Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 104 – NBA Blog

Comcast, NBA Digital enter NBA TV-related deal

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), the nation’s leading provider of entertainment, information, and communications products and services, has entered into a long-term agreement with NBA Digital to expand its distribution of NBA TV, providing live games, original programming, and exciting video on demand (VOD) and broadband content to millions of customers.

Comcast will make NBA TV, the league’s 24-hour digital television network that offers more than 100 live NBA games, available to millions of Comcast’s Digital Classic customers before the 2009-10 NBA regular season. Additionally, these customers will have access to a wide array of NBA content On Demand, including Top 10 Plays of the Night, nightly game recaps, basketball news of the day, and NBA Entertainment-produced specials. Comcast will also offer NBA content on its online properties, including Comcast.net.

“We appreciate the commitment of our longtime and valued partner Comcast to expand NBA TV’s distribution and provide more of its customers with the network’s wall-to-wall NBA coverage and innovative programming,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner and COO Adam Silver. “Through this agreement, millions of additional fans will be able to experience NBA TV’s more than 100 live NBA games, its signature studio shows and Emmy award-winning on-air talent.”

“We are excited to bring more NBA action live, on demand, and online to our Digital Classic customers,” said Matt Bond, Executive Vice President of Content Acquisition at Comcast Cable. “Whether a fan of the hometown team or one of the NBA’s incredible players, our customers will have access to all of the great NBA moments in time for next season.”

Comcast will continue to offer NBA LEAGUE PASS, the league’s subscription package that provides subscribers with up to 40 out-of-market, live NBA games each week. As part of the package, subscribers will have access to NBA games online at no additional cost through NBA LEAGUE PASS BROADBAND.

“This is a perfect marriage of two multiplatform strategies,” said NBA Digital Senior Vice President and General Manager Bryan Perez. “Through this expanded agreement, NBA Digital and Comcast will deliver millions of fans the finest in NBA content via broadcast, VOD, and broadband distribution.”

Kevin Garnett guarantees next two championships

The Boston Globe reports: Kevin Garnett’s recovery from right knee surgery apparently is going well. Garnett expressed optimism in a recent conversation with team owner Wyc Grousbeck, who spoke yesterday at a corporate sponsorship event at the Boston Harbor Hotel. “I talked to [Garnett] and he guaranteed the championship in 2010 and in 2011,” Grousbeck said. “He was as fired up as he’s ever been.” Doctors removed bone spurs from Garnett’s knee May 26. He is expected to be ready for training camp in late September.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I have as much faith in Kevin Garnett and his awesome talent and fire as the next super good-looking, witty, famous pro basketball analyst, but such “guarantees” shouldn’t really be taken seriously. It’s fun to talk about, though. And on a side note, I guarantee I’m about to dominate this glass of chocolate milk.

Coach Del Harris retires

The Chicago Bulls announced today, that after 50 years of coaching, assistant coach Del Harris has elected to retire from basketball.

“I would like to thank Del Harris for all of his hard work and dedication this past season,” said Gar Forman, Chicago Bulls General Manager. “He has had a terrific career and we wish him the best in his retirement.”

Harris, 71, just completed his first season with the Bulls as an assistant on head coach Vinny Del Negro’s staff. He enjoyed success at every level in 50 years of coaching, including the NBA, collegiate, international and high school ranks.

Harris began his NBA coaching career as an assistant with the Houston Rockets in 1976, and was a coach or scout/consultant in the NBA for 29 seasons – including 27 trips to the NBA Playoffs. His stints include: Houston (1976-83), Milwaukee (1983-91), L.A. Lakers (1994-98), Dallas (2000-08) and Chicago (2008-09). In 12 full seasons as a head coach, Harris compiled a 556-457 (.549) overall record with three different teams (L.A. Lakers – 1994-98, Milwaukee – 1987-91, Houston – 1979-83).

