Category: General NBA insight

Tyler Hansbrough wants to make one more run at the national championship. The North Carolina star will have to wait a little longer to find out whether two of his high-scoring teammates will be back to help him.
The Associated Press national player of the year said Friday that he will return for his senior year. However, sophomores Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington will declare for the NBA draft, though they won’t hire agents leaving open the possibility of their return.
Hansbrough, a six-foot-nine forward, averaged 22.6 points and 10.2 rebounds.

The AP reports: Darell Garretson, the longtime NBA referee who also directed the league’s officiating staff, has died. He was 76. The National Basketball Referees Association said Wednesday that Garretson died Monday at his Mesa home. The union said Garretson’s health had been in decline following surgery and various illnesses… Garretson began his career as an NBA referee in 1967.

As I said in my last post, the Magic needed a big second half from Dwight Howard in order hold of the Toronto Raptors and that’s exactly what they got.

Howard finished with 25 points, 22 rebounds and five blocked shots, and almost single handedly put away Toronto in the fourth quarter.

Howard had only seven points and nine rebounds at the half, and had only shot one free throw. In the second half Howard had 18 points, 13 rebounds and went 8-of-10 at the free throw line.

While the Magic won the game fairly easily, they’ll need more of the same from Howard to win the series.

Arizona-bound Brandon Jennings (Oak Hill Academy/Los Angeles, CA) earned co-Most Valuable Player honors tonight on basketball’s biggest stage, Madison Square Garden, as he finished with 10 points and 14 assists to lead the Blue Jerseys to the 124-114 victory over the White Jerseys at the 2008 Jordan Brand Classic, presented by Foot Locker and Boost Mobile. Jennings was joined by co-MVP Tyreke Evans (American Christian/Aston, PA/Memphis) who had 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

The event was once again attended by some of sport and entertainment’s biggest stars including Michael Jordan, Kevin Durant, Vince Carter, Rudy Gay, Mya and Jadakiss.  Interscope rapper Wale headlined the musical performances while Arista Records artists Boyz II Men performed the national anthem.
 
Jennings’ 14 assists broke the event record previously held by Corey Fisher while his teammates Scotty Hopson (University Heights/Tennessee) and Demar DeRozan (Compton/USC) contributed 21 and 17 points respectively.
 
“Year after year, the Jordan Brand selects the best in high-school basketball to perform at the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden,” said Garry Cook, President of Jordan Brand. “We look forward to watching these young, gifted athletes in the years to come.”
 
Other players on the 2008 Jordan Brand Classic Team include Al-Farouq Aminu (Norcross, GA/Wake Forest), William Buford (Toledo, OH/Ohio State), Ed Davis (Richmond, VA/UNC), Demar DeRozan (Compton, CA/Southern Cal), Michael Dunigan (Chicago, IL/Oregon), Devin Ebanks (Oakdale, CT/Undecided), Tyreke Evans (Aston, PA/Undecided), Drew Gordon (San Jose, CA/UCLA), JaMychal Green (Montgomery, AL/Alabama), Jrue Holiday (N. Hollywood, CA/UCLA), Scotty Hopson (Hopkinsville, KY/Tennessee), Brandon Jennings (Mouth of Wilson, VA/Arizona), Malcolm Lee (Riverside, CA/UCLA), Greg Monroe (Harvey, LA/Georgetown), B.J. Mullens (Canal Winchester, OH/Ohio State), Delvon Roe (Lakewood, OH/Michigan State), Samardo Samuels (Newark, NJ/Louisville), Iman Shumpert (Oak Park, IL/Georgia Tech), Kemba Walker (New York, NY/Connecticut), Willie Warren (North Crowley, TX/Oklahoma), Wesley Witherspoon (Lilburn, GA/Undecided) and Tony Woods (Rome, GA/Wake Forest).
 
Recent Jordan Brand Classic MVPs have included Donte Greene (Syracuse) and Corey Fisher (Villanova) in 2007, Kevin Durant (Seattle Sonics) and Thaddeus Young (Philadelphia Sixers) in 2006, Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina) and Andray Blatche (Washington Wizards) in 2005, Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic) in 2004, LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Shannon Brown (Chicago Bulls) in 2003, and Amaré Stoudemire (Phoenix Suns) and Sean May (Charlotte Bobcats) in 2002.

The Jordan Brand Classic is an annual showcase of the top high school basketball players in the country, throughout the New York City region and internationally.

