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The Rules of Pacers Digest

Hello everyone,

Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

A quick note to new members: Your posts will not immediately show up when you make them. An administrator has to approve at least your first post before the forum software will later upgrade your account to the status of a fully-registered member. This usually happens within a couple of hours or so after your post(s) is/are approved, so you may need to be a little patient at first.

Why do we do this? So that it's more difficult for spammers (be they human or robot) to post, and so users who are banned cannot immediately re-register and start dousing people with verbal flames.

Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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News and Notes from around the NBA

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  • News and Notes from around the NBA

    Here are a few articles that I saw today that were somewhat interesting.


    And the
    winners are...


    The people have spoken. In this case, the people are the NBA's 30 general managers, who were recently polled by the league on 50 topics. Here are some of the results, along with our own comments:

    If you were starting a franchise today and could sign any player in the NBA, who would it be?


    Tim Duncan - 48%
    Kevin Garnett - 29%
    LeBron James - 14%
    Shaquille O'Neal - 10%


    Our view: What, nobody voted for Trevor Ariza?


    Which player forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments?


    Shaquille O'Neal- 81%
    Kevin Garnett - 10%
    Tracy McGrady - 5%
    Tim Duncan - 5%


    Our view: Frankly, we're amazed that Shaq didn't get 100%.


    Which player is most likely to have a breakout season in 2004-05?


    Al Harrington - 37%
    Yao Ming - 11%
    Dwyane Wade - 11%
    Jamal Crawford - 5%
    Marcus Camby - 5%
    Brian Scalabrine - 5%
    Eddy Curry - 5%
    Willie Green - 5%
    Manu Ginobili - 5%
    Chris Bosh - 5%
    Jonathan Bender - 5%


    Our view: For about the past eight seasons we've been waiting for Camby to break out.


    Who is the toughest player in the NBA?


    Ron Artest - 33%
    Ben Wallace - 29%
    Shaquille O'Neal - 14%
    Karl Malone - 5%
    Allen Iverson - 5%
    Kurt Thomas - 5%
    Kenyon Martin - 5%
    Mark Madsen - 5%


    Our view: If the topic were "the craziest player in the NBA," Artest would have gotten 100%.


    Which was the most underrated player acquisition?


    Brent Barry - 33%
    Steve Nash - 10%
    Lamar Odom - 10%
    Brian Cardinal - 10%
    Jason Terry - 5%
    Antawn Jamison - 5%
    Erick Dampier - 5%
    Al Harrington - 5%
    Nick Van Exel - 5%
    Antoine Walker - 5%
    Stephen Jackson - 5%


    Our view: When all is said and done, it just might be the Pistons' signing of Antonio McDyess.


    Which team will be most improved in 2004-05?


    Phoenix Suns - 31%
    Orlando Magic - 31%
    Miami Heat - 14%
    Cleveland Cavaliers - 5%
    Los Angeles Clippers - 5%
    Philadelphia 76ers - 5%
    Washington Wizards - 5%
    Houston Rockets - 5%


    Our view: Hard to believe that the Nets didn't get a vote.


    Who is the best head coach in the NBA?


    Larry Brown - 38%
    Jerry Sloan - 33%
    Flip Saunders - 10%
    Gregg Popovich - 5%
    Rick Adelman - 5%
    Rick Carlisle - 5%
    Hubie Brown - 5%


    Our view: About five of those coaches made the list only because Phil Jackson took the year off.


    Which head coach makes the best in-game adjustments?


    Larry Brown - 45%
    Hubie Brown - 15%
    Don Nelson - 15%
    Flip Saunders - 10%
    Jerry Sloan - 5%
    Gregg Popovich - 5%
    Paul Silas - 5%


    Our view: We honestly don't know how Silas made this list.


    Which head coach is the best in the last two minutes of a close game?


    Larry Brown - 35%
    Gregg Popovich - 20%
    Flip Saunders - 15%
    Hubie Brown - 10%
    Jeff Van Gundy - 5%
    Don Nelson - 5%
    Jerry Sloan - 5%
    Rick Carlisle - 5%


    Our view: Yet another list Lenny Wilkens didn't make.


    Which active player will make the best head coach someday?


