Hakim Warrick getting buckets and boards

Memphis Grizzlies forward Hakim Warrick has taken advantage of increased playing time since the team traded Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles lakers.

Checking out his recent games:

Feb. 12: Against the Kings, Warrick shot 10-of-16 for 24 points and 13 rebounds.

Feb. 13: Against the Sixers, Warrick shot 11-of-17 for 23 points and 8 rebounds.

Feb. 19: Against the Sonics, he shot 10-of-18 for 22 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Feb. 20: Against the Clippers, Warrick shot 8-of-14 for 20 points and 7 rebounds.

Feb. 22: Against the Mavericks, he shot just 5-of-15 but got to the line enough for 15 points and 9 rebounds.

Feb. 24: Against the Cavs, Warrick shot 8-of-15 for 21 points and 9 rebounds.

Feb. 26: Against the Suns, he shot 8-of-12 for 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Now the bad news. Warrick is barely getting any assists, literally just 1 or 2 per game. And the only game the Grizzlies won was that Feb. 13 game against the Sixers. They’ve lost every single other game, not only above, but since a January 26 win over the Clippers. They’ve lost 12 of 13.

Still, for Warrick as an individual player, it’s progress.

Mavericks sign Jamaal Magloire

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have signed center Jamaal Magloire.  Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. InsideHoops.com hears it may be a one-year contract for the league minimum. But that isn’t confirmed.
 
Magloire (6-11, 265) played 24 games for New Jersey this season and averaged 1.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 10.8 minutes.  The eight-year pro has career averages of 8.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.0 block while shooting 47.9% from the field in 530 total games with four different franchises (Charlotte/New Orleans, Milwaukee, Portland and New Jersey).
 
In 2004 with New Orleans, Magloire was selected as a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Star Team.  He finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal in 21 minutes for the East.  During that season, he ranked fifth in the NBA in offensive rebounds, tied for seventh in overall rebounds and tied for 27th in field goal percentage.  Additionally, he was one of only four players in the Eastern Conference and 11 players in the entire NBA to average a double-double.
 
Magloire was the 19th overall selection in the 2000 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets after playing four years for the University of Kentucky.  He was a member of the Wildcats 1998 National Championship team.

Reaction to Yao Ming being out for season

Rockets All-Star center Yao Ming has been lost for the remainder of the 2007-08 NBA season due to a stress fracture in his left foot.

I feel sorry for Rockets fans. They don’t deserve this. Between Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady the team over the last few years has had more injuries than the local hospital.

Here’s what they should probably do now:

– Give Luis Scola a bigger role. If he’s good enough to carry top international teams to victory, he can do more for the Rockets than he’s been asked to so far.

– Tell Rafer Alston to bust out some streetball moves during games. It may make the team lose, but it’ll entertain. He should bounce the ball off Dikembe Mutombo’s head, while moonwalking.

– Put Gerald Green out there and let him try to dunk three-pointers.

– Tell Luther Head to make like Leandro Barbosa and try to score 20 whenever possible.

– Let Mutombo give inspirational speeches to the fans during halftime while dressed like the cookie monster. It’ll amuse the kiddies.

Rockets sign Bobby Jones to 10-day contract, waive Adam Haluska

Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey announced today that the team has signed guard/forward Bobby Jones to a 10-day contract. To accommodate the signing, Houston has waived guard Adam Haluska, who was acquired by the Rockets via trade with the New Orleans Hornets on Feb. 21, 2008.

Jones (6-7, 215, Washington) has averaged 3.0 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 76 career games (seven starts) with Philadelphia, Denver and Memphis. Jones was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round (37th overall) of the 2006 NBA Draft before having his draft rights sent to the Sixers. Jones averaged 2.5 points and 1.3 rebounds in 44 games (five starts) during his rookie season in Philadelphia. Traded by the Sixers to the Nuggets on Sept. 10, 2007, Jones averaged 3.3 points and 1.4 boards in 23 outings this season with Denver. Jones, who was waived by the Nuggets on Jan. 7 of this year and signed to the first of two 10-day contracts with Memphis on Jan. 10, averaged 4.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in nine contests (two starts) with the Grizzlies in 2007-08.