The evening began with the inaugural International game, led by Enes Kanter (Turkey) with 22 points and 17 rebounds.

In the Regional Game, the Suburban All-Stars defeated the City All-Stars 129-127, led by co-Most Valuable Player Marcus Morris (Apex Academy/Pennsauken, NJ/Kansas) with 20 points. Morris was joined by co-MVP Ryan Pearson (Christ the King/Middle Village, NY/George Mason) who had 36 points and 15 rebounds.

The AP reports: Kevin Love led the Bruins in scoring (17.5 points) and rebounds (10.6) on the way to a 35-win season and a trip to the Final Four, where UCLA lost to Memphis. Scouts have projected Love to be a top-10 pick in the June 26 draft, according to his coach Ben Howland.

InsideHoops has posted the complete, series-by-series, 2008 first round playoffs schedule.

Check it out here.

On Thursday we’ll post the day-by-day schedule.

InsideHoops.com is your home for the web’s best playoff coverage. We’ll post our own full coverage, and we’ll quote everything else from around the web worth reading. It’s all on InsideHoops in neat, easy-to-navigate, organized fashion.

A new giant interview with David Stern, as conducted via telephone by various media members, is a must-read for everyone who follows the league closely.

Everything that was said is here.

The AP reports: Los Angeles Sparks coach Michael Cooper couldn’t help but get a little carried away talking about Candace Parker’s arrival and Lisa Leslie’s return. “This is ‘Showtime’ at its best,” Cooper said, referring to the Los Angeles Lakers teams that won three NBA championships in the 1980s. “This is Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar), Magic (Johnson) and (James) Worthy all together.” Parker, the top choice in Wednesday’s WNBA draft and The Associated Press’ player of the year, and Leslie met reporters Friday. Parker joins the Sparks after leading Tennessee to its second consecutive NCAA championship. Leslie, the WNBA’s career scoring and rebounding leader, returns after taking maternity leave last season.

The AP reports: A woman must abide by a previous restraining order to avoid contact with former NBA star Michael Jordan and stop using litigation regarding the order to claim he fathered her child. Crawford County Judge Gordon Miller issued the ruling Thursday in response to motions filed this month by Lisa Miceli, 35, of Meadville, Pa., who was acting as her own attorney. “This is not a paternity suit nor a (child) support action,” Miller said in an eight-page opinion.

It’s not shocking at all to learn that the new Sonics owners seemingly planned all along to move the team to their base, Oklahoma City. From an owner perspective, it makes sense to keep the team in Seattle if things are going well financially. But if the ability to make money using the current arena is going to be a permanent problem, it makes sense to move the squad, especially to where the new owners have lots of business connections and can easily land good sponsorships… I hadn’t paid attention to this but some Sonics fans emailed InsideHoops saying that when the Hornets were playing in OKC, a lot of the ticket prices were at a very reduced price, so the high attendance there isn’t a lock to be repeated when prices go back to normal when the Sonics get there. I haven’t looked into that myself, though… A lot of John Calipari’s college success is based on recruiting, not coaching. Now, I’m not saying he’s a bad coach. But there’s no guarantee his coaching will translate to the NBA a second time around… Just as I was typing this, Bruce Bowen showed up out of nowhere and elbowed me in the back while falling down. I think it was just an accident, though I’m not sure how he got in without me hearing him… The Knicks need to smile to Isiah Thomas this summer, thank him very kindly for his efforts, and completely part ways… The NBA MVP is going to be Kobe or CP3, I say (and lots of others are saying this as well, of course)… I was excited to share that the Knicks are giving free food and beverages to fans for the last home game, and that’s still cool, but now it’s reported the Cavs are going to give $1 million in prizes away. I wonder what the prizes are, and what percentage of the fans will win something… Just as I was typing something else, Bruce Bowen somehow got in here again and for some weird reason stuck his foot under mine. I better be careful when I stand up, or I might twist an ankle… The thing about the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament is, virtually no first round picks are playing there, and only a handful of second rounders, and you learn more about these players over the full NCAA season than you do seeing them play three or four games with teammates they aren’t familar with… Go Inside Hoops every day… More NBA rumors stories during the day as they develop… Talk to you tomorrow.

This is from the InsideHoops NBA Rumors page, the web’s single most must-read daily roundup of hot stories. Hit the page.