K-Love at the Dime/Levi’s Draft SuiteAbout four seconds into his first semi-official NBA game, Danilo Gallinari was whistled for a foul and drew his first of what should be many hilarious calls (”hackin’ and whackin’”) from Knicks announcer Clyde Frazier. The eyes of New York were all on Gallo yesterday, who had a rough first half against the Cavs in his Vegas Summer League debut. He missed his first five shots (although some of them looked pretty as all get-out leaving his hand), and struggled defensively: it seemed everyone he guarded was trying to take him off the dribble or dunk on him. One time Gallinari found himself in the path of Tractor Traylor (a summer league dinosaur at 31 years old), who steamrolled the rook before laying the ball in … Gallinari finished with 14 points (5-for-11 FG’s) and six boards in the win, but Wilson Chandler was the star for New York with 26 points. We’re surprised those two even got the ball as much as they did, though, since “point guard” Anthony Roberson was JACKING. Roberson (22 pts, 8-for-19 FG’s) was so bad with it that Quentin Richardson even said in a courtside interview, “He has a gun. He’s got a full clip out there.” When Q-Rich is calling you a gunner, you’re a gunner … Seriously, Tractor (8 pts, 3 rebs) had man-boob coming out of the side of his jersey, but was actually pretty nimble when he wanted to be. The first time he got the ball he backed his way into the paint, and despite having a 100-pound weight advantage over anyone on the Knicks, took a fadeaway J that didn’t look bad. If you’ve ever seen the The Untouchables, there’s a scene where Sean Connery is chasing a mobster through an open field and eventually shoots the guy to get him to stop. “Alright,” Connery snarls, “that’s enough of this running s***.” That was how Traylor played all game long … J.J. Hickson put up 26 points and 9 boards in the loss, while LeBron’s boys — high school teammates Dru Joyce and Romeo Travis — played a combined two seconds … So how many games into the season will it be before Clyde stops pronouncing it “DEE-Antoni”? … Props to Dime reader “Homeless J” for live-blogging all the way through the Raptors/Nuggets and Blazers/Wizards games. Although we’ve gotta question the validity of his homelessness (what with the computer and TV), he came through big-time. Some highlights: (1) “The Raps just got a rebound, fast breaked it down, and the point guard passed it to some other guy, who stood in place dribbling for a moment before dribbling BACK OUT to the three-point line to take a miss. That was the worst fast break I have ever seen in my life.” (2) Joel Bosh checked back in and has committed three fouls in what seems like no time at all. It’s the only time the announcer has been calling his name because the announcer only calls names for what seems like every other made shot, and fouls. I can only assume Joel Bosh realized this and decided to foul everyone, because he’s sure as hell not making any shots.” (3) “HOLY F***. Jerryd Bayless just ROSE UP and blocked some dude’s shot on a fast break. Between defending down Dominic McGuire in the post and this, you’d think dude was a forward. Plus he’s got close to 30 points. One thing’s for sure: he hasn’t forgotten how to score.” … Bayless ended up with 28 points, going 18-for-23 at the stripe. Needless to say JB was aggressive with the rock, and if he doesn’t start for the Blazers this year, he could be a monster scorer off the bench similar to Ben Gordon on his good days. The Heat and Clippers will be intriguing next year, but we can’t think of any team we’re more excited to watch than Portland … Despite some early foul trouble, Kevin Love posted an impressive 18 points and 13 rebounds in his summer league debut, putting in work against a Mavs front line that included a couple guys with legit NBA experience in James Singleton and Pape Sow. OK, so it’s not like K-Love was torching Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutombo, but it’s a start. Meanwhile, O.J. Mayo had a less-than-impressive 18 points (on 5-for-17 shooting) in a loss to San Antonio … Too bad it wasn’t on TV, but Donte Greene dropped 40 on the Suns (who apparently still don’t play D post-D’Antoni), 19 of it in the first quarter. For a kid who’s been getting Carmelo comparisons for a while — being from Baltimore and going to Syracuse didn’t hurt that cause — Greene looked real ‘Melo-ish in the way he got buckets … Any hoops junkie is thankful just to get the summer league games we do get on TV and on the NBA.com live-stream, but that doesn’t mean the