    Avery Johnson - 35%
    Eric Snow - 25%
    Steve Nash - 15%
    Voshon Lenard - 5%
    Lindsey Hunter - 5%
    Kevin Willis - 5%
    Antonio Davis - 5%
    Mark Jackson - 5%


    Our view: Mark Jackson will be coaching the Knicks before Phil Jackson.


    Which player in the NBA would you want taking a shot with the game on the line?


    Kobe Bryant - 80%
    Tim Duncan - 5%
    Dirk Nowitzki - 5%
    Allan Houston - 5%
    Reggie Miller - 5%


    Our view: That's an impressive figure for Kobe, until you think back to how Michael Jordan used to score on this question.


    Slam Dunks



    In what had to be a record, after the Nuggets lost their opener to the Lakers, high-ranking members of Denver's front office skewered Jeff Bzdelik for his strategy of fronting Chris Mihm, whose 23 points in L.A.'s win marked a career-high....

    The Rockets were none too happy that their schedule called for them to open the season with back-to-back road games (losses at Detroit and at Toronto) and four games in five nights. Compared to Charlotte's cushy opening with only four games over the first 11 days. The Kings and Wizards were the only other teams to open with back-to-back road dates, with Washington going 2-0, including a huge win vs. Memphis, and Sacramento going 0-2 in Dallas and San Antonio. ...

    They say after Smush Parker finishes his stint on Detroit's injured list, the ex-Fordham guard is going to have to find a new team. ...

    Remember how Orlando didn't take Emeka Okafor with the first overall draft pick last June because the Magic had legit concerns about his back? Well, his strong start still hasn't allayed any fears in Charlotte about long-term back problems for ex-UConn star. They're already allowing him to skip practices. ...

    Did you notice? The Cavs decided not to pick up the option on Dajuan Wagner. Unless they did it to light a fuse under him, they're basically admitting that they blew the pick (No. 6 overall, 2002)...

    . NBA owners are intent on scaling back maximum contracts from seven to four years, part of a plan to "come up with a system that's a bit more profitable (for the owners, who else?) than the existing system.... that doesn't reward players who are no longer basically in the league, or shouldn't be in the league at their higher prices," according to David Stern. That's going to pose a major problem for players. Players Association suits plan on stressing to the rank and file in their visits to dressing rooms just how much of a concession that would be....

    All this talk about Phil Jackson coming to the Knicks in case Lenny Wilkens falters runs counter to the kind of team Jackson wants to coach. It has to be good enough to win a title and perhaps be an underachiever (as the Lakers were before he got to L.A.). Do we have to remind anyone around here how far the Knicks are from that point?



  • #2
    Re: News and Notes from around the NBA

    The 2004 Olympics proved to the world that basketball is a truly global phenomenon. But it's the National Basketball Association that's poised to cash in.
    The NBA is already planning to support teams globally, and Dave Checketts, former Madison Square Garden president, has been working on a feasibility study for the league, sources said.

    Big bucks are at stake when it comes to taking basketball worldwide. Last season, the NBA made nearly $200 million from selling programming internationally, with 151 broadcasters in 212 countries televising NBA games. In the 2004-2005 season, which kicked off on Tuesday, there will be 157 broadcasters in 214 countries.

    The NBA still receives the bulk of its revenue — $4.6 billion — from its six-year domestic deals with ABC/ESPN and Turner. But those figures may soon be dwarfed by the windfall from international media and licensing deals.

    "Luckily for us, our business is continuing to grow around the world," said Scott Levy, senior president of International Television and Marketing Partnerships for the NBA.

    Media rights are only a small slice of the global potential. Merchandise sales outside of the U.S. topped $600 million last year, and more than half of the 3.1 billion page views of the NBA.com Web site were from non-U.S. fans.

    It's that potentially uber-devoted fan base that led the NBA Commissioner David Stern to develop a strategic plan to expand internationally by adding NBA teams abroad.

    To build on the momentum and bring the global plan to home plate, the NBA has found new and innovative ways to increase its international appeal and standardize the game.

    Last summer, McDonald's sponsored an NBA coach's camp in Beijing for top Chinese coaches to learn the mechanics and fundamentals of the U.S.style of basketball. Don Casey, former head coach of the New Jersey Nets, took part in the program.

