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Legendary New York high school coach Jack Curran dies at 83

Jack Curran, who spent more than a half century at Archbishop Molloy High School and was among the nation’s winningest prep coaches in basketball and baseball, has died. He was 83.

His death was confirmed Thursday by the Queens school. The family has yet to release further information, the school said.

Curran had been weakened by lung and kidney problems. He broke his kneecap last month when he slipped on ice while on his way to church. The mishap did not prevent him from attending church that day.

Curran coached 55 years at the school. In 1958, he became the basketball coach at what was then St. Ann’s Academy. He succeeded Lou Carnesecca, who left to coach St. John’s.

NBA players Brian Winters, Kevin Joyce, Kenny Smith and Kenny Anderson played under Curran at Archbishop Malloy. Curran was the winningest coach in New York state, with 972 victories in basketball and 1,708 in baseball.

— Reported by the Associated Press

No Shawn Marion for Mavericks tonight

Being the warrior that he is, Shawn Marion doesn’t particularly like to sit out basketball games.

Especially a game that’s as big as the one the Dallas Mavericks play tonight at 7 at the AT%T Center against the San Antonio Spurs. But Marion will sit out tonight’s game with a left calf contusion, marking the fourth straight game he’s missed since suffering the injury during a Mar. 6 home game against the Houston Rockets.

“It’s real frustrating, but everybody’s been very supportive and I’m just trying to get myself right,’’ Marion said after this morning’s shoot around at the AT%T Center. “I’m here to support the team the best way I can and let’s keep it going.’’

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Blog)

Bobcats sign Jannero Pargo to 10-day contract

Charlotte Bobcats President of Basketball Operations Rod Higgins announced today that the team has signed guard Jannero Pargo to a 10-day contract.

The 6-1 Pargo is in his ninth NBA season and has career averages of 6.4 points, 2.0 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 443 games played with the Lakers, Raptors, Bulls, Hornets, Hawks and Wizards. For his career, Pargo has shot .388 from the field (1104-2845), .350 from beyond the three-point line (338-966) and .867 from the free-throw line (301-347). He has also seen action in 40 playoff games, averaging 5.8 points, 1.5 assists and 1.4 rebounds in the postseason.

Pargo has played in 14 total games this season, seven each with the Wizards and Hawks, with overall averages of 4.0 points and 2.4 assists in 15.4 minutes.

Pargo will wear No. 5.

The Bobcats roster stands at 15 players.

Kobe Bryant out indefinitely after spraining left ankle

Kobe Bryant has been playing some of his best basketball since the All-Star break, almost single-handedly pushing the Los Angeles Lakers into the playoff race.

Now he’s facing what may be his toughest opponent of the season.

Bryant is out indefinitely with what he calls the worst sprained ankle of his 16-year career, crumpling to the court with 3 seconds remaining after missing a game-tying shot in a 96-92 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.

While X-rays were negative, the Lakers sounded pessimistic about Bryant’s chances of playing anytime soon, an especially tough blow with just 16 games left in the regular season and Los Angeles clinging to a half-game lead over Utah for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Bryant tweeted Thursday morning that he was undergoing treatment on his ailing left ankle while watching movie after movie.

”Compression. Ice. Django. Zero Dark Thirty. This is Forty and 1 hour of sleep,” he wrote. ”On to the next.”

— Reported by Paul Newberry of the Associated Press

Sam Mitchell once banned Andrea Bargnani from shooting 3-pointers

Mitchell, who coached Toronto from 2004 through 2008, said he set aside one 10-game stretch where he forbade Bargnani from taking a three-point shot. He said he went so far as to tell the young Italian he would remove him from the game if he stopped to shoot from beyond the arc.

“My thing was, I wanted him to understand he used the three-pointer as a crutch,” he said. “He relied on it too much. I wanted him to use the three-pointer as a weapon. I wanted him to realize that, from 17 feet in, in one dribble, Andrea could get anywhere on the basketball court.”

Mitchell, who has spoken of management’s interference before, would not go into the specifics of what upper management told him. He would not offer names.

“Maybe, looking back, if I ever coach again and I want to do something like that, I’ll sit down with the general manager first and say, ‘this is what I want to do, this is why I’m going to do it, and after these 10 games, I’m going to turn him loose,’” he said.

— Reported by Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post

Calf still bothering Shawn Marion

Dallas Mavericks forward Shawn Marion has been ruled out of Thursday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs and will be re-evaluated Friday morning by team doctor T.O. Souryal.

Marion has missed the previous three games because of a bruised left calf suffered during the Mavs’ March 6 win over the Houston Rockets. The Mavs had considered Marion to be day to day, but the calf has not been recovering as well as anticipated.

