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ESPN reports:
Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Woodson drew an unusual technical foul with 1:37 remaining in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Mavericks.
Down 97-95, Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd noticed Woodson standing on the court and drove into him, causing the contact and foul.
Woodson and Kidd argued after the play, and both had to be restrained from one another.
Dirk Nowitzki made the ensuing technical free throw, and the Mavericks went on to win in overtime, 111-103.
Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum has been fined $25,000 for publicly criticizing game officials, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.
Bynum was fined for his comments made following the Lakers 101-96 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, Feb. 24.
Elliot Teaford of the Los Angeles Daily News reports:
“It’s hard to win when it’s five against eight,” Bynum said Wednesday.
He meant it was difficult to play against five Mavs plus the three referees. Bynum said he had expected to be fined for the first time in his career.
“I knew it was going to happen,” he said. “Whether it’s fair is debatable.”
ESPN reports:
One of the first things many people noticed about Caron Butler after his arrival to the Dallas Mavericks is that the guard likes to chew straws during games.
The NBA obviously took notice as well.
NBA executive vice president Stu Jackson phoned Butler on Tuesday and told him to leave his straws at home. Butler did not play against the Los Angeles Lakers due to a reaction to medication, so he was unavailable for comment.
But the Mavs confirmed that the league is serious about outlawing straw chewing.
“It’s against the rules,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said.
A HALF-SERIOUS, HALF-KIDDING RESPONSE FROM INSIDEHOOPS.COM
It certainly makes sense for the NBA to not want players on a basketball court at games to have any sort of objects with them, aside from protective items worn for health reasons.
As for chewing straws while on the bench, well, let’s face it, the act of taking a piece of plastic and sticking it in your mouth to chew on is a bit silly-looking. And it’s not the most fun thing to look at. Perhaps the NBA wants to prevent its star employees from looking extra silly while doing their very public jobs.
Also, let’s say a fan throws beer at Ron Artest. If he has a little plastic straw with him, it becomes a deadly weapon!
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The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have signed guard Von Wafer to a 10-day contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Wafer (6-5, 210) joins the Mavericks after spending the 2008-09 season with Houston. He averaged 9.7 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 19.4 minutes in 63 games (11 starts) with the Rockets.
The five-year NBA veteran, who was a second round selection (39th overall) of the Los Angeles Lakers, owns career marks of 6.2 points, 1.3 rebounds and 13.3 minutes in 109 games (11 starts) with the Lakers, L.A. Clippers, Denver, Portland and Houston. He has also played in the D-League and internationally in Greece.
A native of Homer, La., Wafer was an early-entry candidate in the 2005 NBA Draft after averaging 12.5 points and 2.5 rebounds as a sophomore at Florida State. Wafer earned McDonald’s High School All-America honors as a senior at Heritage Christian Academy (Cleveland, Texas) where he led the Eagles with averages of 26.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 steals and 4.0 blocks.
The Mavericks roster stands at 14 players.
Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that guard/forward Josh Howard has a torn ACL in his left knee and will miss the remainder of the 2010-11 season.
Howard suffered the injury in last night’s game vs. Chicago at the 4:23 mark of the first quarter.
In four games (three starts) for Washington this season, Howard averaged 14.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
No timetable has been announced for Howard’s recovery.
Eddie Sefko, special to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, reports:
Josh Howard’s exit from the Dallas Mavericks went from amicable to a bit testy after he made his debut in Washington on Wednesday night.
Howard said after his first game as a Wizard — he was 5-of-14 from the field with 14 points and one rebound in 27 minutes — that he looks forward to being able to “stick it to the Mavs” regarding the trade after six-plus seasons in Dallas.
The Mavericks took the high road, with owner Mark Cuban saying only, “I wish Josh nothing but the best.”
The juicy piece of irony is that Howard ended up in Washington, which may well have been the site where he had the beginning of the end, according to several Maverick sources.
They say Howard had a long night of partying on Jan. 19, the night after the Mavericks had won in Boston and less than 24 hours before playing the Wizards.
