Category: General NBA insight

The AP reports: Charles Barkley acknowledged he owes a $400,000 gambling debt to a Las Vegas Strip casino and promised Thursday to repay it after a prosecutor said the retired NBA star faced criminal charges. “My mistake,” Barkley said in an interview at a pro-am golf tournament in Hoover, Ala. “I’m not broke, and I’m going to take care of it.” Barkley was responding to comments by Clark County District Attorney David Roger, who said prosecutors would file a criminal complaint if he did not pay the debt cited by the Wynn Las Vegas resort. “He’ll have an opportunity like anybody else to make restitution to the hotel,” Roger said.

The AP reports: On the subject of the NBA’s infatuation with pre-game pyrotechnics, smoke and noise, commissioner David Stern was loud and clear: He’s had enough. “I think they’re ridiculous,” Stern said Monday before Game 4 of the Cavaliers-Celtics second-round playoff series. “I think that the noise, the fire, the smoke, is a kind of assault that we should seriously consider reviewing in whether it’s really necessary given the quality of our game.” His comments came just a few minutes before Cleveland’s over-the-top player introductions, which include fire – hot enough that fans can feel the heat in the stands – shooting out of four swords on the scoreboard.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Marie Rohde) reports: A River Hills house belonging to former NBA star Latrell Sprewell was foreclosed on Monday after he failed to show up in court to contest the action brought by a bank that held his mortgage. The holder of the mortgage, RBS Citizens Bank, told Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge David Hansher that Sprewell owed $320,284. According to River Hills records, the house is assessed at $610,000 and has an estimated fair market value of $667,980. Sprewell bought the house in 1994 for $405,000.

Duquesne point guard Kojo Mensah, who was one of the team’s five players to get shot last year, has informed InsideHoops.com he signed with an agent, meaning he now cannot return to school.

The full story is here.

The Toronto Sun  (Frank Zicarelli) reports:  Of the many characters to play in Toronto, few could match Keon Clark, whose demons continue to haunt him. On Thursday, Clark was convicted on a misdemeanour weapons charge stemming from a March 2006 incident at his Danville, Ill., home. He faces a year in prison. The ruling follows Clark’s bench trial for possession of a firearm without a valid card. Yesterday, he was scheduled to stand trial on disorderly conduct for filing a false police report in January 2007; criminal damage to property over $300 US in September and three driving infractions stemming from two incidents in March 2007 and one in July.

Duquesne’s Shawn James, who once led all of college basketball in blocked shots, has told InsideHoops.com that he’s signed with agent Steve Cronin. The full story is here.

He’s a projected second rounder who has a legit shot at going late first round if he does well in draft workouts.

The National Basketball Association announced today that 91 players, including 69 players from U.S. colleges and institutions and 22 international players, have filed as early entry candidates for the 2008 NBA Draft.

Players wishing to renounce their remaining intercollegiate eligibility and enter the 2008 NBA Draft were required to submit a letter to the NBA to be received no later than Sunday, April 27. Players who have applied for early entry have the right to withdraw their names from consideration for the Draft by notifying the NBA of their decision in writing no later than 5 p.m. ET on Monday, June 16.

Here is the list of players, both from U.S. colleges and overseas, who have applied for early entry into the 2008 NBA Draft, which will be held Thursday, June 26, at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City:

April 28 notes on the 2008 NBA Playoffs:

– No team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 series deficit to win a playoff series.

– Eight teams have come back to win a series after falling behind 3-1. The most recent such comeback occurred in the 2006 postseason when the Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games.

– Nineteen teams have recovered from 2-0 deficits to win a best-of-seven series, including two last postseason. The Utah Jazz defeated the Houston Rockets 4-3 in their first round series after dropping the first two games, and the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons 4-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals after falling behind 2-0.

– The Lakers, who can sweep the Denver Nuggets tonight in Game 4 (10:30 p.m. ET, TNT), have forced Carmelo Anthony to shoot .353 (24-of-68) from the field during the first three games. Anthony shot .492 from the field during the regular season … Kobe Bryant became the first Nuggets opponent to score at least 30 points in consecutive playoff games since Utah’s Karl Malone did so during the Western Conference Semifinals in 1994. Allen Iverson became the first Nuggets player to score 30 or more points in consecutive playoff games since Alex English did so against Dallas in the Western Conference Semifinals in 1988.

– The Orlando Magic, which owns a 3-1 series lead against the Toronto Raptors, can close out its first series win since the 1996 Eastern Conference Semifinals tonight at home in Game 5 (7:30 pm. ET, NBA TV) … The Magic’s Dwight Howard has been a force on both ends of the court this series, averaging 23.0 points, 17.5 rebounds and four blocks. The last player to average at least 23 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks in a best-of-seven series was San Antonio’s Tim Duncan (24.2 ppg, 17.0 rpg, and 5.3 bpg) in the 2003 Finals.

– Atlanta Hawk rookie Al Horford, whose team is trailing the Boston Celtics 2-1 in their first-round series, is averaging 15.3 points, 11 rebounds and 3.7 assists through the first three games. The last rookie to average a double-double in a best-of-seven series was Memphis’ Drew Gooden (14.0 ppg, 12.7 rpg) in the first round of the 2003 playoffs. Game 4 is tonight in Atlanta (8 p.m. ET, TNT).

– The New Orleans Hornets defeated the Dallas Mavericks 97-84 yesterday to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. It marked the first time since January 1998, when they played in Charlotte, that the Hornets defeated the Mavericks on the road to snap a 14-game skid in Dallas. Game 5 is tomorrow in New Orleans (7 p.m. ET, TNT).

– The Detroit Pistons knotted their first-round series at 2-2 by defeating the Sixers in Philadelphia yesterday 93-84. Game 5 is tomorrow in Detroit (7 p.m. ET, NBA TV). All time in best-of-seven series that are tied 2-2, the home team is 103-36 in Game 5. The team that wins Game 5 has gone on to win 116 of 139 series (.835).

– NBA News

The Sacramento Bee (Scott Howard-Cooper) reports: Seven seasons after the NBA started the D-League as a training ground for all levels, from management and referees to players and coaches, the Lakers and San Antonio Spurs remain the only franchises to run their own affiliate. No matter how logical it seems for the development of first-round picks and other well-regarded hopefuls, the 28 other organizations, including the Kings, share assignments and have no authority to dictate the critical decisions of hiring coaches, distribution of minutes or the style of play. “I think it is a big advantage (for L.A. and San Antonio),” Timberwolves general manager Jim Stack said. “They’re running all their stuff. They can kind of control it how they want to control it, where we may be able to influence it, but we don’t control it. There’s that level of difference between those two things.” … That 29 of the free agents have been signed this season indicates the D-League is serving a purpose for players who would otherwise be scattered around smaller minor leagues and overseas. But the unmistakable trend of the parent clubs keeping top young players in the NBA, even with limited minutes, rather than sending them down, raises speculation that some front offices don’t trust the affiliate.