MidDay 5

This might be a new gimmick with a sweet name….so get excited. Five stories I thought were interesting today with my take on them.

  • Jeff Caplan of the Star Telegram reports that the reason for Dallas having a ‘players-only’ practice was because of Josh Howard. Reportedly, he threw himself a birthday party after the Game 4 loss and 3 or 4 teammates showed up. Avery had said no partying during the series. Avery found out and the Lil’ General went off in a big way.

SJ: On one hand you can see where Avery has a right to be ticked off. I mean in addition to the distraction Howard brought to the table with his ‘I smoke weed’ proclamation, added to his horrific Game 4 performance, and the fact that they were down 3-1 AND the fact that it was the direct opposite of what he had said (practically a slap in the face). Avery had a right to be mad. But on the other hand, you can’t just go and cancel practice like that. In middle school, high school, college this kind of stuff is acceptable and can work. However in the pros, you just can’t cancel a practice, during the playoffs when you’re down 3-1 because a few people did a dumb thing. If anything he should have reprimanded Howard and whoever went, but to put your team in a position like that where they may not be as prepared as they should be is not the right thing to do. Imagine being in a business meeting and a couple of your co-workers stagger in drunk or hungover…is the meeting going to be canceled? Absolutely not. But you can bet those people are going to be reprimanded. To Avery, I would say…good idea, bad execution.

And to you Josh Howard…well as Dave Chappelle would have said: “Howard’s f****n’ up!”

  • David Moore of the Dallas News has this little gem: ” When asked Tuesday if his job was in jeopardy, Johnson replied he hopes that’s not the case. He said he loves the team and loves what he’s doing. This came less than 24 hours after he told his players there would be no practice because he wanted them to rest their legs. The players overruled him and practiced anyway, which sources say led to a profane response by Johnson.

SJ: Well definitely doesn’t look like Dallas’ players are really listening to Avery at all. Incidents like this one and the previous one are the type that signal the need for a coaching change, not just losing in the first round. Players are not responding to Avery right now, and point blank thye don’t respect him enough to even listen to him. He says no partying…a few of them reportedly go out. He says no practice either out of anger for the partying or to “rest their legs”…and they go practice anyway. Just not the best of situations out in Big D.

SJ: Unbelievable in my eyes. For one because of the argument he makes. Secondly because I’m still writing about the Suns. Check out what he says:

The Western Conference is no place for a team on the decline. The Suns finished sixth this year; it’s not a stretch to envision them fighting for a playoff spot next season.

Really? Does no one realize the Suns won 55 games this year? Does no one care to realize that this is the first year in at least 25 years (that’s as far as I checked) that 8 teams with 50+ wins made the playoffs? Does he not realize that the Suns finished 2 games out of the #1 seed? There are tons of arguments to be made against the Suns, but to say that because they finished sixth they are on the decline is just plain idiotic. They finished 7 games ahead of 9th place Golden State and 14 ahead of 10th place Portland. One of those teams still has to catch them.

Yes the championship window is closing….but it’s still open. I wrote this at the beginning of the year, that if Marion and co. had failed to win a title again the Suns championship window would have been closed violently. They still have a chance to make some noise next year they just have to make some moves. I just find all this to be extra dramatic.

And just so y’all don’t think I’ve turned all pro-Suns (never their fans have the basketball IQ of DJ Mbenga) had D’Antoni developed any young players in his era they probably wouldn’t be having a problem.

  • Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun gives us an update Sam Mitchell, the other coach who was on the hot seat. Turns out Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo had a lot to say about Mitchell. Here are a few quotes:

“There’s been a lot of speculation and talk about a coaching change that was involving two active playoff coaches, which I find absolutely ludicrous,” Colangelo said. “Let’s suffice it to say that all things should be put to rest right now when I say I have absolutely no intention to make a coaching change at this time.

“Nobody should be looking at Sam Mitchell and saying it’s entirely his fault, or he’s facing a firing or a buyout,”

SJ: That was really nice of Colangelo to at least come out publicly and say something. Let’s be honest though, he gave Sam as good of an endorsement as he could have giving him… without actually giving him an endorsement. His words were very carefully chosen, strong but empty, he said a lot without saying much. I compare it to a smart guy trying to get in a girl’s pants. He’s going to sweet talk her, but in a way that leads her to believe he really likes her without actually saying it so he can back out later.

Percy Allen of the Seattle Times reports that Kevin Durant will in fact be Rookie of the Year.

SJ: I….I got nothing here. I’m just glad I changed my mind at the last second and converted to Durant. The man averaged 20 points a game as a rookie and was lights out down the stretch. And he also didn’t get any veterans to throw up gang signs at him.

  • Alan Hahn on his The Knicks Fix Newsday blog. You have to read this whole paragraph. Mainly the last couple sentences: “There were some gossip items in the tabloids today involving a party that Zach Randolph threw at The Plumm, which is a West Village hangout. Apparently Z-Bo was telling people he doesn’t expect to be back with the Knicks next season. But a more interesting story involved Pacers guard Jamaal Tinsley, who apparently lost his Blackberry at the place and was trying to get other guests such as Vince Carter and Mardy Collins to help him find it. Tinsley reportedly offered a G to the Plumm staff to find it.”

SJ: I’m sorry, you might not laug but I would really have paid money to watch Tinsley, VC and Mardy Collins looking for a Blackberry phone. Could you imagine them going up to people and someone just being absolutely scared to death? Or someone not knowing who Mardy Collins was? Or Tinsley asking Z-Bo if he saw it and Z-Bo just laughing at him. Anyone else?