NBA Off Topic

[Nathan_OS]

Re: NBA Off Topic

Perkins is soft and we all know that.

I still think Perkins would lay dudes out real quick if stepped up to.

[BringTheHeat]

Re: NBA Off Topic

Who knows.

Random thought: Only 12 games left in Big Ben's career. Arguably the best undrafted player ever. Hats off to him and his career.

[l3ulvl]

Re: NBA Off Topic

Who knows.

Random thought: Only 12 games left in Big Ben's career. Arguably the best undrafted player ever. Hats off to him and his career.

Can't wait to see the ovation he gets during his final home game. Hopefully enough fans show up to be heard.

[Paul Pierce_OS]

Re: NBA Off Topic

So Glad I found this on youtube:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Q1VZ6GG-dbs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[redsrule]

Re: NBA Off Topic

Can't wait to see the ovation he gets during his final home game. Hopefully enough fans show up to be heard.

I would hope they could fill a lot of the Palace for it.

[Nathan_OS]

Re: NBA Off Topic

LOL!!

[LionsFanNJ]

Re: NBA Off Topic

.....and like clockwork another Nets player is out for the season. This time its Brook Lopez.

so this is the list:
Kieth Bogans
Mehmet Okur (before trade)
Shawne Williams (before trade)
Brook Lopez
Damion James
Jordan Farmar


ALL out for the season. Oustanding job medical staff. Outstanding job.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: NBA Off Topic

3 of those players on there played the same position(SF)while the other 2 were Centers and one of them was the replacement to the other Center who was originally hurt.

Only in NJ LOL.

[23]

Re: NBA Off Topic

3 of those players on there played the same position(SF)while the other 2 were Centers and one of them was the replacement to the other Center who was originally hurt.

Only in NJ LOL.

Should've just traded for Juwan Howard... He'd be on the floor every night

[SteelersFreak]

Re: NBA Off Topic

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4687697/delonte-west-handles-his-own-tape-jobs

MEMPHIS -- By now everyone knows that Delonte West is his own man. He's also apparently his own athletic trainer.

While most guys will get their ankles and various bruised or swollen body parts taped by head athletic trainer Casey Smith, West is a do-it-yourself kind of guy. In preparation for tonight's game against the Memphis Grizzlies, West had plenty of black medical tape with him to handle his multiple injuries.

With his Beats rocking his eardrums, his head slowly bobbing and lyrics sporadically escaping his lips, West methodically wrapped tape around each ankle, taking extreme care with the left one that he twice twisted Friday, once during the morning shootaround and then again during the game against Portland.

"I think he's sore, but I believe he's going to play," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "Again, the fact that he was out there last night was big."

Watching West then shift his attention to his still-healing right ring finger, wrapping it tight to his middle finger and then both over padding, that he mangled in mid-February only to return to action last week, Mavs strength and conditioning coach Robert Hackett was asked how many guys tape their own body parts.

"None," Hackett said.

Smith, who said Steve Novak used to tape his own ankles, joked that West likes to call himself a D-League athletic trainer. Smith would give West a final check-over in the training room before West donned his head band and headed to the court for pre-game warmups.

Carlisle is just happy the feisty combo guard sucked it up and played Friday night against the Blazers and will do so tonight in an important game against the Grizzlies. Jason Kidd, of course, will miss his fourth consecutive game with a strained right groin. Carlisle said they'll know more about Kidd, who is not with the team in Memphis, when they reconvene for practice Monday.

As for Saturday, the Mavs need West at his best against Memphis guards Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo.

The NBA needs more players like Delonte West, how can anyone not like the guy?

[SteelersFreak]

Re: NBA Off Topic

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/mavericks/post/_/id/4687711/has-rick-carlisle-mavs-given-up-on-lamar-odom

MEMPHIS -- The Dallas Mavericks loved to brag on their team concept a year ago. They took the league by storm and the country latched on as they devoured the Lakers, Thunder and then the big, bad Heat.

Everyone was counted upon, everyone was needed, everyone showed up.

Saturday's box score shows why this team is different and limping toward the playoffs, if they even make it. Check the standings and the postseason is far from guaranteed. In a crucial game at Memphis, Dallas' rotation shrunk to a season-low. Yes, Jason Kidd (strained right groin) and Ian Mahinmi (fatherhood) weren't around for this one, but through this injury-marred season, when is the last time just seven Mavs played more than 20 minutes?

