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Grizzlies aim to sign Von Wafer

With a 9-12 record, the Memphis Grizzlies are doing a bit better than many expected this season.

The Allen Iverson experiment only lasted three games and ended long ago, but the young team has played well. Led by Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, O.J. Mayo and Marc Gasol, Memphis has a decent core. But they can certainly keep improving and would be aided by a boost off the bench.

Enter Von Wafer, reportedly.

Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports:

The Grizzlies are attempting to sign former Houston Rockets guard Von Wafer in an effort to improve their perimeter shooting, particularly from beyond the 3-point arc.

Wafer will join the Grizzlies next week if certain dominoes fall as expected, sources told the Commercial Appeal.

Wafer, a 6-5 Florida State alum, first needs to complete a divorce with his current team, Olympiakos, a European club that reportedly has Wafer under contract for $2 million but for whom he hasn’t logged significant playing time.

Wafer played 63 games for the Rockets last season, averaging 9.7 points and 1.8 rebounds in 19.4 minutes per game. His career three-point shooting percentage is 33.7%, but he hit 39% in 2008-09.

Al Thornton diet change

Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Times reports:

The 6-foot-8 Thornton hired a personal chef in the off-season and abstained from greasy foods as he dropped from 235 pounds to 230, but felt his quickness came only in spurts. Thornton couldn’t pinpoint when he fully adapted to his diet, but said his energy level recently has been high.

“It took awhile,” said Thornton, who ate chicken breast, pasta and tomatoes after Thursday’s practice. “Once you do it you can tell there’s a major difference to how you feel and how your body feels. It’s an adjustment. But if you want to do well in this game, sometimes you have to make sacrifices.”

Thornton doesn’t want that sacrifice to include a bench role, but Coach Mike Dunleavy strongly hinted that rookie forward Blake Griffin will take Thornton’s place whenever Griffin fully recovers from the stress fracture in his left knee.

Despite adding Allen Iverson, 76ers keep losing

The Philadelphia 76ers have played awful basketball. Then they signed free agent Allen Iverson. But they’re still getting rocked by opponents.

Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports:

Last night, the continuation of the 76ers’ losing streak, or its termination, came down to one moment: the flick of Andre Iguodala’s wrist.

There were 3.9 seconds on the game clock and Iguodala rose for a potential winning three-pointer.

If he made it, the streak could end at 10. If he missed it, the slump would reach 11.

This morning, it stands at 11.

Inside a much quieter Wachovia Center, the Detroit Pistons beat the Sixers, 90-86.

The Pistons – without injured stars Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton, and Ben Gordon – improved to 9-12. Detroit outrebounded the Sixers, 45-32.

The Sixers (5-17) last won on Nov. 18, beating the Charlotte Bobcats. Their winning hiatus has reached 21 days.

The Inquirer continues:

On Monday night in Iverson’s emotional return to the Sixers, 20,664 people packed the Wachovia Center. Last night, that number dropped to 12,136.

Along with the attendance, so too dropped Iverson’s effectiveness. He played 33 minutes, scoring 11 points on 3-for-10 shooting with three assists, six turnovers and no rebounds.

Things are rough in Philly. I watched some of yesterday’s game and did not find any aspect of the 76ers to be threatening as a basketball team. A few wins are bound to pop up but for the most part, unless a player or two suddenly raises the level of their game by several levels, expect the team to mostly keep losing.

Ryan Gomes better at power forward spot

Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

Ryan Gomes move to power forward spot working

Ryan Gomes has been a different player since moving to power forward in the Timberwolves’ starting lineup. Or maybe it’s because he’s being guarded by different players.

Entering Wednesday’s game against New Orleans, Gomes averaged 20.2 points per game and made 58.6 percent of his shots in five games since moving to power forward to make room for Damien Wilkins. Considering he was shooting just 37.9 percent and scoring only 8.9 points in the previous 18 games — mostly spent at small forward — the change has provided a real jolt to the Wolves offense.

“I’m comfortable either way, but it’s harder for some of the bigger guys to guard me” at power forward, Gomes said.

Kareem Rush has right knee surgery

Los Angeles Clippers’ guard Kareem Rush underwent successful surgery on his right knee today to repair the torn ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and partially torn lateral meniscus he suffered at New Orleans on November 17th. In addition, a microfracture procedure was also performed on the knee.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache and was assisted by Clippers’ team physician Dr. Steven Shimoyama. No timetable has been set for Rush’s return.

In seven games played this season, Rush averaged 1.3 points in 8.3 minutes per game.

Is Gerald Wallace an All-Star?

