Monday Slices

Rafer Alston, at it again? Van Gundy's playing it down, but Sam Mitchell used to do the same thing... at first. From RealGM.

Bottom Line: If Don Nelson shuts the F up, the Warriors at the very least would've been in overtime. Nobody else to blame, no matter how bad the call. From RealGM.

This is the kind of play that would get followed by James Brown shrieking "Good god, y'all! Hey, hey. Hey!" Holy shit, I am suddenly intrigued by Tyrus Thomas' upside. This is straight murder on both ends of the court. From TaurineDream.




And since we might be reunited with these two guys, how about a couple moments legendaire:

Me Likey TrueHoop + Great Jordan Story

TrueHoop really rules the ass off any other blogs, and the reason is Henry Abbott is so damn respected and connected, he constantly gets great stuff before anyone else. So I will now use his advantages to my advantage. Peep this (from an email Abbott got from Andrew Lawrence of SI):

It starts with Jordan shooting around at practice at old Chicago Stadium when he looks up and notices the m&m race on the jumbotron. Curious, he asks one of the Bulls' staffers what's up and learns what he is seeing is actually a dry run-through of the night's in-game entertainment, in which the jumbotron and m&m race factor prominently. (I'm pretty sure this was before shooting t-shirts out of an air cannon captivated a nation.) Naturally, MJ wanted to know if the winner of the race was predetermined. Of course the 8-bit graphics betrayed the answer: a resounding "yes".

So later that night, Phil calls a time out and Jordan & co. repair to the bench. As he's sitting down, he looks up at the jumbotron to see the m&m race about to start. So he nudges Scottie.

MJ: "Bet you 5 grand yellow takes this."

Pip: "Bet."

I'm told this went on for years before Scottie ever got wise...

Wow, Jordan's a real jerk. I believe that's what Bloggers might refer to as pwnage.

KG Compares RM to MJ... WTF?

Look even I said, yesterday, that Reggie Miller has a better shot at coming back than Pippen. But maybe Garnett's going a little overboard. Peep this, (from Rick Alonzo at the Pioneer Press):

Wolves forward Kevin Garnett said he thinks Miller, now retired, could make the transition from the broadcast booth back to the court.
"If it's Reggie Miller, yeah," Garnett said. "Michael Jordan, yeah. Any other old names you want to put in there, I don't think so."

First of all, as much as we all love Michael Jordan, have you seen him lately? He's what we in the sports industry might call tubbier than hell.
He looks like he swallowed Ron Harper. Him and Charles Barkley went to a Ponderosa the other day for lunch and the staff had to change their famous "all you can eat" policy at the buffet. But that's neither here nor there, because when the hell did we start throwing Reggie's name in with Michael Jordan? And when did it pass Scottie's name on the list of all time ballers? If we expanded the 50 greatest ever to 60, Regg doesn't make the cut. In fact, I'd argue you pretty much have to expand to the top 100 ever to find Reggie's name. Granted, Reggie's old enough to be KG's dad, but maybe Garnett's showing a little too much respect.

More Pippen Posturing

Apparently Pip's still a week or two away from making a decision, which seems odd, because, at his age, every week that passes is like a year. By next week he'll be playing Bridge and pinochle. At any rate, here's some more concerning rumblings from Cleveland (via ESPN):

I've learned that Cleveland is one of the two teams that contacted Pippen's former agent to find out how to reach him. General manager Danny Ferry is still recovering from the hangover caused by his 72-hour binge session right before the trading deadline in which he tried and tried to find ways to make Drew Gooden's base-year compensation status workable in a multiteam deal that would have landed him Mike Bibby.


Oh god. I hope Pippen's return goes well, because he's one of the greatest and I hope his legacy doesn't get tarnished by unnecessary foolishness. That said, I can't fathom how he could possibly be the answer the Cavs are searching for. I really don't want the Cavs to make this error, which won't be costly in a money sense as Pippen will only get the vet's minimum. But it could be hugely detrimental to a late playoff push, which the Cavs might need to prevent a first round matchup with someone who can actually beat them.

Reggie Miller: Spending too Much Time with Scottie Pippen?

First Pip, now Reggie's caught the un-retire bug(from the Dallas Morning News):

No way of knowing how serious it is yet, but Reggie Miller could be a candidate for the Mavericks' vacant roster spot.
Owner Mark Cuban brought up Miller's name before Monday's game against the Hawks. The former Indiana Pacers star is the No. 1 3-point shooter in NBA history. He retired after the 2004-05 season, but remains in excellent physical shape.