Overall, he coached in 202 career playoff games (88 as a head coach), including an NBA Finals appearance in 1981 with the Rockets.

Harris was the recipient of the 1995 NBA Coach of the Year Award with the Lakers, and joins Pat Riley and Phil Jackson as the only coaches in Los Angeles franchise history to register three consecutive 50-plus win seasons.

“I was very fortunate to have Del by my side this past season. His knowledge and understanding of the game were an incredible benefit and help,” said Vinny Del Negro, Chicago Bulls Head Coach. “He has had a tremendous and successful coaching career that is quite remarkable. In his 50 years of coaching, he has had such a positive impact on so many people’s lives on and off the court. I was truly thankful for his support and encouragement throughout last season. I can only wish Del and his family all the best.”

Prior to coaching in the NBA, Harris spent seven seasons in Puerto Rico (1969-75), posting a 176-61 record. He guided Puerto Rico to a gold medal at the 1974 Central American Games, and a silver and bronze medal at the 1973 and 1974 World Club Championships with Club Bayamon (Puerto Rico). Collegiately, Harris spent nine years at Earlham College (Indiana) where he led the team to a school-record 176 victories, and the first three conference championships in school history. The Plainfield, Ind. native is a member of both the state of Indiana Hall of Fame and the NAIA Hall of Fame.

WNBA teams selling advertising on their uniforms

The New York Times reports: The Phoenix Mercury’s new uniform no longer has the words Phoenix or Mercury. Instead, the W.N.B.A.’s Mercury appears to have been renamed LifeLock, with the 10-inch-by-4-inch name of the identity-theft protection company stretching across the team’s jerseys. A small Mercury logo (the planet, with an M) appears like a badge on the upper left of the jersey. Taking a cue from international sports, where displaying corporate names on jerseys is standard, the Mercury on Monday will announce a three-year deal with Tempe, Ariz.-based LifeLock that is worth at least $1 million annually… During an off-season when one franchise, the Houston Comets, folded and the remaining 13 cut their rosters to 11 players from 13, the W.N.B.A. authorized its teams to let companies place their names on the players’ jerseys as part of broad sponsorship agreements. At least one other team is close to a similar deal.

InsideHoops.com editor says: There isn’t anything surprising or shocking about this, though it’ll still be interesting to see with my own eyes for the first time. Because, while viewing it, I’ll be pondering the obvious: Will NBA teams do this, eventually?

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Mark Cuban suing the SEC

The Dallas Morning News (Brendan W. Case) reports: Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Mark Cuban. Now Mark Cuban is suing the SEC. The billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks is seeking a court order to make the nation’s securities cop turn over documents related to its insider-trading investigation of him. Cuban filed a request for the records in December under the Freedom of Information Act.

Jose Juan Barea has left shoulder surgery

Dallas Mavericks guard Jose Juan Barea underwent successful arthroscopic surgery to repair a cartilage injury to his left shoulder. The surgery was performed in Dallas by Dr. Richard Levy of Texas Sports Medicine. A timetable for his return has not been set.

In the 2008-09 NBA season, the 6-0, 175-pound guard averaged 7.8 points and 3.4 assists in 20.3 minutes per game.

Mark Cuban, Kenyon Martin feud

Yeah, so as you know, during the NBA playoffs an angry Mark Cuban, who was engaging with some fans, let Kenyon Martin’s mom know that her son was a thug.

Obviously Martin wasn’t too pleased about it. And since then, Cuban apoligized, on his blog, BlogMaverick.com.

Cuban had also reportedly attempted to say sorry to Martin in person, though for whatever reason it didn’t happen.

Anyway, the latest reports are that Martin doesn’t really accept the apology.

And, really, that’s about it. So Martin isn’t a Cuban fan. And probably never will be. But maybe someday the two will meet and chat for a second. And then maybe the two will like each other more. It’s really not a particularly fascinating story. The world will still revolve around the sun, even if these two never fully resolve their differences.

