A.I. on Dime #28Years ago, Jason Kidd told us that his man Gary Payton would have to be dragged off an NBA court before he retired. He just loved playing too much. You can say the same thing about Kidd — which is why we don’t buy the whole “He’s sitting out on purpose” story that’s grown legs after Wednesday’s Nets/Knicks game — and you can also say the same about Allen Iverson. The guy is never going to slow down, either. He played all 48 minutes on Wednesday when he dropped 51 points on the Lakers, and came back last night to play 40-plus minutes while hanging 35 points, 12 dimes and 6 steals on the Mavs on the road … Watching A.I. and Devin Harris go at it brought back memories of Iverson being harassed by Tyronn Lue in the ‘01 Finals. In the third quarter, A.I. got called for a charge on Harris and let the ref know how bad of a call he thought it was. A couple possessions later, A.I. was running side-by-side with Harris and dipped into him to initiate contact, yet Harris got whistled for the foul. Marques Johnson used to call that a “Maybelline Makeup Call” … Reggie Miller on the mic: “I’m a color commentator now, I don’t make any money.” … Microcosm of the Miami Heat’s season from last night: Joel Przybilla played solid defense on Shaq all game long, keeping the big man relatively bottled up (8 pts). But whenever Shaq sat down, Przybilla couldn’t stop Udonis Haslem (15 pts) from dunking on him. There was a time not too long ago when Shaq was the one dealing out those lumps … There’s nothing “youngster” about Brandon Roy (25 pts, 6 rebs, 5 asts); dude’s a vet. Whether it was scoring in the paint, sticking his free throws or making the necessary pass, time and again he made the right play in Portland’s win, and didn’t back down at all from D-Wade (21 pts, 10 rebs, 9 asts) … The court mics kept picking up someone making uncomfortable-sounding grunts and groans near the basket. We think it was Dorell Wright. Whoever it was, it was like watching a women’s pro tennis match … Despite the 250-something fans in the building, Hawks/Wolves ended up being the most exciting game of the night. ATL was up by as much as 19 in the first half, but allowed Minnesota to creep back and make it a game. Down by one in the final 30 ticks, the Wolves were devoid of an offensive game plan — or at least we assume the “Sebastian Telfair takes a pull-up J over two defenders” play in the huddle — but were given another chance to draw something up. This time, Joe Johnson somehow lost Marko Jaric on the inbounds play and gave up an easy layup. After Josh Smith hit Bassy with a pretty spin move and jumper off the glass to give Atlanta the lead back, Jaric (18 pts, 8 rebs, 9 asts, 3 stls) again got an improbably easy bucket, driving past Smith for a layup like he was just some guy. (Remember D-Wade tried the same exact thing in crunch time a couple weeks ago and got stuffed.) So with 2.2 seconds left, the Hawks had one more chance, got it to Joe Johnson, and he hit a fallaway jumper over Telfair and Jaric at the buzzer for the W … The celebration was funny. First you saw everyone bolt off the Hawks bench running toward J.J., and at least two or three of them had you wondering “Who is that?” Then the cameras switch over to Al Horford hugging the mascot, and finally, you saw Salim Stoudamire trying his hardest to pretend he was happy … Overall, Josh Smith played a hell of a game, putting up 28 points, 7 boards and 7 blocks. People talk about Tim Duncan, but Josh shows zero emotion on the court. At least Duncan gets amped every now and then. But we’ve known this about J-Smoove since the ‘05 dunk contest, when he was doing incredible dunks and wouldn’t lose the stone face … Give Mike Woodson credit for one thing: his hairline was on-point last night. Steve Harvey would’ve been proud … Steve would not be so proud of Greg Oden. Did you see him last night? When you’re gonna be on national TV, it’s always a good idea to at least comb your hair … Corey Brewer: 18 boards, 5 dimes, 4 steals, 6 points. He’s got to be the skinniest guy to ever grab 15-plus boards in an NBA game … John Brady is lucky everyone in the state of Louisiana is so focused on the LSU football team, because the Tigers’ b-ball coach needs to be locked in a windowless room with Hubie Brown for five hours after last night’s performance. LSU was up on Villanova by 21 with about eight minutes left, dominating the Wildcats with their size and defense. Then Jay Wright proceeded to coach the pants off of Brady, helped along by a Malcolm Grant maelstrom of buckets. Even after having lost all the momentum and with star freshman Anthony Randolph fouled out, Brady’s team still had the ball, up by one, in the final 30 seconds. Coming out of a timeout — and again, with the lead — the best LSU could do was have Garrett Temple (26% career three-point shooter) throw up an NBA-range trey. On the other end, Villanova’s Dante Cunningham scored on a putback to put the ‘Cats on top, and Brady inexplicably DIDN’T use his final timeout, instead watching as one of his guards ran down and jacked another three (when they were down by one) that missed. Game over. Just an atrocious coaching job on Brady’s part. We’d trust Les Miles more to coach LSU basketball than Brady right now … We’re out like Reggie’s money …