system can’t be improved. Jed proposed his idea for how to fix the summer leagues: creating a mini-season where teams in the same region play each other in their own cities. Check it out and tell us what you think HERE … Also, props to reader “daquest?on” for keeping us updated on the Olympic qualifying tournament in Athens, which got underway yesterday and included Team USA nemesis Greece destroying Lebanon by FIFTY-SEVEN points, Slovenia’s Rasho Nesterovic beasting Korea for 26 points and 9 boards, and a blast from the past as Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje had eight points and 10 boards off the bench in Cameroon’s loss to Croatia … How much is James Posey loving life right now? He just won his second NBA title, he’s the most coveted unrestricted free agent on the market, and he’s got a handful of championship-contending teams willing to pay him a lot of money. Posey seems to be taking his sweet time deciding where he’ll sign, but we don’t blame him: He’s a lifetime role player who hasn’t been in position to call the shots like this before while getting star treatment. And because he has a good reputation and he’s a winner, Posey won’t pull a Bonzi Wells and end up playing for (relative) chump change after turning down a big offer … Although Dwyane Wade has seemed pretty confident in interviews that he’ll be playing with Shawn Marion next year, it’s no secret the Heat are still open to trade possibilities, and word is the Warriors are interested. Al Harrington would undoubtedly be involved in any deal for The Matrix, which would have to include other pieces from Golden State’s side to make the salaries work. Just like Josh Smith, Marion would be good power forward in Nellie’s system. If Andris Biedrins ended up going to Miami in a package for Marion (a definite possibility, although Monta Ellis‘ name has also popped up), Marion could play the four while maybe Brandan Wright started at center for GS … We caught a “Pros vs. Joes” rerun yesterday, and who did we see out there but Tom Chambers. Looking to be in reasonably good shape compared to some of the guys we’ve seen on that show (Will Clark has been logging major kitchen time), Chambers took part in a bastardized version of H-O-R-S-E and showed he’s still got a wet jumper … We’re out like Tractor running …
Related posts:
July 15th, 2008 at 5:01 am
Sam says:
1st
July 15th, 2008 at 5:03 am
JM says:
1st
July 15th, 2008 at 5:13 am
w says:
I caught that tractor traylor move… 2 things went through my head:
1) Wow he can actually get up pretty high for being that big…
2) He has to come down, gallinari better move…
July 15th, 2008 at 5:18 am
Big Daddy says:
If Shawn Marion wasn’t such a tool with wanting all that cash and attention, he would probably be a good long term piece next to Wade and Beasley… He has a very expensive ego!
July 15th, 2008 at 5:20 am
Big Daddy says:
Is James Posey going to be the next Robery Horry??
July 15th, 2008 at 5:33 am
the real marcus says:
well… posey rhymes with horry… kinda…
…and if marion doesn’t hook up long term with b-eazy and wade, it’d just solidify his status as a big ego me-me-me player… it’s the freakin’ east, goodness, and he’s got a chance to be a part of something special…
we’re out like cup sizes for tractor traylor…
July 15th, 2008 at 5:35 am
Ace says:
Forget the the Warriors Marion. Come to the Lakers. We will give up Odom and Walton for you
July 15th, 2008 at 5:56 am
the_don_mega says:
“Seriously, Tractor (8 pts, 3 rebs) had man-boob coming out of the side of his jersey…”
aww man… that’s just wrong!
July 15th, 2008 at 6:44 am
s says:
Marion couldnt handle receiving the ball from a damn good PG, whos also a nice guy.
Can you imagine him on the receiving end of a Kobe death stare? I think he’d cry and leave the arena. Dude seems pretty fragile….
July 15th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Ashlov says:
Tractor Traylor’s bitch tits could set screens for him. And I’d definitely do Harrington/Biedrins for Marion. I keep hearing Artest’s name in the mix for Marion, but the hell if want that moron (albeit talented moron) near a star rookie and a rookie coach.
July 15th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Dave says:
1st
July 15th, 2008 at 8:18 am
Ashlov says:
Dave, you’re doing it wrong.
July 15th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Kobeef says:
Kevin Love “torching” the Mavs?
Not quite.
There were a bunch of fouls and turnovers in there and Love got most of his points when it didn’t matter. Also, Sow and Singleton are far from solid NBA players.