    "The Chinese are fascinated by the athleticism in the NBA and what these players can do — dunking, flying through the air," Casey said. "The Chinese are genuine fans and not like, say, Knick fans, who can be critical or fair-weather fans. The Chinese are simply in awe of the NBA."



    Global expansion is really the next logical step for the NBA. This season, the NBA opening-day rosters featured 81 players from 35 different countries — 20 percent of all the professional ballers.

    The reigning emperor of international appeal and the NBA's face of globalization, though, has to be Chinese All-Star Center, Yao Ming. Ever since Yao was drafted by the Houston Rockets, the NBA tripled its broadcast deals within China alone. And the Rockets even have a Chinese beer as a corporate sponsor because of that growing fan base.

    Recognizing the stunning celebrity appeal of the international players, the NBA has centered its foreign broadcasts on these star players, but there's even a passionate fan base for the U.S. players.

    Levy said, "Even featured players like Shaquille O'Neal and Kevin Garnett have international appeal, so that the demand for NBA broadcasts goes beyond just the superstars of that particular country."

    In the U.S., DirecTV and most of the cable operators offer NBA TV, the league's 24-hour all-basketball channel, but the channel has expanded internationally, where a similarly customized channel offers all NBA programming from six to 24 hours a day.

    Country-specific NBA TV programming has been tailored for international distribution and is available in 40 countries, including France, Russia and Hong Kong.

    "International content has been developed specifically for the international audience," said Levy. "Programming in 42 different languages is done in conjunction with local broadcasters and is customized. We have [Sacramento Kings' forward Peja] Stojakovic-centered programming in Serbia, and we focus on Yao Ming in China."

    This strategy is clearly paying off. Last season, NBA programming was seen in 42 languages and reached an audience of more than 750 million households. Globally, more than 19,340 hours of programming were distributed to the NBA's international broadcasters.




    Comment


    • #3
      Re: News and Notes from around the NBA

      http://www.detnews.com/2004/pistons/...d10-327694.htm

      Don't be alarmed by spending spree


      By Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

      Pistons extras

      Photo gallery: Raising the banner
      Championship ring wallpaper: 1024x768 | 1200x900
      Pistons Talk forum
      Pistons box scores
      Pistons players screensaver
      Pistons schedule
      Next opponent tale of the tape
      Player stats
      Game-by-game look


      Comment on this story
      Send this story to a friend
      Get Home Delivery


      AUBURN HILLS--Last week was extension week in the NBA. Tracy McGrady (three years, $63 million from Houston), Zach Randolph (six years, $84 million from Portland), Jason Richardson (six years, $70 million from Golden State), Troy Murphy (six years, $60 million from Golden State), Tony Parker (six years, $66 million from San Antonio) and Brendan Haywood (five years, $25 million from Washington) got contract extensions.

      Whenever that much money gets thrown around all at once like that, it sends out alarms. People start to think that owners have gone mad, that the financial structure of the league has been knocked out of whack.

      It’s not like that at all. It’s just more proof that the collective bargaining agreement is meeting its objective.

      Remember, when the CBA was signed back in 1998, the league was looking to create a financial structure that would not only be fair for the players and allow owners a chance to make a profit, but also help facilitate teams to keep their star players.

      That’s what’s happening here. Teams are trying to stabilize their franchises and build fan bases by identifying core players and signing them to long contracts. They don’t want to risk letting them test the free-agent market, and thus are willing to pay them a little above what might be considered market value.

      “I wouldn’t say it’s out of control,” said John Hammond, the Pistons’ vice president of basketball. “And I don’t think the fact that the agreement expires after this season affected any of those deals. It was just, there was a drop-dead date (Oct. 31) on guys who were key players for those teams and they decided they couldn’t afford to lose those players.

      “I think, when you look at guys like Tony Parker, Pau Gasol (six years, $86 million from Memphis) or Andrei Kirilenko (six years, $86 million from Utah), in four or five years people are going to look at that and say, ‘Great players, good contracts, we were lucky to retain them.’”