If additional stuff develops in the near future, I’ll address it here in this blog, or quote it on the InsideHoops.com NBA rumors page.

I see little reason to care a lot about the latest developments of this story. It makes sense to care that an owner is saying some things he shouldn’t say. That’s worth discussing. But that the player who was being talked about, and the owner, don’t like each other, shouldn’t really be such a surprise. Cuban, on his blog, at least, took the high road and said he was sorry. Martin is apparently still pissed off. And there doesn’t appear to be more to it than that.

Useful playoff stats and info

This will be the Lakers 46th Game 6. The Lakers are 26-19 in Game 6 (any round) all-time. In series that go at least six games, the Lakers are 33-12 all-time (28-12 Los Angeles, 5-0 Minneapolis). When winning Game 6, the Lakers are 23-3 all-time (20-3 Los Angeles, 3-0 Minneapolis). When losing Game 6, the Lakers are 10-9 all-time (8-9 Los Angeles, 2-0 Minneapolis). When leading a series 3-2, the Lakers are 30-4 (any round) all-time (25-4 Los Angeles, 5-0 Minneapolis).

So far, there have been 14 playoff games decided by three or fewer points. All time, the most games decided by three points or less in an entire postseason were 19 in 2006.

Boston’s Glen Davis is averaging 16.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 37.8 minutes during the playoffs after averaging 7.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 21.5 minutes during the regular season’

The Nuggets have advanced to the Western Conference finals for the third time in franchise history and the first time since 1985.

Chauncey Billups is going to the conference finals for the seventh consecutive postseason. Only four other players since 1970 have advanced to seven or more consecutive conference finals (Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kurt Rambis — all Lakers). He is 17-4 all-time in close-out games in his career.

Dirk Nowitzki finished the series with Denver averaging 34.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and shot 53.4 percent from the floor. He is the fifth player since the merger (1976-77) to average 30-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and shoot 50-plus percent and lose a best-of-7 series.

In Houston’s two playoff series, the team that has led after the first quarter has now won all 11 games.

Cleveland is 8-0 this postseason, winning every game by at least 10 in sweeping both the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks. The only other team to sweep the first two rounds of the playoffs since the NBA went to an opening best-of-seven format in 2003 is the 2005 Miami Heat. The Cavs have also won each of their eight games by 10 or more points, setting the NBA postseason record for consecutive playoff wins by double digits, surpassing the 2004 Indiana Pacers streak of six games. The Cavaliers have outrebounded their playoff opponents in every game, have never trailed at halftime and have not surrendered 100 points yet in the postseason.

–NBA News

Nuggets eliminate Mavericks in five games

Wednesday night in Denver the Nuggets, behind 30 points from Carmelo Anthony and 28 from Chauncey Billups, beat the Dallas Mavericks 124-110 to win their second round playoff series 4 games to 1.

The Nuggets advance to the Western confernce finals, where they will face the winner of the series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets

Denver was unguardable tonight, shooting 58.5% from the field and nailing 11-of-26 three-pointers.

Melo (13-of-22, 4-of-7 three-pointers) had 30 points and five rebounds. And Billups (10-of-16, 3-of-6 threes) was everywhere, contributing 28 points, 7 rebounds and 12 assists (just 2 turnovers).

Also for the Nuggets, J.R. Smith (5-of-13) had 18 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists off the bench. Starting center Nene shot 8-of-10 for 17 points and 7 rebounds. Kenyon Martin added 14 with 4 assists.

For the Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki (9-of-17, 12-of-12 free throws) scored 32, with 10 rebounds and 7 assists (but 5 turnovers). Jason Kidd (6-of-10, 5-of-9 threes) had 19 points and 9 assists (but 5 turnovers). Brandon Bass (5-of-9) was terrific off the bench with 17 points and 7 rebounds. Josh Howard, playing hurt, had 14 points and little else. Jason Terry (just 4-of-13) started at shooting guard and scored 11.

