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The AP reports:
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New York Knicks guard Larry Hughes is expected to miss the next two games because of a strained left groin.
Hughes, who is averaging 12.3 points a game, was unavailable Thursday night against the Chicago Bulls and is not expected to play Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Portland Trail Blazers today signed Anthony Tolliver of the Idaho Stampede. Tolliver is the second Call-Up of the 2009-10 NBA Development League Season, and joins 65 other NBA players with NBA D-League experience.
Tolliver has appeared in all seven of Idaho’s games this season, averaging 20.7 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 36.9 minutes. He has recorded three double-doubles this season, including a season-high 30 points, to go with 11 rebounds, in a win over the Reno Bighorns on Nov. 30. For his efforts, Tolliver was named NBA D-League Co-Performer of the Week for games played Nov. 27-Dec. 6.
The Call-Up marks the second of Tolliver’s career, as he was signed by the New Orleans Hornets on Jan. 21, 2009. Prior to his call-up last season, Tolliver appeared in three games for the Iowa Energy, averaging 10.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 28.3 minutes. Before joining the Energy during the 2008-09 campaign, Tolliver played in 19 games for the San Antonio Spurs, averaging 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.9 minutes. During his time with the Spurs, Tolliver was assigned to the team’s NBA D-League affiliate Austin Toros where he saw action in six games and averaged 17.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
A four-year contributor at Creighton University, Tolliver averaged 8.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in 124 career games. As a senior, he averaged 13.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.7 blocks in 33 games en route to being named First-Team All-MVC, to the MCV All-Tournament Team, earning the Senior CLASS Award All-America honors and a nod as a Second-team CoSIDA Academic All-America.
Tolliver is expected to join Portland today and be available tonight when the team hosts the Phoenix Suns at the Rose Garden.
The Golden State Warriors have had plenty of injuries this season and the trend will continue now with center Mikki Moore.
Marcus Thompson of the Contra Costa Times reports (via blog):
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He held on as long as he could, but center Mikki Moore is now going to have surgery to repair bone spurs in his right heal. The Warriors are down three centers.
Could that mean Anthony Randolph is back in the starting lineup? Nelson said he would lean on Randolph more. Remember, the last time he played at home, Randolph set a career high against Dwight Howard.
We first reported this back on Dec. 1. Mikki told me the bone spur was causing him significant pain as it was digging into his Achilles tendon. He said that was the reason his dunks were getting blocked (like it did at Philadelphia) because he couldn’t jump without pain. He knew then it would take surgery to fix the problem, which has plagued him since last season. But Moore said he would deal with the pain and the limited mobility because he didn’t want to leave the injuy-depleted Warriors even more depleted.
Even at full health the Warriors are not a playoff team, but it would still be nice to see how well they can play with an actual full, healthy roster. Hopefully we get to see that in the somewhat near future.
Former NBA big-man Chris Dudley, who was a decent rebounder and defender, and one of the worst free throw shooters in the history of this universe, is pushing ahead in the world of politics.
The AP reports:
The 6-foot-11 Yale graduate told supporters Wednesday he wants to slow the growth of the state budget and considers his lack of political experience a plus.
He will compete for the Republican nomination against Allen Alley, John Lim and Bill Sizemore.
Should he win, Dudley’s first act as governor should be to make it state law that all little children learn to shoot free throws.
Aside from learning that he’s in the Republican party, I don’t know what his political views are. I will say that individual people tend to be more diverse than the overall general views of their party. But in general politics makes people angry so I stay away from talking too much about it on this-here fun basketball website. For now, though, until there’s a reason to feel differently, I say Vote Dudley!
Joe Freeman of The Oregonian reports:
The Trail Blazers have finally received a dose of good news surrounding their injury-depleted roster.
The NBA has awarded the Blazers a hardship exception, giving them the option of signing a 16th player to the roster for a short-term basis. Teams are eligible for the exception after four players on a roster miss at least three games and are expected to miss two additional weeks.
The Blazers became eligible after their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, when Greg Oden missed his third consecutive game because of a fractured patella in his left knee, and were awarded the exception by the NBA on Sunday.
Marc Berman of the New York Post reports:
When recently signed Jonathan Bender finally makes his season debut for the Knicks, he’ll owe a lot to a former Olympic gold-medalist.
The 7-foot Bender, in his unorthodox comeback attempt, has used 1996 Olympic gold medalist Carl Austin as his coach. Austin also had wrecked his knee and returned to win the gold in Atlanta in the high jump.
Bender, 28, signed with the Knicks on Sunday but did not dress last night here. Mike D’Antoni backpedaled and said he probably won’t suit up until after Friday’s game vs. the Clippers.
Bender worked out with Austin for the last year in San Marco, Texas. Austin will come to New York to continue working with Bender, who played his last NBA game in November of 2005 before a chronic injury left him with no cartilage in his knee.
Dan Cahill of the Chicago Sun-Times reports:
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After he was acquired from Sacramento last year, [John] Salmons came to Chicago and drilled every shot he took, or so it seemed. This year, Salmons jump shot has betrayed him, especially late in games.
When Salmons touches the ball on offensive, everything stops. Rose stops moving, Deng watches, Noah gets in position for a miss and the fourth player ties his shoe (or, watches someone on the other team tie their shoe). After seven or eight seconds of dribbling nowhere, Salmons will fire a bad shot or throw a bailout pass to one of his teammates, who has to hoist a desperation shot as the clock winds down.
Last night’s game was a perfect example. After Salmons went out of the game with two quick fouls, the Bulls offense moved better than it had all season. Rose was able to find wide-open teammates off the dribble-drive. When Salmons returned, so did stagnation.
Are you a Bulls fan? Express your opinion on the Chicago Bulls forum.
Reuters reports:
A Michigan investment firm has finalized a deal to sell its 15 percent stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers to a group led by Kenny Huang, bringing LeBron James’ team a step closer to adding the National Basketball Association’s first big Chinese investor.
A Cavaliers spokesman declined to comment, but Cavaliers Vice Chairman David Katzman, whose Camelot Venture Group owns the stake being sold, said an all-cash deal was reached and should be approved by year’s end. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.
Cynthia Hubert of the Sacramento Bee reports:
The Sacramento Kings have given away food, offered discount ticket packages and touted their prized rookies.
But they have yet to find the formula for bringing raucous sellout crowds back to Arco Arena.
Could the answer be cheap beer?
Quite possibly. Wednesday night, with a national television audience watching, the Kings could be playing before a sellout crowd at Arco for only the second time this season. The draw? Dollar Beer Night.
“Sacramento and its fans have such a good reputation nationally,” said Kings spokesman Mitch Germann. “We want to showcase that on national TV.”
Their efforts seem to be paying off. As of Monday afternoon, only “a limited number of tickets” were available for the Wednesday game, Germann said.
Have opinions on the team? Share them on the Sacramento Kings forum.
Frank Dell’Apa of the Boston Globe reports:
The pick-and-roll is among the most basic of basketball maneuvers. But it is also difficult to defend, especially when Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are executing the play.
“It’s a tough pick-and-roll,’’ Pierce said, “because you’ve got a big guy [who’s] able to knock down shots. I’m able to knock down shots or drive off the pick and they got to make a decision whether to trap or switch. Then, if you trap you’ve got to rotate to Kevin, so it puts teams in a predicament down the stretch. It’s been a bread and butter play for us.’’
The play – also known as a pick-and-pop, Garnett becoming a perimeter threat – led to the Celtics’ final 7 points in a 110-105 win over the Grizzlies last night.