      And don’t start in about setting salary precedents for other teams. Each team has its own salary structure and the power to create or maintain flexibility. Those teams above had the foresight to plan for these eventual extensions — or, if they didn’t, they’ve decided it was worth paying the luxury tax to keep those players.

      Utah, for example, probably inflated Kirilenko’s value by signing Carlos Boozer ($60 million) and former Piston Mehmet Okur ($50 million) over the summer. But, they bought themselves a young, talented frontcourt for the next six years.

      “Different teams are in different situations in terms of salary cap,” Hammond said. “And the value of every contract is relevant to your flexibility, your structure and your needs.”

      Exactly as it should be.

      Ingrates all

      Of course, the onus is still on the teams to make sure they give the extra years and extra dollars to the right players. Sometimes they don’t and the mistakes are costly.

      Chicago’s Eddie Robinson malingered his way to a $10 million contract buyout and is now free to join the New York Knicks — which could happen as early as this week.

      Robinson had one decent 10-game playoff run with Charlotte in 2001 and parlayed it into a $32 million deal with the Bulls. In return, Robinson gave the Bulls 122 games over three years (averaging 6.7 points, 2.7 rebounds).

      He refused to take part in pregame or postpractice shooting drills. He missed large chunks of each season because of minor or imagined injuries. He refused to take part in the team’s off-season workout program. And, finally, he said he refused to play or even practice for Coach Scott Skiles because Skiles publicly criticized him.

      So, he will take his $10 million and run off to another situation, where he will get paid another $800,000. Besides the Knicks, the Raptors, Heat, Clippers and Blazers have expressed interest.

      To complete the charade, here was the parting shot fired by Robinson’s agent, Paul Collier: “Eddie Robinson is about one word: winning and losing.”

      Classic.

      Then there is Alonzo Mourning, who will become the poster child for the owners who desire to limit the maximum number of years on guaranteed contracts. Zo, the great warrior, has asked the New Jersey Nets to buy out the remaining three years and $17 million of his guaranteed contract so he can hook up with a contending team.

      He’s mad at the Nets for not re-signing Kenyon Martin and Kerry Kittles, and for alienating Jason Kidd.

      “Looking back, would I have made the decision to come here if they would have gotten rid of K-Mart and Kerry? No, because I had a couple of other options,” Mourning said.

      Part of the reason the Nets couldn’t sign those two was because of the contracts they’d given to Kidd (more than $100 million) and to Zo (four guaranteed years at $24 million, for which they’ve gotten a total of 13 games).

      And now Zo wants to bail.

      This is wrong on so many levels. The Nets took a huge leap of faith with Mourning — giving him four guaranteed years despite knowing he had kidney disease. They stuck by him when he went through the transplant last season. They stuck by him through his rehabilitation. Knowing they would likely not get anything in return, yet continuing to cut the checks every month.

      And now that Mourning is playing again, he shows his gratitude by wanting to play somewhere else (as soon as he gets every penny he’s owed by the Nets)? Come on, man.

      The Nets have offered to buy him out for about $10 million, but Zo wants the whole $17 million. Earn it then.

      Sound bytes

      * The Mavericks’ Jason Terry, when asked about what kind of pain he was in after having four wisdom teeth extracted last week: “It doesn’t hurt any worse than being in Atlanta right now.”

      * Lame duck Sonics Coach Nate McMillan, when asked if he thinks he will be back next season: “In my heart? (Pause) I can’t say.”


      Chris McCosky’s quick hits


      * It’s open season for teams looking for unhappy multi-millionaires with bloated contracts and blighted games. You can get Glenn Robinson and the final year of his contract ($12 million). He has been put on the injured list by the Sixers while they seek a trade for him. You can get Shandon Anderson, who, along with his three years and $24 million, is on the inactive list in New York. Latrell Sprewell, who is making $14 million, balked at the Timberwolves’ offer of a three-year, $24 million extension and wants to be traded.