Denver lead 34-27 after one quarter and 69-55 at the half. The two teams both scored the same amount of points in the third and fourth quarters.

Official 2009 All-NBA Teams

LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the 2008-09 Most Valuable Player, was a unanimous selection to the 2008-09 All-NBA First Team, the NBA announced today. Joining James on the First Team are Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat.

James, who earns First Team honors for the second straight season, ranked second in the NBA in scoring (28.4 ppg), eighth in steals (1.69 spg) and 10th in assists (7.2 apg) to go along with averages of 7.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. James guided the Cavaliers to a franchise-best 66-16 record overall and a 39-2 mark at home, both tops in the league. James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month four times (November, January, March, April), tying Kevin Garnett (2003-04) as the only players to receive the award four times in one season since the NBA began voting for Eastern and Western Conference Player of the Month separately.

Bryant, the 2007-08 Most Valuable Player, finished third in the league in scoring (26.8 ppg), while averaging 5.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists. Bryant led the Lakers to a Western Conference-best 65-17 record. Bryant earns his fourth straight First Team selection and seventh overall. Among active players, only Tim Duncan (nine) and Shaquille O’Neal (eight) have more First Team selections.

Howard, an All-NBA First Team selection for the second consecutive season, led the NBA in rebounding (13.8 rpg) and blocks (2.9 bpg), becoming only the fourth player to pace the league in both categories since 1973-74, the first season where blocks were kept as an official statistic. Howard led the Magic in scoring (20.6 ppg), while shooting .572 from the field. His 63 double-doubles ranked second in the league (David Lee, New York, 65).

Earning his fourth First Team selection, Nowitzki was the league’s fourth-leading scorer (25.9 ppg), while also averaging 8.4 rebounds. His .890 free throw percentage ranked seventh overall. Nowitzki finished the season by scoring at least 20 points in 25 straight games, the longest such streak in the NBA this season.

Wade earns his first All-NBA First Team selection after ranking first in scoring (30.2 ppg), second in steals (1.7 spg) and eighth in assists (6.7 apg). He also averaged 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. Wade became only the fifth player in league history to reach 2,000 points, 500 assists, and 150 steals in a single season, as well as the only player under 6-foot, 4-inches to register 100 blocks since they became an official stat in the 1973-74 season.

The All-NBA Second Team consists of New Orleans’ Chris Paul and Portland’s Brandon Roy at guard, San Antonio’s Tim Duncan and Boston’s Paul Pierce at forward, and Houston’s Yao Ming at center.

The All-NBA Third Team includes Denver’s Chauncey Billups and San Antonio’s Tony Parker at guard, Denver’s Carmelo Anthony and the Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol at forward, and Phoenix’s Shaquille O’Neal at center.

The All-NBA Teams were chosen by a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. The media voted for All-NBA First, Second and Third Teams by position with points awarded on a 5-3-1 basis.

Other players receiving votes, with point totals (first team votes in parentheses): Deron Williams, Utah, 105; Kevin Garnett, Boston, 72; Chris Bosh, Toronto, 56; Joe Johnson, Atlanta, 36, Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City, 34; Danny Granger, Indiana, 25; David West, New Orleans, 12; Mo Williams, Cleveland, 10; Al Jefferson, Minnesota, 8; Steve Nash, Phoenix, 7; Antawn Jamison, Washington, 7; Ray Allen, Boston, 6; Nene, Denver, 6; Devin Harris, New Jersey, 5; LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland, 4; David Lee, New York, 4; Rajon Rondo, Boston, 2; Vince Carter, New Jersey, 1; Paul Millsap, Utah, 1; O.J. Mayo, Memphis, 1; Mehmet Okur, Utah, 1; Jermaine O’Neal, Miami, 1; Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando, 1; Derrick Rose, Chicago, 1; Caron Butler, Washington, 1; Carlos Boozer, Utah, 1; Andre Miller, Philadelphia, 1; Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia, 1.

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