The chemistry that banded last season's team has never quite materialized with this one. Maybe when Kidd returns -- perhaps next week -- the offense will suddenly flow like wine, but that hasn't really been the case all season. Maybe one good win, and the next chance for that is Tuesday against Sacramento, is all this team needs for a jump start. Yet, every good game only seems to yield a clunker.

Saturday's 94-89 loss was a combination of both. Dallas, now 31-26, got routed in the opening quarter, trailing 26-6 after 11 minutes and 29-10 at the buzzer. After making 2-of-15 baskets in the first quarter, Dallas shot 55.2 percent the rest of the way, outrebounded Memphis and limited the Grizzlies to 38.8 percent shooting for the game -- numbers that typically win games.

Delonte West played 25 hard minutes on a bum left ankle and with a still-fragile, taped-up finger. Shawn Marion pulled down another double-double. Jason Terry played aggressively, collecting eight assists and 12 points. Brandan Wright went for 16 and six in 36 minutes. Dirk Nowitzki admittedly had one of his poorer games of the season, but he took a pounding for 36 minutes as Dallas desperately scraped to get back in a game they coughed away early.

"We had a lot of fighters out there tonight," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "Going down the stretch here, that’s what it’s going to be about."

The Mavs just didn't have enough of them Saturday. And it appears the worst-kept secret of the season is now becoming painfully obvious. Any hope that Lamar Odom, who some consider to be a mandatory X-factor along with Rodrigue Beaubois (who continues to be madly inconsistent) for postseason success -- was suddenly going to flip the switch, is all but lost.

This night would have been the perfect chance for him to gain respect among his teammates, even at this late date, to help them grind out a needed victory. Yet his coach couldn't even stomach more than the four minutes Odom spent on the floor in the first quarter, low-lighted by an awkward layup attempt that didn't have a prayer and an offensive foul.

He played 11 minutes in Friday's embarrassing loss. That was supposed to be the game that Odom would begin to gain momentum. At least that was the spin Carlisle put on it after Wednesday's big comeback win over the Grizzlies when Odom was so fatigued that he failed to box out his man early in the fourth quarter and was benched for the rest of the night. Coincidentally, Dallas then went on a 21-2 run to take charge of that game.

The silence regarding Odom's place on this team after this Grizzlies' loss, the Mavs' third in four games and second in a row, said all that needed to be said.

Carlisle, asked if there remains hope that Odom can provide anything for the team, said in a distant voice: "No Lamar questions tonight."

Nowitzki answered questions about the loss for four minutes, critical of his missed 3-pointer with a couple minutes to go and his two late turnovers. Then came the question about Odom, who had just finished getting dressed and walked out of the locker room to the team bus.

"I'm done talking about that," Nowitzki said as he turned away and ended the interview.

Even Odom was rendered speechless, a rarity for the 6-foot-10 forward. Regarding all his pine time Saturday, he tried to find words, then couldn't and finally shrugged his shoulders.

Asked if he's concerned that his role, or any role, is shrinking to nothingness, he said: "(Friday) night I didn’t play a lot, tonight same thing. At least there’s some consistency in that."

Odom tried to find an ounce of humor in the sad situation, but the reality is it appears Carlisle is done with the spin, done with the positive reinforcement and maybe even done putting Odom on the floor with nine games left that are so vital to the defending champs' postseason hopes in this strange, strange season.

"I can’t read it," Odom said of the immediate future. "It is what it is. What can I do? Coach is always right."

There was plenty of blame to go around for Saturday's loss. In the end, the Mavs did show their pride, unwilling to go down with a whimper. Their fighters fought. They just didn't have enough.

"We've all got to play well, I think that’s obvious if we want to do something to make the playoffs or do some damage in the playoffs," Nowitzki said. "We all have to play at a high level. That’s what we did last year, we picked up some momentum, had everybody play well, defense and rebound. On offense, everybody shared the ball and played well together.

"That’s the only way we’re going to be able to do it this year. It’s not going to be one guy, it’s not going to be two guys. If we want to win, ultimately we’ve go to do it together and have everyone play at a high level. That’s the only way."

Looks like the Lamar Odom era is about to be over.

[Boltman]

Re: NBA Off Topic

Put him back on the Lakers and watch him return to 6th MotY or All Star form.

[Kashanova]

Re: NBA Off Topic

The heat should pick him up

[The 24th Letter]

Man, this dude Odom is wack

[23]

Re: NBA Off Topic

They should trade him to a team who aint gonna do nothing

Its pathetic the way he's acting, and no he doesnt need to come back to LA... they should ban that kind of a rule because its just foul