December 7th, 2007 at 5:54 am
João says:
The only good thing for Miami this season, is Daequeen Cook. The rookie can shoot lights out, yesterday he score 20 points on 9/11 fg …
December 7th, 2007 at 8:01 am
Tbeezy says:
Things being what they are and all for the Lakers I’m still happy we aren’t on the hook for the 20 mil/year that the Heat are paying Shaq. That trade is looking better and better. The Lake Show may not have received any stars (well maybe Caron Butler, Nice trade to the Wiz Kupchak), but they at least aren’t stuck with the Diesel (Damn, he got old quick). The Heat got their ‘chip, but they are stuck in reverse until the diesel’s contract is up, and by that point Wade may be out the door as well. Was the ring worth setting the team back 5 years?
December 7th, 2007 at 8:29 am
bsteezy3 says:
Tbeezy (your name sounds strangley like mine…)–When your franchise has NO championships, Yeah…i think Miami set the team back some, but I think they are happy to at least have one championship ring. That’s what the league is all about–winning the championship. Plus, they’re in the East, so they can still make another run (as long as they stay healthy). In retrospect, yep, the Lakers got the better deal (but what about Lamar Odom? He got old quickly too…)
December 7th, 2007 at 8:30 am
Bust Jlaze says:
So Shaq’s gonna retire after this year, right? RIGHT?
December 7th, 2007 at 8:33 am
Gee says:
“40 makes it happen..”
Daequeen got DONE UP last night when Outlaw (I think it was him) dunked on him so viciously. Just arm pit all in money’s grill. LOL.
The dunk Haslem did on ol’ boy was bananas.
Portland looked real good, but of course that was against an old squad and Miami looked old!
LOL I think Shaq should have taken …was it Rick Barry.. up on learning how to shoot his free throws grandma style. Imagine how that would have added to the popularity and legend of Shaq. I would have loved to see that.
I am still taking LaMarcus as a very good center to have on your squad. Regardless of heart, passion and clutch and all that..dude plays a real nice game.
Joe Johnson had Minny bustin that E-40 intro from the “I Got Five On It Remix” …”Why you treat me so bad…” lol. That was just a sweet J.
December 7th, 2007 at 8:56 am
djKianoosh says:
crap! I missed the villanova comeback! i switched over to the nuggets game cause i thought it was over! damn.. should have recorded it just in case..
tell you what, the philly Big 5 coaches have always been pretty good. Jay Wright is a very very good one. Hope he stays there for a long time.
December 7th, 2007 at 8:59 am
Celts Fan says:
The Celtics probably set their team back 5 years too w/ the KG and Ray Allen trades (the title window is 4 years MAX, then rebuilding starts again just as Big Al, whoever we’d have taken at #5, Gerald (if he has one), and Gomes will just be hitting their prime when KG and Ray are hanging it up), but you do what you need to do to win now. Who knows what the future holds for any team. If you win a ring, then have to rebuild, it’s absolutely worth it. The Heat would make that trade again without question. It was an all or nothing move, but they got the ring, so it worked. I hope I’m saying the same thing about Boston 5 years from now…
December 7th, 2007 at 9:01 am
djKianoosh says:
oh, and anybody else sense that Reggie Miller was trying a little extra to criticize AI every time he made a mistake? there were few of those, but each time Reggie just pounced on it. probably nothing there, whatever…
they should lock LSU’s coach in with Hubie, Larry Brown and Doug Collins (I like him on TNT’s broadcasts). they would drop serious bball knowledge on him. shoot, throw in jay bilas too, he seems to know what he’s talkin about on espn…
December 7th, 2007 at 9:34 am
João says:
Shaq in his first year with Miami was an MVP runner-up, and a few Wade Ribs way from NBA Finals ,,, 2º year = Championship … Last season lost in the playoffs. I will take that record … But beyond that, he made the Miami Heat an International Team, cause I´m from Brazil, but lived in Europe for some time, and now, everybody Knows the Heat, and not just Knicks, Lakers, Celtics and Bulls. I´m sure that this is´paying huge dividends to Mr. Arison. Shaq got old, but if they use him properly, he can give you 18,9 everynight, and so far he didnt miss a game this year.