— Reported by Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas

Craig Brackins joins LA D-Fenders in D-League

The Los Angeles D-Fenders, of the NBA Development League, have acquired former 2010 first round NBA Draft pick Craig Brackins, it was announced today.

Brackins, a 6-10, 230 pound forward, most recently played for Angelico Biella (Italy) where he was voted to the Italian SerieA All-Star Game. The 21st overall selection in the 2010 NBA Draft, Brackins joined the Oklahoma City Thunder and was subsequently moved on draft day to the New Orleans Hornets before ultimately landing with the Philadelphia 76ers. In 17 career NBA games with the 76ers, Brackins averaged 1.8 points (30 total points), 1.1 rebounds (19 total rebounds) and 0.5 assists (9 total assists) in 7.1 minutes per game. Brackins also brings NBA Development League experience to the D-Fenders, averaging 19.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 25 career games with the Springfield Armor and Maine Red Claws.

A standout at Iowa State University, Brackins was named to the All-Big 12 First Team (2009) and All-Big 12 Second Team (2010) and received an Associated Press NCAA All-America Honorable Mention nod (2009). In three seasons at Iowa State, Brackins averaged 16.0 points and 7.7 rebounds over 96 games, finishing his career ranked 12th all-time in points scored (1,539) and eighth in rebounds (736).

Cavs re-assign forward Kevin Jones to D-League yet again

The Cleveland Cavaliers today re-assigned rookie forward Kevin Jones to the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s NBA Development League affiliate. The assignment is the sixth of Jones’ career and the record 152nd of the 2012-13 NBA and NBA D-League seasons. Jones is one of the record 56 players to have been assigned to the NBA D-League this season.

Jones (6-8, 260, West Virginia) has appeared in 19 games for Cleveland this season, averaging 2.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 9.0 minutes.

In four previous stints with Canton this season, Jones appeared in nine games, averaging 22.4 points, 12.1 rebounds and 38.2 minutes. In his last assignment with Canton on March 2, Jones recorded a 17-point, 12-rebond double-double as the Charge defeated the Springfield Armor 112-111.

Jones is expected to join Canton today and be available when the team hosts the Bakersfield Jam at 7 p.m. ET.

InsideHoops.com editor says: The Cavs love sending Jones to the D-League. It’s fun. It’s the team’s favorite current hobby. It’s in right now.

Andrea Bargnani out for rest of season with elbow injury

The Toronto Raptors announced Wednesday that forward Andrea Bargnani is expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the 2012-13 season with an avulsion sprain of the right elbow. This injury is not related to his previous right elbow injury that sidelined him for 26 games (December 12 – February 3).

Bargnani left at the 3:08 mark in the first quarter March 8 against the Los Angeles Lakers and did not return. He appeared in 14 of 15 games prior to this injury, including four straight starts (March 2-8).

Bargnani this season was averaging just 12.7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, on just 40% shooting from the field.

The 25-39 Raptors are currently the 9th seed in the Eastern conference, but a full eight games behind the Milwaukee Bucks at 8th.

InsideHoops.com editor says: The Raptors appeared to be ready to flirt with making the playoffs in the East, but they’re pretty far behind the 8th spot right now. As for Bargnani, he was having a disappointing season, and I’m not sure this will affect them as the season winds down.

Patrick Ewing will do some Knicks postgame coverage on MSG network

New York Knicks Legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing has wanted to work for the team — as a head or at least assistant coach — for quite some time now.

Well, this is something, at least.

Ewing will join MSG Network’s postgame coverage of the Knicks on Wednesday, March 20 when the team faces the Orlando Magic and on Sunday, March 31 when the Knicks take on the Boston Celtics. Both games are at Madison Square Garden and start at 7:30 p.m.

Immediately following each game, the 11-time NBA All-Star will appear on MSG’s Knicks postgame coverage, including the “Ford Knicks Postgame Show” and “Knicks Extra,” with host Al Trautwig and analyst Alan Hahn from the Geico MSG Studios.

“It’s always good to be back at The Garden,” said Ewing. “The Garden is home, New York is home, and the fans always appreciated what I brought to the table when I played. I’m really looking forward to working with MSG, it will be a great learning experience for me, and I’m excited to be on the other side of the mic.”

“With Patrick Ewing in our studio and Walt ‘Clyde’ Frazier in the Arena, we will arguably have two of the greatest Knicks of all-time on our game coverage for these two games,” said Daniel Ronayne, executive vice president and general manager, MSG Networks. “Patrick’s knowledge of the team and New York basketball will give viewers a unique perspective on the results of both games.”