended an average game. And they played in a college gym that made no mention of an actual event going on outside on the street, so people walking by wouldn’t even know a semi-pro basketball game was taking place.
McGrady injury update: Out 7-10 days
Statement from Dr. Tom Clanton: “Rockets guard/forward Tracy McGrady underwent further examination and a second MRI at the Roger Clemens Institute at Memorial Hermann, which revealed a strained popliteus tendon in his left knee. This is in addition to his patellar tendinitis and bruised bone that had been diagnosed previously and were confirmed by the first MRI. McGrady is expected to miss between 7-10 days as he continues his current rehabilitation program.”
Latest All-Star voting results are in
Thursday afternoon, the latest updated results for fan voting that picks the All-Star game starters came in. InsideHoops.com has the full voting counts posted here (click this).
If voting ended today, here’s who would start:
East: Kidd, Wade, LeBron, Garnett, D-Howard.
West: Kobe, McGrady, Melo, Duncan, Yao.
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Rumors commentary: Hughes May Stay
Losing Chris Mihm for a few weeks hurts the Lakers frontcourt depth a tiny but but it won’t make a huge difference. The 7-0, 265-pound player gets 13.3 minutes per game but contributes just 4.1 points and 3.7 rebounds on awful 36.9% shooting. Though, still, you never want to lose anyone to injury… I agree with the league for suspending Lamar Odom for one game. I hope that Dikembe Mutombo, now age 62, keeps playing and doesn’t retire at season’s end, though he’s said for a while now that he will. The 74-year old center is playing just 8.5 minutes per game this season, putting up a whopping 0.5 points and 2.5 rebounds on awesome 16.7% shooting. Clearly, the 83-year-old has some game left in the tank… Larry Hughes is shooting 33.5% from the field and 27.3% from three-point range. He does make his free throws, though, nailing 86.5% of them. He’s scoring just 9.7 pppg, the lowest average since his rookie season. His career FG% is 41.1%… I think the Hornets and Bobcats should combine into one team, and move to Oklahoma City… New Orleans clearly can’t support an NBA team right now. Me, my friend Mike, you, and a random hot chick chosen from the background of an MTV music video could stand centercourt, do the “Crank Dat Superman” Soulja Boy dance, and draw the same number of fans that have been going to home Hornets games.
This light, unedited editorial is a response to today’s NBA rumors stories. You absolutely need to hit the insidehoops rumors page every single day — with one main morning update, and more stories later in the day as they develop. Also hit that page to see the photo caption that accompanies the commentary. And of course, read the read of insidehoops.com as well.
Bulls looking better under Boylan
The Bulls actually look like a real team again under new head coach Jim Boylan. Maybe they’ll soon be a force as it was expected they’d be. The AP reports:
Ben Gordon scored 22 points, Luol Deng added 21 points and 13 rebounds and the Chicago Bulls continued their strong play under interim coach Jim Boylan with a 109-97 win over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. The Bulls, who improved to 3-1 under Boylan, rallied from a 12-point third-quarter deficit when Boylan tweaked his rotation to take advantage of Charlotte’s small lineup.
Lots of teams rally when a big change gets made, though. Let’s see if it continues.
Knicks hold Salmons to 32/11/6/6 yet still lose to Kings
The Knicks continued their losing ways Wednesday night in New York, losing to the injury-riddled Sacramento Kings 107-97. The final score is deceptive. This game wasn’t close at all and for all intents and purposes was really a 20-point Kings win.
In addition to Mike Bibby and Kevin Martin being out the Kings were also without Ron Artest, who had right elbow surgery today. But Brad Miller, John Salmons and Francisco Garcia played like stars.
Miller put up 26 points and 16 rebounds. Garcia shot badly but earned plenty of free throws to make up for it, getting 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Salmons was king of the court, shooting 13-of-18 for 32 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals.
For the Knicks, Eddy Curry found offense, shooting 10-of-17 (and just 4-of-11 free throws) for 24 points, most of which came in the first half. But he grabbed just 3 rebounds and was totally destroyed when attempting to play defense.
Stephon Marbury returned for the Knicks, coming off the bench to play reasonably well, getting 16 points and 4 assists.
Nate Robinson got 19 points on just 11 shots.
Jamal Crawford was awful, as was Quentin Richardson. And Zach Randolph had one of his worst games of the season and was ejected after throwing his headband in disgust.
The Knicks committed 21 turnovers and 32 fouls.
Rookies of Month: Durant, Jianlian
The Milwaukee Bucks’ Yi Jianlian and the Seattle SuperSonics’ Kevin Durant today were named the Eastern and Western Conference T-Mobile Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played for the month of December.
Yi averaged 12.1 points and 6.6 rebounds for the month and ranks second in scoring and rebounding among rookies. He also leads rookies in field goal percentage with .503 and is third in minutes per game with 30.6. In addition, he scored a career-high 29 points in a 103-99 win over Charlotte on Dec. 22.
Among rookie qualifiers for the second straight month Durant ranks first in the league in scoring with 19.7 points per game, seventh in rebounding with 4.2, and is tied for first in assists with 2.1. He is also ranked second in the league in field goal percentage with .407, first in free throw percentage and is averaging 1.3 blocks per game. In addition, Durant matched his career high in points with 35 and rebounds with eight and set a new career high in blocks with five on Dec. 7 vs. Milwaukee.
Players of Month: D.Howard, C.Paul
InsideHoops.com NewsWire: The Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard and the New Orleans’ Hornets Chris Paul today were named Eastern Conference and Western Conference Players of the Month, respectively, for games played Dec. 1 through Dec. 31.
Howard averaged 21.7 points on .598 shooting, a league-high 16.1 rebounds and 2.87 blocks in winning his second consecutive monthly award. Howard recorded 14 double-doubles in December, as the Magic went 8-7. The center had five games of 20-plus rebounds, including a season-high 23 on Dec. 3 at Golden State in a 123-117 overtime win.
Paul averaged 24.5 points, 10.4 assists and a league-high 3.00 steals in guiding the Hornets to a Southwest Division-best 9-5 mark. Paul’s month included two 40-plus-point performances and three games with at least 15 assists. With season averages of 21.5 points, 10.2 assists and 3.00 steals, Paul is attempting to become the first player to average at least 20.0 points, 10.0 assists and 3.0 steals for a season.
Other nominees for the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month were Atlanta’s Joe Johnson, Boston’s Paul Pierce, Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace, Denver’s Allen Iverson, Detroit’s Richard Hamilton, Houston’s Yao Ming, Philadelphia’s Andre Miller, Portland’s Brandon Roy, and Toronto’s Chris Bosh.