July 15th, 2008 at 9:02 am
ERIC says:
Despite looking like a lost little boy for the first 2 and a half quarters, Gallinari played very well at the end of the 3rd and 4th quarters. Jumper, handle, passes, tipdunk. He’s also closer to 6′10″. As a Knicks fan who absolutely hated the pick, I now see his potential. The question is whether it was worth passing on some other talented college prospects.
Wilson Chandler looked great.
JJ Hickson was tearing ish up, trying to dunk everything in sight and had some good up-and-under post moves.
OJ Mayo hit a 70 footer - wet
July 15th, 2008 at 9:29 am
yallallreadyknow says:
yall wanna see portland next year? they still aint gonna make the playoffs and i actually see portland winning LESS games next year.
what exactly is the problem with shawn marion? why is he bitching? had what every player needed (highest paid on the team, took the most shots, played the most minutes, played games on ntl tv every week, on a contender and didnt get blamed for losses) and yet he still bitched. i dont get it. ….and now he’s looking for an extension to pay hiim more than $17 million per year? i dont think so shawn….
al harrington and andris biedrins are the warriors only size. if they move either of those two, who will rebound for that team?
July 15th, 2008 at 9:44 am
shake&bake says:
Wilson Chandler was considered a questionable 1st round pick last year so it’s nice to see him doing well (DePaul!).
Lebron is praying JJ Hickson can keep this up.
July 15th, 2008 at 9:48 am
LakeShow84 says:
I think if the lakers copped Ron Artest we would be a down and dirty, gritty team.. Kobe and RonRon on the perimeter?? i dont think there will be much scoring BUT if we traded for Shawn Marion we would be one of the most exciting teams to watch in the league.. anybody who get Shawn is going to run.. thats what he does best.. but he wont go to Golden State because they would have to get rid of one of their bigs and Shawn would def opt out of the Bay.. I dont think Golden State can afford to go any smaller in the west..
And Brandon Wright playing center?? Hes long and tall but it would eye candy to watch him get MURDERED by the West’s bigs.. I mean just imagine him and Carlos Boozer going at it.. OUCH..
July 15th, 2008 at 9:49 am
LakeShow84 says:
Portland wont make the playoffs but they will play spoiler.. And im aiming them at Denver..
July 15th, 2008 at 9:50 am
yallallreadyknow says:
Attn Danny Ferry,
here is what/whom lebron needs on cleveland (role plyrs):
luke ridnour
kyle lowry or javaris crittenton
hakim warrick
troy murphy
loren woods
jackie butler
July 15th, 2008 at 9:56 am
fiyaman says:
Marion for Beidrins? that would be an awesome trade for Miami.. Biedrins is underrated.. i keep telling cats once he gets a gd coach that knows how to run an offenses and not have cats just run up and down the court he will be a force..
Marion for Ellis? if GS does this it confirms they have no clue on what to do and need to fire their whole staff.. They would be the new clippers
July 15th, 2008 at 10:04 am
McLovin says:
why doesnt Cleveland try to land Hinrich?
July 15th, 2008 at 10:08 am
fiyaman says:
yea hinrich for Ben Wallace.. lmao
July 15th, 2008 at 10:08 am
fatty fat fatty fat fatty fucking fatty fuck says:
THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MAN BOOBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
July 15th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Logan Light says:
Tractor? Seriously? At what point do you look at yourself in the mirror, man boobs and all, and say, “Yeah, I’ll give it one more go.” That’s rough.
Marion is a spoiled punk. I hate that he blew up the Suns with his demands… I was really trying my best to like him. I wanted to be understanding. He really wasn’t getting the love he deserved his first several seasons. But this is stupid. HASN’T WATCHING BOSTON TAUGHT THESE ‘STARS’ ANYTHING??
James Posey is the luckiest man alive.
LL
July 15th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Michorizo says:
How about Marion for Homeless J? Straight across the salaries may not match up, but NBA GM’s can get creative in devising a plan to pull this off …
July 15th, 2008 at 10:36 am
shake&bake says:
Lol @ post 22. You couldn’t pay the Bulls enough to take back Big Ben. There would be a riot in this town. I guess we’d rather be young and bad than old and overpaid and bad. Which kinda makes sense. Please save the Bulls D-Rose.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Hugo says:
Portland will not make the playoffs? No way … if they are not injured they can be a top 5 seed.
