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InsideHoops.com is at the Knicks-Jazz game in New York, and fans in Madison Square Garden continue to boo both Isiah Thomas and Stephon Marbury in pre-game introductions. Today, Isiah received loud boos, while Marbury’s weren’t quite as pronounced.
However, today, as is the case in previous games, when Marbury makes a nice play, fans support him.
The Denver Nuggets have hired Stacey Augmon as a player development coach, team Vice President of Basketball Operations Mark Warkentien announced today.
Augmon played 15 seasons in the NBA with Atlanta, Portland, Charlotte/New Orleans and Orlando. In 1,001 career NBA games, he averaged 8.0 ppg and 3.2 rpg.
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The Sacramento Bee reports: “What Beno calls style, Brad calls something else. Kings center Brad Miller has been giving Udrih a hard time about his fashion, and his ridiculing became public on Sunday. “He’s a typical, goofy European with tight pants, tight clothes – pretty standard,” Miller said with a laugh. A metrosexual, one might say? “Definitely a metrosexual,” Miller said. “He has the nice accent. He’s telling us, ‘This team was loaded with lots of Europeans before (in the days of Peja Stojakovic, Hedo Turkoglu etc.), so everybody knows what’s going on.”
The Boston Celtics announced today that they have recalled rookie guard Gabe Pruitt from their NBA Development League affiliate Utah Flash.
Pruitt averaged 21.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 37.0 minutes per game for the Flash in two games. Pruitt hit the game-winner in the season opener for the Flash as they defeated the Anaheim Arsenal 110-109 on November 24 in which he scored 31 points and had eight assists. Pruitt has appeared in two games this season for the Celtics and has averaged 2.0 points per game.
The New York Post reports: “The Knicks are 116-185 since Thomas arrived, 36-58 since he became the head coach, 7-24 since he received a contract extension. The are also 1-6 since the last time they held a team (Miami) under 80 points, a stretch that curiously caused a coach-GM who hasn’t drafted and traded much for defensive players to start threatening to bench them because of a lack of defense.”
Nuggets F Kenyon Martin did not play in the second half of last night’s game in Houston due to a right knee strain. He is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday, after which his status will be determined.
Martin this season in 13 games has been averaging just 8.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 22.2 minutes. Injuries limited him to just 56 games in 2005-06 and only two in 2006-07.
The Canadian Press reports: Toronto Raptors forward Jorge Garbajosa is scheduled to undergo medical testing Monday amid reports his NBA season is over. Spanish media reported Saturday that Garbajosa will miss the remainder of the season after electing to have ankle surgery. But general manager Bryan Colangelo disputed the report when reached at the Raptors’ game at Cleveland. “We have arranged for Jorge to consult with a specialist in Baltimore on Monday,” Colangelo said in an email. “Future treatment and therapy options remain undetermined at this point.”
The Toronto Raptors released the following statement Saturday in response to media reports out of Spain regarding the medical condition of forward Jorge Garbajosa: “We have arranged for Jorge to consult with a specialist in Baltimore on Monday. Future treatment and therapy options remain undetermined at this point.”
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The Boston Celtics announced today that they have assigned rookie guard Gabe Pruitt to their NBA Development League affiliate Utah Flash. Pruitt is the team’s second assignment to the NBA Development League this season.
Pruitt was averaging 2.0 points and 0.5 assists in 3.0 minutes per game at the time of the assignment. Pruitt appeared in two games this season for the Celtics and was on the inactive list for six games. Pruitt appeared in six preseason games for the Celtics averaging 2.6 points while shooting .444 percent from the field. Pruitt averaged 5.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 22.4 minutes per game during the 2007 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
The San Antonio Express-News reports: If Tim Duncan’s streak of nine-straight All-Star starts ends this season, it won’t be the fault of Internet votes from China. A seven-person media committee placed Duncan among the 12 Western Conference centers on the official ballot for fan voting, but the NBA, with the committee’s blessing, has overturned that decision. Stressing that Duncan had been voted a starting forward the previous nine seasons, the Spurs formally requested that the NBA consider re-categorizing Duncan as a forward. The league made the change late Wednesday afternoon.
The Associated Press reports: Houston center Yao Ming gets overwhelming support from China and has been elected to start every year of his career. He received the highest vote total in history in 2005, and the fourth-highest ever last season. “It’s great that they did that. … It makes total sense and we’re thrilled that they made that change,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said in San Antonio. “That’s what he’s been, he’s been that way (a power forward) for 10 years. There’s no reason to change it.”
The Minnesota Timberwolves fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers by the score of 97-86 Wednesday night in front of 15,524 fans at the Target Center. Cavaliers forward Lebron James stole the show, scoring a game-high 45 points on a ridiculous 17-26 from the field. Of those 17 baskets, six of them were of the three-point variety. In addition to Lebron’s tremendous night from the floor, he also chipped in with eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Minnesota forward Al Jefferson did his best to keep Minnesota within reach, scoring a season-high 30 points to go along with eight rebounds. The Wolves had three other players finish in double figures, Walker (13), Green (13) and McCants (11). Minnesota heads to Denver next for a contest against the Denver Nuggets on Friday night at 8 pm. Minnesota heads into the game with a record of 1-8, Denver stands at 8-3, good for first place in the Midwest Division.