      * Heat Coach Stan Van Gundy is apparently considering the notion of taking Shaquille O’Neal out of some close games, to prevent teams from sending him to the free-throw line. Here is his rationale: “Are you tied and want to run a play late in the game? I’ll go to Shaq. Why not? So the game is tied and he’s going to the line to shoot two. If we’re down one late in the game, yeah I’ll go to Shaq. If you’re down two, it gets a little bit more tenuous. If it’s an inbound situation and (the other team) has to foul late in the game, forget Shaq, I’m going to have my five best free-throw shooters on the floor. That’s regardless of Shaq.” Can’t wait until that situation arises and Van Gundy tries to take Shaq out of the game. It could mark the end of the honeymoon in Miami.

      * Orlando’s Steve Francis has been saying all the right things about Houston trading him for Tracy McGrady. But, after leading the Magic to a season-opening victory, he finally spoke his true thoughts: “People can say that they got the better of the trade. But I think both teams got what they wanted. If they want guys to walk up the court and shoot fadeaway jumpers, then they got what they wanted. And if Orlando wanted a team of players that is going to get after it up and down the court, then they got what they wanted.” Touche.

      * Give an assist to Cleveland’s team doctor for the Pacers’ season-opening, double-overtime victory against the Cavaliers. Already without injured starters Jermaine O’Neal, Reggie Miller and Jeff Foster, the Pacers also had scratched Ron Artest because of a twisted right knee. Artest, though, wanted a second opinion, so he took his magnetic resonance imaging exam results to Cavs physician, Richard Parker. When Parker told Artest he couldn’t do further damage, Artest cut him off in mid-sentence, ran out of the room and said he was playing. “I said, ‘Thank you, Doc, I don’t need you no more,’” said Artest, who declared himself ready to play 20 minutes before tip-off and ended up scoring 31 points in 50 minutes.

      * Bucks point guard T.J. Ford vows that his career is not over, although nobody knows when he will be able to return. “I will play in the NBA again,” he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind. That’s not even a question.” Ford injured his spine after a nasty fall Feb. 24 and hasn’t been able do anything basketball-related since. He had surgery on his neck May 5. It is doubtful that Ford will return this season, but he and the Bucks are holding out hope he will be back for the 2005-06 season.

      * The Raptors weren’t at all amused that The Sporting News ranked Vince Carter 41st among its list of the top 50 players in the league. “To rank him that low, it’s kind of like a slap in the face,” Chris Bosh said. “But at the same time, that might be motivation for him to pick his game up and have the will to kill every night.” Said Jalen Rose: “It’s easy to kick people when they’re down. I can’t name 40 players who are better than Vince Carter — or Jalen Rose, for that matter.” All five of the Pistons’ starters ranked in the top 50, with Ben Wallace the highest at No. 16.

      * Hello, Mr. Delusional. Dallas’ Erick Dampier was asked where he ranked among the best centers in the game. “I consider myself right behind Shaq,” he said. “Some people are going to say top three, but personally, I consider myself the second-best.” Hmmm, that means Sacramento’s Brad Miller scored 24 points against the second-best center in the league on opening night. Dampier might not even make my top five — Shaq, Tim Duncan, Ben Wallace, Jamaal Magloire and Yao Ming.

      * The Kings are one big happy family. And to prove it, they took out an advertisement in last Wednesday’s Sacramento Bee. Six players pitched in for the $12,000 ad, which on an all-white background with no team logo proclaimed, “Our spirit will never be broken.” Each word was hand-written by the six contributing players — along with five vacation-style photographs of Kings in street clothes — Peja Stojakovic, Bobby Jackson, Doug Christie, Mike Bibby, Chris Webber and Brad Miller. Said Jackson: “(There was) so much negativity from this past summer, people talking this and people talking that, we just want people to know that we haven’t lost anything.” Except their first two games.

      Material from personal interviews, other beat writers and Detroit News wire services was used in this report. You can reach Chris McCosky at (313) 222-1489 or

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      • #4
        Re: News and Notes from around the NBA

        Originally posted by Unclebuck

        Said Jalen Rose: “It’s easy to kick people when they’re down. I can’t name 40 players who are better than Vince Carter — or Jalen Rose, for that matter.”


        pacertom thinks that is so, so funny, and so, so JALEN.



        The poster "pacertom" since this forum began (and before!). I changed my name here to "Slick Pinkham" in honor of the imaginary player That Bobby "Slick" Leonard picked late in the 1971 ABA draft (true story!).

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