As I like to do on Sundays, I read articles on the NBA from out of town.
Here are some of the more interesting ones.
Curses! Indiana
Injuries and inconsistencies that haunted Kevin O'Neill in T.O. are now in Indy, says Doug Smith
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...acodalogin=yes
Kevin O'Neill must think he is cursed.
Is cursed, not is cursing, although he's probably that, too.
The affable ex-Raptor head coach — well, more irascible than affable — moved on to Indiana but he's still being followed by a string of bad luck.
The Pacers, arguably the most disappointing team in the league this season, have used 24 different starting lineups in a season marred by injuries, brawls and inconsistency.
And for O'Neill, who didn't really handle Toronto's injury woes too well a season ago, it's got to be sickening.
It is to head coach Rick Carlisle.
"Hey, we're not trying to set those kinds of records, but for whatever reason, it's happened to us this year," Carlisle said. "It's challenging for a coaching staff, but it's even more challenging for the players not to have that consistency.
"When you have injuries and suspensions, it throws off your season. We just have to keep playing because we're right in the thick of the playoff race still."
But maybe not for long.
Word is the shoulder injury to all-star power forward Jermaine O'Neal is worse than originally thought and he might be out for a while yet. With a schedule that includes games with Miami (twice), Washington (twice), San Antonio and Detroit, we think it's a stretch that the Pacers make it to the post-season.
DIVINE INTERVENTION
This is asking a wee bit too much. The New Orleans Hornets, for some reason known only to their owner, have an invocation before each home game.
It makes a few folks feel uneasy but to each their own.
Anyway, before a Charlotte-New Orleans game last week, the woman doing the pre-game prayer may have stepped over the line.
"Satan," she said, "take your hands off of these boys. They're good boys. Let them win tonight."
Lo and behold, the Hornets won.
We presume it was because the Bobcats aren't so good rather than divine intervention.
NO BULL
Now, that's some milestone. The Chicago Bulls won in Portland last Wednesday to improve their record to 31-27. No big deal, you say?
Well, it's the first time since 1998, after that Jordan fellow left, that the Bulls have won more than 30 games in a season. Break out the bubbly!
NO CUSSIN' FUSSIN'
Sit courtside at any NBA game and you're going to get a dose of, um, well, um, colourful language, to say the least.
Coaches, players and even reporters can be very inventive with invective. Golden State coach Mike Montgomery takes things in an entirely different direction.
He was perturbed by a call during a game in Philadelphia last week and let the officials know of his displeasure in no uncertain terms.
"Holy smokes!" he yelled. "Sake's alive!"
That's stuff you don't hear too often.
COACHING HOTBED
Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Don Nelson, Bob Cousy, Tommy Heinsohn, K.C. Jones, Satch Sanders, Dave Cowens, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, Chris Ford.
That's a list of the former Celtic players who went on to be head coaches in the NBA, a list that branches out from the Red Auerbach family tree.
What's that say about them?
"That we're not as smart as everybody thought we were," said McHale.
TIM'S LIGHTER SIDE
They keep telling us that Tim Duncan has a great sense a humour, that he's a locker room cut-up and not the dour soul we see on the court. Seems they might be telling us the truth.
In a rare glimpse of his personality, the San Antonio all-star threw a scare into teammates when he sprained his right ankle against Utah a week ago, on the same day the Spurs were honouring Sean Elliott in a post-game ceremony.
The ceremony was a bit muted by the memory of Duncan writhing on the court in the pain and dreams of an NBA championship disappearing.
"It was my feeble attempt to steal the spotlight from Sean Elliott," said Duncan. "Everybody was saying, `Sean's retiring, his jersey is in the rafters, he's a great guy.' I honestly felt left out. So I felt at some point I should do something to refocus ... on me."
OWNER WINGING IT
Somehow, we don't see Larry Tanenbaum doing this. Phoenix owner Robert Sarver, who might otherwise be an intelligent businessman, stood courtside before a Suns-San Antonio game last week flapping his arms like a chicken.
Not sure if it was too many meds or the fact he was unimpressed with San Antonio sitting out Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili for what was a pretty important Western Conference game.
"Yeah, we saw him and I have no comment on that," said San Antonio's Robert Horry. "I just think he's trying to be another Mark Cuban. You know? Get your own identity."
Just what NBA ownership needs, another buffoon like Cuban who likes to stand near the team huddle during Dallas Maverick timeouts, pretending he's doing something more important than eavesdropping.
NO HEAT BREAKS
Pretty soon, teams headed to the NBA playoffs will be thinking about resting players to keep them fresh.
Don't look for the Miami Heat, the second-best team in the East (Detroit's No.1, it says here) to give anyone extended breaks during games.
"What everybody sees are the games and I think that's almost crazy," said Miami coach Stan Van Gundy. "The difference between a guy playing 36 minutes and 32 minutes? It's almost ludicrous to say that difference is going to save a guy in the playoffs. It's what you do between those games, on an everyday basis, and how that guy takes care of himself."
That means a regular dose of Shaquille O'Neal for all opponents.
