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The Orlando Magic have waived Jeremy Richardson, General Manager Otis Smith announced today.
Richardson appeared in just one game this season for the Magic and did not score in two minutes. He played in three preseason contests, averaging 4.0 ppg. in 8.0 minpg.
Orlando’s roster now stands at 14 players. The Magic begin a five-game, eight-day road trip on Monday, December 8 @ L.A. Clippers. Orlando’s next home game is Thursday, December 18 vs. San Antonio. Game time is 8 pm ET.
The Globe and Mail (Michael Grange) report: One of the most accomplished players in Canadian basketball history, Jay Triano, 50, will make his debut as the Toronto Raptors’ bench boss tonight in Salt Lake against the Utah Jazz, becoming the first Canadian-born head coach in the NBA. Those in the NBA and elsewhere in the basketball community are optimistic about his chance to succeed. “I think he’ll be fantastic,” NBA star and fellow Canadian Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns said. “He absolutely loves the game of basketball. He’s passionate, a workaholic, and the kind of coach guys love to be around. He’s got all the ingredients to be an NBA coach.” “He’s got extreme confidence, extreme knowledge of the game,” said Tony Ronzone, the Detroit Pistons’ director of basketball operations. “He can adjust to different styles of play. I’d think he’s going to be terrific.”
The Charlotte Observer (Rick Bonnell) reports: Charlotte Bobcats forward Sean May assembled a double-double, his first in 21 injury-filled months. That was the foremost of many surprises in a 103-97 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Time Warner Cable Arena on Wednesday night. May’s conditioning was such a disappointment that after starting the opener he was shelved for several games. He’s worked his way back into the lineup, and finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds. May’s contribution wasn’t the biggest factor, but it was surely the most unexpected. “When I came out, Mike asked if I needed an oxygen mask,” May said of Jordan’s needling next to the team bench. “I said, ‘No, just give me a minute.’”
Philadelphia 76ers forward Elton Brand will miss Friday night’s game at Detroit due to a right hamstring strain. An MRI taken this morning confirmed the injury.
Brand did not travel with the team. He is listed as day-to-day.
The Washington Times (Barker Davis) reports: The 6-foot-1, 170-pound guard has all but vanished from basketball’s collective conscious. Jennings is the fourth member of Lottomatica Roma’s backcourt rotation. Buried in the depth chart behind guards like former All-Big East performer Allan Ray (Villanova) and former Ivy League player of the year Ibrahim Jaaber (Penn), Jennings exited the team’s first eight games averaging 4.9 points and 3.0 assists in 17.3 minutes. Jennings is being well-compensated for his spot duty. Contracts with the Rome-based club and UnderArmour are reportedly earning him in excess of $3 million this season. But the long-term wisdom of his career choice remains questionable.
The New York Post (Marc Berman) reports: Cuttino Mobley is strongly mulling a medical retirement because of an enlarged heart condition and could make the announcement tomorrow, according to a person familiar with the situation. Mobley, 33, still has one more heart test left today in Minnesota. It had been reported that Mobley had signed a waiver with the Clippers to release them of liability if he had heart problems. If Mobley, obtained in the Zach Randolph trade from the Clippers, retires, it would free open a roster spot and save the Knicks about 75 percent of the $18. 9 million left on his pact because of insurance.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press (Don Seeholzer) reports: The Timberwolves will make some changes to their starting lineup for tonight’s game at Orlando, inserting Kevin Ollie at point guard, with Randy Foye moving to shooting guard and Mike Miller going to small forward. “I thought Kevin came in and really gave us some good energy,” coach Randy Wittman said, referring to Monday night’s 100-90 loss at Charlotte.
Toronto Raptors President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo announced Wednesday that Sam Mitchell has been relieved of his duties as the team’s head coach. Assistant coach Jay Triano will assume the position of interim head coach. The remainder of the coaching staff will continue in the organization.
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“This is a difficult but necessary step the franchise must take,” said Colangelo. “We appreciate all that Sam has done for the organization, applaud him for his successes and wish him nothing but the best with his future in basketball.”