Charlotte Bobcats small forward Gerald Wallace is averaging 16.1 points, a league-leading 12.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.65 steals per game. He’s not shooting especially well (42.9% and just 29.4% three-pointers) but is still having a terrific season.

Is he worthy of making the East All-Star team?

Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer reports (via blog):

I figure there are three forwards — Cleveland’s LeBron James, Boston’s Kevin Garnett and Toronto’s Bosh — who are locks to be chosen. As I said above, Bosh could potentially count as the backup center (behind Orlando’s Dwight Howard) since he’s certainly the next-best big man. And Bosh is so good Toronto’s record won’t kill his candidacy.

That would leave Wallace in a mix with the following: Boston’s Paul Pierce, Atlanta’s Josh Smith, Indiana’s Danny Granger and Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala.

I’m thinking Wallace won’t make it. But that he’s even potentially in the discussion is a nice positive for the Bobcats.

Nets get first road win of season

The New Jersey Nets went 0-18 before getting their first win of the season, a home victory against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Tuesday in Chicago, the Nets beat the Bulls to earn their first road win.

The AP reports:

Brook Lopez scored 25 points and Devin Harris hit to the go-ahead basket with 14.9 seconds left Tuesday night as the New Jersey Nets got their second win of the season and first on the road, beating the Chicago Bulls 103-101.

The Nets, who got off the worst start in NBA history at 0-18 before beating Charlotte and then losing to the Knicks, are now 2-19 — including 1-12 away from home.

Chris Douglas-Roberts added 20 points and Harris had 17 for New Jersey.

The Newark Star-Ledger reports:

“It’s huge. Huge because — I mean, we only have two wins — but this was the first one we really had to gut out,” Chris Douglas-Roberts said. “This was a gut check. Throughout the NBA season there are a lot of these, and it was great to see how we reacted to the pressure. We reacted great to a lot of different runs. This was a great win and a good sign. This shows that we can play like this. So it was great.”

Tony Battie: “We showed some mental toughness, and we never got rattled when things didn’t go our way. We persevered. We couldn’t stiff-arm them and get it under control, but we got a good road win.”

Next up for the Nets is a home game Wednesday against the struggling Golden State Warriors, a road game Friday against the beatable Indiana Pacers (who are now without injured star Danny Granger), and then tough games in Atlanta and Cleveland.

Marquis Daniels has left thumb surgery

The Boston Celtics announced today that guard Marquis Daniels underwent successful surgery this morning at New England Baptist Hospital to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb. The procedure was performed by Celtics Team Physician, Dr. Brian McKeon and Dr. Drew Terrono. No time table has been set for his return.

The Boston Herald reports Daniels will be out 6-8 weeks.

Daniels has appeared in 19 games for the Celtics averaging 5.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. The former Auburn Tiger posted a season-high 10 points against Utah on November 11.

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Rudy Fernandez out 4-6 weeks

Portland Trail Blazers guard/forward Rudy Fernandez underwent a successful microdiscectomy Tuesday to alleviate pain in his right leg, General Manager Kevin Pritchard announced today.

Fernandez, 24, will miss 4-6 weeks as a result of the procedure, which relieved pressure from a nerve root in his lower back that caused pain in his right leg.

“The procedure was successful and we can now turn our attention to getting Rudy healthy and back on the court,” said Pritchard. “He’s been under a lot of pain and we look forward to Rudy returning healthier than ever.”

Dr. George Shanno performed the procedure at Southwest Washington Regional Surgery Center in Vancouver, Wash.

Fernandez appeared in Portland’s first 20 games this season, averaging 8.6 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 23.3 minutes. He leads the Trail Blazers and ranks among NBA leaders with 1.55 steals per game.

The Palma de Mallorca, Spain, native leads team qualifiers with a 38.8 percent (31-for-80) mark from three-point range. Fernandez’s 159 three-pointers last season set an NBA rookie record.

Danny Granger out 4-6 weeks

Danny Granger will miss a minimum of four to six weeks with a torn right plantar fascia. No surgery will be required and rehabilitation begins immediately. Granger sustained the injury during the third quarter of Saturday night’s game at the L.A. Clippers.

Granger has played in 17 games and is the Pacers leading scorer at 24.4 points per game. He also averages 6.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.59 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.

This is a huge blow to an Indiana team that has a 6-12 record and relies heavily on Granger. Their next leading scorer is Dahntay Jones (15.3 ppg, followed by Mike Dunleavy (12.2 ppg).

It’ll be tough to make up Granger’s scoring. There aren’t a lot of offensive weapons on the roster.

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