Here are some of the more interesting ones.
Curses! Indiana
Injuries and inconsistencies that haunted Kevin O'Neill in T.O. are now in Indy, says Doug Smith
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...acodalogin=yes
Kevin O'Neill must think he is cursed.
Is cursed, not is cursing, although he's probably that, too.
The affable ex-Raptor head coach — well, more irascible than affable — moved on to Indiana but he's still being followed by a string of bad luck.
The Pacers, arguably the most disappointing team in the league this season, have used 24 different starting lineups in a season marred by injuries, brawls and inconsistency.
And for O'Neill, who didn't really handle Toronto's injury woes too well a season ago, it's got to be sickening.
It is to head coach Rick Carlisle.
"Hey, we're not trying to set those kinds of records, but for whatever reason, it's happened to us this year," Carlisle said. "It's challenging for a coaching staff, but it's even more challenging for the players not to have that consistency.
"When you have injuries and suspensions, it throws off your season. We just have to keep playing because we're right in the thick of the playoff race still."
But maybe not for long.
Word is the shoulder injury to all-star power forward Jermaine O'Neal is worse than originally thought and he might be out for a while yet. With a schedule that includes games with Miami (twice), Washington (twice), San Antonio and Detroit, we think it's a stretch that the Pacers make it to the post-season.
DIVINE INTERVENTION
This is asking a wee bit too much. The New Orleans Hornets, for some reason known only to their owner, have an invocation before each home game.
It makes a few folks feel uneasy but to each their own.
Anyway, before a Charlotte-New Orleans game last week, the woman doing the pre-game prayer may have stepped over the line.
"Satan," she said, "take your hands off of these boys. They're good boys. Let them win tonight."
Lo and behold, the Hornets won.
We presume it was because the Bobcats aren't so good rather than divine intervention.
NO BULL
Now, that's some milestone. The Chicago Bulls won in Portland last Wednesday to improve their record to 31-27. No big deal, you say?
Well, it's the first time since 1998, after that Jordan fellow left, that the Bulls have won more than 30 games in a season. Break out the bubbly!
NO CUSSIN' FUSSIN'
Sit courtside at any NBA game and you're going to get a dose of, um, well, um, colourful language, to say the least.
Coaches, players and even reporters can be very inventive with invective. Golden State coach Mike Montgomery takes things in an entirely different direction.
He was perturbed by a call during a game in Philadelphia last week and let the officials know of his displeasure in no uncertain terms.
"Holy smokes!" he yelled. "Sake's alive!"
That's stuff you don't hear too often.
COACHING HOTBED
Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, Bill Russell, Don Nelson, Bob Cousy, Tommy Heinsohn, K.C. Jones, Satch Sanders, Dave Cowens, Danny Ainge, Dennis Johnson, Chris Ford.
That's a list of the former Celtic players who went on to be head coaches in the NBA, a list that branches out from the Red Auerbach family tree.
What's that say about them?
"That we're not as smart as everybody thought we were," said McHale.
TIM'S LIGHTER SIDE
They keep telling us that Tim Duncan has a great sense a humour, that he's a locker room cut-up and not the dour soul we see on the court. Seems they might be telling us the truth.
In a rare glimpse of his personality, the San Antonio all-star threw a scare into teammates when he sprained his right ankle against Utah a week ago, on the same day the Spurs were honouring Sean Elliott in a post-game ceremony.
The ceremony was a bit muted by the memory of Duncan writhing on the court in the pain and dreams of an NBA championship disappearing.
"It was my feeble attempt to steal the spotlight from Sean Elliott," said Duncan. "Everybody was saying, `Sean's retiring, his jersey is in the rafters, he's a great guy.' I honestly felt left out. So I felt at some point I should do something to refocus ... on me."
OWNER WINGING IT
Somehow, we don't see Larry Tanenbaum doing this. Phoenix owner Robert Sarver, who might otherwise be an intelligent businessman, stood courtside before a Suns-San Antonio game last week flapping his arms like a chicken.
Not sure if it was too many meds or the fact he was unimpressed with San Antonio sitting out Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili for what was a pretty important Western Conference game.
"Yeah, we saw him and I have no comment on that," said San Antonio's Robert Horry. "I just think he's trying to be another Mark Cuban. You know? Get your own identity."
Just what NBA ownership needs, another buffoon like Cuban who likes to stand near the team huddle during Dallas Maverick timeouts, pretending he's doing something more important than eavesdropping.
NO HEAT BREAKS
Pretty soon, teams headed to the NBA playoffs will be thinking about resting players to keep them fresh.
Don't look for the Miami Heat, the second-best team in the East (Detroit's No.1, it says here) to give anyone extended breaks during games.
"What everybody sees are the games and I think that's almost crazy," said Miami coach Stan Van Gundy. "The difference between a guy playing 36 minutes and 32 minutes? It's almost ludicrous to say that difference is going to save a guy in the playoffs. It's what you do between those games, on an everyday basis, and how that guy takes care of himself."
That means a regular dose of Shaquille O'Neal for all opponents.
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