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Forward Caron Butler is having a rough year on the struggling Washington Wizards. And forward Josh Howard is having an even rougher year on the very solid Dallas Mavericks. Both players could use a change of scenery, and that’s reportedly going to happen tonight.
UPDATE: The trade is official. Click here.
According to at least four media outlets, including the Washington Post (Michael Lee), the Mavericks will trade Howard, forward/center Drew Gooden, guard Quinton Ross and forward James Singleton to the Wizards for Butler, center Brendan Haywood and guard DeShawn Stevenson.
Howard this season is averaging just 12.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 40.1% shooting in 26.7 minutes per game. His role on the Mavs has been in decline.
Butler averages 16.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.45 steals on 42.2% shooting in 39.4 minutes per game.
In the view of InsideHoops.com, this seems like a good deal for both teams. Butler gets to join a winning team he can contribute to, though he’ll be asked to be more of a role player than he may be used to. And Howard gains more responsibility, something that may do him good.
The most important player in this trade other than those two guys is Haywood, a solid center having a good season. He should definitely help Dallas.
More coming tonight when the deal actually becomes official.
I hate to keep talking about snow and slush at Dallas NBA All-Star weekend — and don’t worry, the actual events start tonight, and then everything will probably be all about basketball and fun — but here’s another All-Start party story of note.
TMZ reports:
Shaquille O’Neal was supposed to host a party last night in Dallas for NBA All-Star Weekend — that is, until the biggest blizzard in the city’s history got in the way.
TMZ spoke to a manager of Aura Nightclub in uptown Dallas who told us that before Shaq arrived at the club, the record-setting snowfall blew out some electrical transformers … leaving everyone standing in the dark.
Sounds like this happened to lots of people.
But, that was just Thursday. The weekend really kicks into gear tonight (Friday). And while there’s slush all over Dallas, it’s done snowing, so all should go well for everyone from now on.
Although the article mentions that he has no interest in really becoming a coach, Dennis Rodman is about to give it a shot in the very-minor leagues.
The Dallas Morning News reports:
Former Dallas Mavericks star Dennis Rodman will make his professional coaching debut tonight.
Rodman will coach the Elmira Bulldogs, a minor league team from Eastern Basketball Alliance for games on Friday and Saturday night.
“I want to show people that I am different than the character they see on TV. Everyone always sees me on TV, they see me doing crazy stuff,” Rodman told thedailyreview.com. “They see me on shows like rehab. I’m the sanest guy on that show.”
According to the-leader.com, Rodman is being paid to coach two games as a publicity stunt.
First Arena general manager Robbie Nichols thought it was a home run idea, but pre-order ticket sales have been a disappointment because he told the-leader.com that people weren’t sure Rodman would show up, given his freestyle nature.
It’s 2010 NBA All-Star weekend, and instead of the main events taking place in a regular basketball arena, they’re in massive Dallas Cowboys football stadium. What’s it like to shoot a basketball in such a giant building?
Howard Beck of the New York Times reports:
In past games played in domes, the N.B.A. has placed the court in one quadrant of the field and reduced the seating area, creating a slightly more intimate feel. That will not be the case Sunday, with the court placed around the 50-yard line and nearly every seat filled.
Playing in cavernous buildings can cause havoc for shooters, who rely on depth perception, as well as form and muscle memory. Players have complained in the past about Chicago’s United Center and Los Angeles’ Staples Center, two modern arenas with high ceilings and, because of their design, a distant-looking backdrop of faces.
“If you asked anybody who could shoot,” McHale said, “they’d tell you they’d much rather play in the smallest place, with the background right behind the basket.”
Although All-Star Games often devolve into dunking competitions, it will be interesting to see how the N.B.A.’s best shooters, such as Denver’s Chauncey Billups and Phoenix’s Steve Nash, cope in a carnival funhouse.
The organizers will have their own challenges navigating a foreign building, particularly one as massive as Cowboys Stadium. At 3 million square feet, it is three times bigger than Texas Stadium, the Cowboys’ former home, and twice the size of the new Yankee Stadium.
It’ll be fun to watch the shooting percentages.