Jones will wear jersey #15.

Vote in MVP poll

On the front page of InsideHoops.com, if you scroll down, you’ll see a poll I posted late Monday night, asking for the top three most deserving MVP candidates.

The players I chose to include are: Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Chris Paul, LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, and Manu Ginobili. And for good measure I added ‘other’ in case any of you feel there’s a better candidate out there that is worthy of being in the top three.

Now, go vote in the poll.

D-League: Andre Barrett traded for Justin Reed

The Austin Toros announced today that they traded forward Justin Reed to the Bakersfield Jam for guard Andre Barrett.

Reed, a 6-8 forward out of Mississippi averaged 14.5 points and six rebounds in 15 games with the Toros this season.

Barrett, a 5-10 guard from Seton Hall averages 19 points, three rebounds, and eight assists per game.  Barrett will wear jersey #4 and is expected to play Friday when the Toros take on Fort Wayne at the Austin Convention Center.

Brandon Roy out Tue and Wed

Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy did not accompany the team to Los Angeles, and will sit out Tuesday’s game at the L.A. Lakers and Wednesday’s game at the L.A. Clippers with a right ankle sprain.

The injury, which originally occurred Feb. 13 at Dallas, was aggravated during Sunday’s game vs. Boston. Roy left the Celtics game in the third quarter and did not return.

He is listed as day-to-day for Friday’s home game vs. the Lakers.

Upcoming anniversaries: Ewing, Kobe, Alex English, more

5th Anniversary

02/28/03: The New York Knicks retire Patrick Ewing’s No. 33.

03/05/03: Kobe Bryant became the youngest player in NBA history to score 10,000 points.

10th Anniversary

02/25/98: Bill Fitch passed Red Auerbach (938) to become at the time the second-winningest coach in NBA history with a 117-108 win over Philadelphia.

02/27/98: The Indiana Pacers defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 124-59. The 65-point margin of victory is the second-largest in NBA history, outpaced only by the 68-point margin when Cleveland defeated Miami 148-80 on December 17, 1991.

03/01/98: Miami head coach Pat Riley became the fifth coach to record 900 career wins with a 85-84 win over New Jersey.

03/04/98: Arbitrator John Feerick upheld the NBA’s suspension of Latrell Sprewell for the 1997-98 season, resulting in a monetary penalty of $6.4 million, finding that the NBA’s investigation was “done in good faith and was fair and adequate.” Feerick also found “that the NBA complied with the standards of industrial due process.” He reduced the NBA’s suspension to the extent it had included approximately one month of the 1998-99 season. However, the arbitrator reinstated Sprewell’s contract with Golden State for the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons, finding that the combination of a one-season suspension and a contract termination would not be appropriate under all of the circumstances.

15th Anniversary

03/02/93: Denver retired the #7 jersey of long-time Nugget Alex English, who spent 10 1/2 of his 15 years in the NBA in the Mile High City, scoring a career total of 25,613 points.

20th Anniversary

03/02/88: The flaming basketball is adopted as Miami’s official logo from over 1,000 entries. Mark Henderson submitted the winning entry.

25th Anniversary

03/05/83: Golden State’s Joe Barry Carroll scored 52 points in a 127-121 Warriors victory over the Utah Jazz.

Gerald Wallace: post-concussion symptoms

Charlotte Bobcats forward Gerald Wallace developed post-concussion symptoms over the weekend that included headaches, drowsiness and soreness of the neck and jaw, according to Bobcats team physicians Dr. Glenn Perry and Dr. Joe Garcia.

Wallace is scheduled to see Charlotte-based neurologist Dr. Jerry Petty later this week, where he will go through a series of neural tests. Following the evaluation and based off the recommendation by Dr. Petty and team doctors, a timetable will be determined for his return. At this point, no timetable has been set.

Wallace suffered a Grade 3 concussion on Feb. 22 against the Sacramento Kings. Further tests at Presbyterian Hospital later that night revealed no fractures and no bleeding. The injury occurred with 9:54 left in the third quarter after an inadvertent elbow by Kings forward Mikki Moore. Wallace was immediately taken to the hospital for evaluation where he received a CAT-Scan and other on-site tests. He was later released and returned home.