Mitchell was named the sixth head coach in Raptors history June 29, 2004. He posted a 156-189 (.452) record in his four-plus seasons at the helm of the Raptors. He garnered the Red Auerbach Trophy as the NBA Coach of the Year for the 2006-07 season. He also captured The Sporting News 2007 NBA Coach of the Year honours in a vote among his head coaching peers. In January 2007, Mitchell became only the second coach in Raptors history to earn Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honours.
Jay Triano is in his seventh season as a member of the Raptors’ coaching staff. He became the first Canadian born and Canadian trained coach in the NBA when he served as an assistant coach to Lenny Wilkens during the 2002-03 season.
A native of Niagara Falls, Triano was the head coach of the Canadian men’s national team from 1998-2004 posting a 52-42 (.553) record. He led Canada to a semifinal berth in the 2003 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico and to a 5-2 record, second best to the United States, in the 2000 Olympics. He has also served as an assistant coach of the USAB Select Team (2007 and 2008), the head coach of the NIKE Skills Academy in Vancouver (2006) and Toronto (2007), and for the past six years as a coach at the prestigious EURO CAMP in Treviso, Italy.
Triano served as interim head coach for one game last season when Mitchell was away for a personal family matter. The Raptors defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, 105-82, on February 10 at Air Canada Centre.
Triano’s first game as interim head coach will be Friday when the Raptors visit the Utah Jazz. Game time is 10:30 ET. The game will be broadcast live TSN and The FAN 590.
The Utah Jazz continue to be struck by injury as they host the visiting Miami Heat Wednesday night.
Carlos Boozer (strained left quad tendon) and Andrei Kirilenko (right ankle inflammation) are both out and won’t play this evening.
Matt Harpring and Deron Williams are both game-time decisions.
The Jazz have 12 wins and just 7 losses, good for the 8th best winning percentage in the NBA this season. They’ve done well, considering Williams, their star point guard, is shooting just 41.7% in the 6 games he’s played. He’s been a play-maker as expected when on the court, and that’s more important than missing a few more shots than usual.
Boozer has had a terrific season when out on the court and not on the sideline. He’s shooting 55.9% for 20.5 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
The AP reports: The Houston Comets, a franchise that won the first four WNBA championships, is disbanding. The league-owned team will be shut down because new owners couldn’t be found. “You have to build on strength,” WNBA president Donna Orender told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “My outlook is to build on the fact that the league has great momentum and in Houston we didn’t have the enough runway to get a deal done in time for the 2009 season. So right now we have to move on.”
Ticker reports: The league will hold a dispersal draft for the remaining players on the Comets. “December 8 we will have a dispersal draft and the players who are available to be drafted will be drafted in an inverse order of finish by the current WNBA teams”, Orender said. “So the Atlanta team will have the first available player or the player they so chose on December 8.”
The Houston Chronicle reports: The decision to shutter the team came almost four months after the league took it over. The WNBA began running the Comets when owner Hilton Koch had decided to put the team up for sale. In mid-August, Houston Mayor Bill White issued a letter to potential investors, placing the value of the franchise at $10 million and setting a November deadline to find local ownership. Koch bought the team from Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander in October 2006. The team broke away from the Rockets’ organization, established a new front office, saw longtime head coach Van Chancellor resign and moved assistant coach Karleen Thompson into the top job.
Houston Rockets Owner Leslie Alexander issued the following statement today regarding the WNBA’s announcement that the Houston Comets will suspend operations this week. Alexander was the original president and owner of the Comets from the 1997-2006 seasons before selling the team to Houston businessman Hilton Koch on January 31, 2007: “While this is a sad day for me personally, as well as for all who worked so hard to bring women’s basketball to our great city, the Comets were a source of deep pride for all Houstonians. I will never forget our team making history by winning that first WNBA championship—then following it up with three more consecutive titles. The team was a great source of inspiration and had a great impact on thousands of young women everywhere. I will choose to focus on the many great times that we shared, and the incredible players like Cynthia Cooper, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson and Kim Perrot, and of course our Hall of Fame coach Van Chancellor. We had the most loyal and energetic fans in the league, and the team will be missed by all.”