“LOL I think Shaq should have taken …was it Rick Barry.. up on learning how to shoot his free throws grandma style. Imagine how that would have added to the popularity and legend of Shaq. I would have loved to see that.”
Yeah, that would be perfect , hahaha, I agree
December 7th, 2007 at 9:36 am
doc says:
Shaq is done
December 7th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Bobby stew says:
Reggie is upset because there is plenty of Youtube coverage of AI crossing him up.
December 7th, 2007 at 10:32 am
Sho-Nuff says:
Say is ain’t so Shaq??!!……….
December 7th, 2007 at 10:39 am
jay says:
nova game was sick…where was corey fish last night. ai is sick..j howard’s pe retro 8’s were nuts…holla back at em!!!
December 7th, 2007 at 10:43 am
laballer says:
someone read bill simmons blog regarding kidd and tell me it doesnt make all the friggin sense in the world..not just sayin this cause im an la boy..screw it..i am just saying this cause im an la boy…but for reals..it makes sense!
December 7th, 2007 at 10:46 am
T.M.P.B.W.O.T.P. says:
Joao — “Daequeen” Cook? Was that a joke or a typo?
Corey Fisher didn’t play much because he wasn’t making any shots. Good win for Nova, but why doesn’t Jay Wright ever get any big-time forward/center recruits? They were getting beasted inside until Randolph fouled out. That Nova team with Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Kyle Lowry could have won a national championship if they had any kind of decent big men (Florida beat them in the tourney).
December 7th, 2007 at 10:47 am
SWAT says:
Joao-Shaq can still give you 18 and 9 everynight. I’m waiting for the punch line. I’m glad he hasn’t missed a game yet but the season is only a month in the hole and shaq is a shadow of his former self.
Real talk though DIME step up your vocab-giving Mike Woodson credit for his hairline. That’s an old folks word…call it an edge-up please.
December 7th, 2007 at 11:38 am
T.M.P.B.W.O.T.P. says:
My barber doesn’t even say “edge-up.” But then he is an older guy, so maybe you’re right.
What happened to LSU? They were in the Final Four a couple years ago and, correct me if I’m wrong, last year they didn’t even make the tournament. I hope Brady signed a big extension after that Final Four run.
December 7th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
sans says:
Wasn’t Iverson supposed to defer to Melo this year? Everyone said it couldn’t be done, and low and behold, AI is gunning like he used to. I’m not hating on him, I just find that shit interesting.
December 7th, 2007 at 5:39 pm
dagwaller says:
A.) I don’t think Shaq is even a top 10 center anymore, and even said so last year.
B.) He flopped last night - badly. Didn’t even get the foul. He also has missed easy layups AND dunks in the last two games I’ve watched. Worse than getting blocked? I think so.
C.) What a classless move he made last night on Przbylla (sp?). Got fouled, falls on the guy and hits him in the face with the ball. I used to like Shaq a lot, but he’s losing a lot of my respect. Hopefully this doesn’t have to do with his off-court troubles…
December 7th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
JCrom says:
This is pretty random…But is it just me or is Jalen Rose terrible in front of the camera. Everytime I see him on espn he looks like a deer caught in headlights. Or he’s not lookin into the right camera. I’m a fan of his game, but his on camera time is terrible
December 10th, 2007 at 12:35 am
DOC says:
Jalen cool to me, and where you from they use edgeup. In Realadelphia they still hairlines baby.