This one doesn't surprise me as much as Pippen's hair brained scheme for a number of reasons: 1) Miller played more recently, in fact, he's only been out of the league a year and a half. 2) Miller wasn't really washed up at the time of his retirement. Dude did 15 pts, and a couple of 3s a night in his last season. 3) Miller seems clear on his capabilities and role: step up, knock down open 3s, provide leadership for Howard and Harris, hustle on back to the bench. Pippen thinks he'll be running the point, logging serious minutes, etc. Dream a little dream. My only question is how Miller can ever respect Avery Johnson, a guy who's only like 3 months older than him, and a guy whom he once (probably) referred to as a hobbit (midget, dwarf, pixie, elf, asshole) when they were playing against each other.

Bits & Pieces

Shaq: "I'm like President Bush. You may not like me, you may not respect me, but you voted me in."
Wow, Shaq's selling himself pretty short. I like and respect him way more than President Bush, and I didn't vote for either of 'em.

LeBron (when asked about staying a Cav): "You don't put all your eggs in one basket. But right now I am mentally focused on being a Cavalier and trying to win a championship."
Multiply that by Bronny throwing up Rocafella signs at the All Star game and you get a bad omen. I already hear the whispers on the winds, from the foul lands of Mordor. They say Orcs will be attacking, and LeBron will be Jay Z's employee before his current contract is up.


Chicago Tribune: "The Cavaliers are said to be very interested in signing Pippen." That's just great. Hey maybe the next garbage idea they come up with for our Point Guard woes can be another injury case like Larry Hughes... maybe they'll go after Tinsley... Don't look now... ESPN.COM 2/18: "Jamaal Tinsley is the guy I'm hearing they (Pacers) want to move. If Bibby and Kidd stay put, I can see someone (Cleveland, LAL, Miami) considering him the next best option."

Here's an innocuous little slip-in you might have missed, from VegasPop:
"The night before the all-star turnout at Body English included: Russell Simmons, Lebron James, Nick Cannon, Carmello Anthony, motorcycle stunt king Carey Hart, Suge Knight, Jaron & Jason Collins and former Hard Rock owner Harry Morton..."
I don't like Bronny hanging around Suge. And the impressionable Nick Collison could be signed to a Death Row Records contract before the week is up. Oh wait, that says Nick Cannon... he's hilarious... Imagine my shock when gunfire erupted in 2 separate incidents. Of all the stupid meaningless crap David Stern rules on all the time, he should absolutely consider adding a straight up rule prohibiting players from hanging out with Suge Knight. Which is not to say I have anything against the man... who seems very nice... and docile... and unlikely to come hunt down an innocent blogger who's seen Biggie & Tupac too many times... You know what, on second thought, forget I said anything. Suge rules...

Pippen Ain't Easy

According to the Chicago Tribune, Scottie Pippen is coming back to the NBA. As a coach? As a GM? As a mascot? Nope. He's back to play. Pip says he wants to play for a contender, and at the age of 41, apparently there's no shortage of teams ready to give him a shot. Imagine my shock when the Cavs were listed as the 2nd or 3rd most likely to land the legend. Of course the Bulls are in the mix, and the Lakers have to be strong contenders. Oddly I have this strange feeling he might end up in Utah. Don't ask me why, I just have this premonish. Pippen claims he's in the best shape he's been in 5 years. Well, 5 years ago he was washed up. But I'd still love to see him return and make a difference for someone... just not the Cavs. The last thing we need is to stick a piece of gum on the leak in our ship. Why have Pip play Point Forward when we could have Bron just do it himself. If we're giving up on the hunt for a true point guard, I'd rather see Bron bring it up or even Hughes. Let's see how it all pans out.

Progs: Pippen gets signed by the Jazz: Pippen flourishes, playing about 15-20 minutes per night and lending much needed leadership and age to the Jazz. Sloan falls in love with him and cuts Deron Williams. Jazz get knocked out in the Conference Finals by either Phoenix, San Antonio or Dallas.
Pippen gets signed by the Cavs: Cavs go on a 24 game losing streak, miss the playoffs and Pippen re-retires.
Pippen gets signed by the Bulls: They still can't beat the Cavs, Pistons, Heat or Wizards in the playoffs.
Pippen gets signed by the Lakers: Pippen flourishes, Lakers get knocked out in the Conference Semi Finals by either the Jazz, Suns, Spurs, Mavs or Rockets... but they do take it to 7 games.