Raptors sign Quincy Douby to second 10-day contract

The Toronto Raptors announced Friday they have signed guard Quincy Douby to a second 10-day contract. Douby was originally signed to a 10-day contract on March 24, becoming the 17th Call-Up of the 2008-09 NBA Development League season and the 135th overall since the league began play in 2001.

In one game with Toronto, Douby registered two points and one assist in five minutes. Prior to signing his first 10-day contract with Toronto, Douby, 6-foot-3, 175 pounds, averaged 18.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 28.6 minutes in five games with the D-League’s Erie BayHawks this season. He scored in double figures in all five games, with a high of 23 points at Albuquerque.

Douby, 24, was the 19th selection as an early entry candidate by the Sacramento Kings in the 2006 NBA Draft. He averaged 4.1 points, 1.0 rebounds and 10.7 minutes in 116 career games with the Kings. He posted a career-high 32 points at the Los Angeles Lakers on April 15, 2008. He was released by Sacramento on January 21.

Douby averaged 17.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 95 career games at Rutgers University. He finished his career ranked sixth in school history in scoring (1,690) and holds the school record for points scored in a single season (839 in 2005-06). He averaged 25.4 points as a junior, leading the Big East in scoring and finishing sixth nationally. He earned first-team All-Big East honours in his junior season.

The Raptors face the New York Knicks on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off is 1p.m. (CBC/FAN 590).

Allen Iverson out for rest of season

Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that guard Allen Iverson will miss the remainder of the season.  The all-star guard missed 16 games between February 27 and March 28 after exiting a game at New Orleans with a sore back on February 25.

“After talking with Allen and our medical staff, we feel that resting Allen for the remainder of the season is the best course of action at this time,” said Dumars.  “While he has played in our last three games, he is still feeling some discomfort and getting him physically ready to compete at the level he is accustomed to playing this late in the season does not seem possible at this point.”

Iverson returned to action on March 29 versus Philadelphia and scored eight points with two assists and two rebounds in 21 minutes.  In his three games back since the initial injury, he has averaged 7.7 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 18.7 minutes per game.

Acquired by the Pistons from Denver on November 3, the 6-foot-0 guard has appeared in 54 games this season (50 starts) averaging 17.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 36.5 minutes per game.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Kings at low point

The Sacramento Bee (Sam Amick) reports: With eight games left and the Kings (16-58) on track to be the worst team in the 50-year franchise history, the inability to finish close games has significantly hurt coach Kenny Natt’s chances of returning next season. The Kings have lost 10 consecutive games decided by seven points or fewer, turning the in-house spotlight to matters of coaching creativity and late-game control. Combined with the defensive effort that has continued to worsen after the Dec. 15 decision to fire Reggie Theus and his defensive coach, assistant Chuck Person, Natt’s chances of having his 2009-10 contract option picked up do not appear promising. And according to two sources close to the team, a familiar name from a past Kings coaching search is seriously being considered for the job. John Whisenant, the Monarchs’ general manager, was the front-runner for the Kings’ head-coaching job in 2006 before Eric Musselman was hired. Whisenant now appears to be the unofficial front-runner again if Natt does not return.

Smith leads Nuggets past Jazz for 50th win

The AP reports: The Denver Nuggets reached 50 wins faster than any time in their NBA history Thursday night, when J.R. Smith sank eight 3-pointers and scored 28 points in a 114-104 victory against the Utah Jazz. Smith had 21 points in 15 minutes in the first half, helping turn an 11-point deficit into a 54-43 halftime lead that Denver never surrendered against a team that’s lost six of its last seven road games. Smith’s eight 3-pointers tied a career high, and was one shy of the franchise mark set by Michael Adams in 1991 and tied four years later by Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. Carmelo Anthony added 23 points for the Nuggets, who are seeking home-court advantage in a playoff series for the first time since 1988. They won for the 10th time in 11 games and improved to 50-26… C.J. Miles led six Jazz in double figures with 19 points.

Worst beats best: Wizards top Cavaliers 109-101

The AP reports: In the closest thing they’ll have to a playoff game this year, Gilbert Arenas and the Wizards fed off a sellout crowd Thursday night and ended the franchise-record 13-game winning streak of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Washington recovered after blowing a 14-point second-half lead and held on for a 109-101 victory… Brendan Haywood, also playing his second game of the season and making his first start after recovering from a major wrist injury, added 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Wizards also received the usual steady contributions from Caron Butler (25 points) and Antawn Jamison (19) and a surprising 17 points on 6-for-8 shooting from Darius Songaila as they snapped a three-game losing streak. MVP candidate James scored 22 of his 31 points in the second half and finished with six assists and nine rebounds for the Cavaliers, but—how’s this for a statistical oddity—he was responsible for all five of his team’s turnovers until Daniel Gibson traveled in the final minute of the third quarter.

Iguodala leads 76ers past Bucks 105-95

The AP reports: Andre Iguodala scored 20 points, Lou Williams had 14 of his 21 in the second half, and Philadelphia rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to defeat Milwaukee 105-95 on Thursday night. Andre Miller contributed 18 points and 11 assists for the Sixers (39-35), who won their second straight and vaulted past Miami into fifth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race. Marreese Speights had 14 points, Reggie Evans chipped in 13 and Samuel Dalembert added 10 rebounds for Philadelphia, which won its fifth in a row against the Bucks, including all three this season… Ramon Sessions led Milwaukee with his second straight stellar outing, getting 18 points, 10 assists and five rebounds a night after his first career triple-double against the Los Angeles Lakers… Richard Jefferson added 17 points and Charlie Bell contributed 14 for the Bucks (32-45), who have lost seven of eight.

24 season 7 review

Note: There are no spoilers here at all. This is an extremely generalized 24 show review.

I’m catching up on the TV show 24 on Fox, Season 7, and with a few episodes to go until I’m up to the current one, it’s just as much fun as previous seasons.

What makes 24 so entertaining is the quickness of the plot developments. Because each season takes place in a day (each episide is an hour of ‘real time’), the action moves so quickly there’s a major twist literally every few minutes.

My only problem with the current season is similar to an issue I’ve had in the past: There are always at least one or two somewhat major characters whose stupidity transcends what is believable. And that’s definitely the case this season. Without spoiling anything, one or two of the dozen or so main characters have a somewhat absurd hangup with star Jack Bauer, in a way that makes you want to yell “Are you retarded?!?” at the TV screen.

Now, in a show like this, it’s common to expect that in order to full enjoy it you need to suspend reality and just let yourself sink into the episodes. That’s par for the course. But even with these few characters, it’s done in a great manner; you still want to tune in, just to see if those people smarten up. I’m sure the writers do it on purpose.

But, just when something annoys you, a minute later something wild and unexpected happens that draws you right back to the edge of your seat.

I consider 24 to be one of the select few must-see action shows on television.

–Jeff

Spurs assign Ian Mahinmi to D-League

The San Antonio Spurs announced today that they have assigned center Ian Mahinmi to the Austin Toros, the NBA Development League team owned and operated by the Spurs.

Mahinmi is currently recovering from right ankle surgery performed on 1/31.  He has yet to see action for the Spurs this season.   Mahinmi appeared in one game for the Toros this season where he scored 4 points and grabbed 1 rebound in 20:46 minutes.

Knicks sign Courtney Sims to second 10-day contract

The New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that center Courtney Sims has been signed to a second consecutive 10-day contract. Sims was signed to his first 10-day contract on Mar. 23 and has yet to appear in a game for New York.

In his NBA career, Sims has played in a total of four games (three for the Pacers, one for the Suns). He has not yet scored in the league.