Bayless, Roy, Outlaw, Aldridge and Oden? With Webster, Rodrigues, Frye, Diogu, Batum and all those guys on the bench … Come on … And we better hope they make the playoffs, if they have another lottery pick next year they will win something like 10 rings on a row.
Marion is a great player, but is such a looser, going from top of the west to bottom of east, and as soon as miami is looking like a good team again he wants to leave so he can make more money and be the man on a bad team. I don’t think he will want to go to the lakers, he’ll have, Kobe, Gasol and Bynum in front of him as main players. He don’t wanted to be the third on the suns, why on the lakers?
Hey, no comment about my mavs, my boy Shan Foster … Come on, give him some love, not just for Love …
July 15th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Kobeef says:
Golden State seems like they are in complete panic mode with no idea where they should go from here.
The Maggette and Turiaf signings were confusing enough since they are essentially a rebuilding team and trading away young players (Biendris, Ellis) for Marion seems counterproductive. ACCEPT IT - you lost Boom Dizzle and will be a lottery team. Overpaying bench players is not a comeback.
July 15th, 2008 at 10:57 am
tres_equis says:
Hey, y’all wanna something really cool? I’m from the Philippines and this happened in the local professional league a couple of days back. This incident’s centerpiece is a dude named Terrence Leather who entered the 2005 Draft and didn’t get drafted. Anyway, this might not equal the Malice at the Palace, but this has shades of Artest vs. Wallace..btw, the dude in white (#18) is a former MVP and one of the best players in the country. It’s sad to see that he did this.
This is not spam. Just sharing some funny stuff on the court.
Here’s the link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=KqPj5XHZALg
Enjoy!
July 15th, 2008 at 11:08 am
OKC Hicks says:
I’ve always said the reason Donte Greene was less than impressive at Syracuse was because he, like many others, had to conform to a college system where they don’t promote a single player, rather the whole team. Unless your Beasley or something haha. But the guy is huge, versatile, and he can stroke it, so I think he will be a nice addition to the Rockets in the NBA.
July 15th, 2008 at 11:36 am
B-DID says:
WARRIORS NOT LOOKING THAT BAD BRO! NOT IN CLIPPER CATEGORY YET!
1. MONTA– QUICK AS CAN BE WILL TORCH OPPOSING PG
2. MAGGETTE– SMOKE OPPOSING 2 GUARDS–EXCEPT KOBE
3. BLACK JACK– TOUGH D HITS SHOTS NOT BAD AT THE 3
4. TURIAF– HUSTLE WITH CAPITAL H WILL FLOURISH IN THE RUN AND GUN TIP BACKS DUNKS
5. BIEDRINS– WHAT IS HE LIKE 22 NOW FINALLY GETTING STRONGER UNDERRATED BIG MAN WILL HAVE A BREAK OUT YEAR
BENCH IS TIGHT NEW ROOK PLUS HARRINGTON AND WRIGHT
WARRIORS BASKETBALL ITS A GREAT TIME OUT
July 15th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Austin Burton says:
Harrington doesn’t rebound anyway, and Marion gives you 10 boards a night. The problem is potentially giving up Biedrins, which leaves you too thin (literally) at center with Wright. Maybe you could play Turiaf at center. The main thing is that you don’t wanna give up Monta, so if those are your only two options to include in a trade for Marion, I’d give up Biedrins and maybe try to sign another inexpensive center for insurance. (Kwame?)
July 15th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
daquest?on says:
On the International games, Slovenia beat Canada 86 to 70 Rasho Nesterovic was good for 14 points 9 rebounds and 4 blocks. His points were not as much as yesterday’s game but he was still a beast. On the other side the Dalembeast looked more like the Dalempet. He put up only 4 points and 2 rebounds.
July 15th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
daquest?on says:
Germany just destroyed Cape Verde. Dirk had 16 points and 5 rebounds and Kaman had a nice debut with the team, he made 10 points grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked 2 shots….. im still waiting 4 the PR VS Cameroon game, so when its finished ill let u guys know
July 15th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
fiyaman says:
like i said if u trade Marion for Beidrins ur basically giving miami a ring.. (its not a bad trade ..just saying ..
Chalmers
Wade
Beasley
Haslem
Beidrins
= Finals in ayr 2 the most
July 15th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Logan Light says:
AB - did you really just throw out Kwame as an option for Golden State? How in the world would “Stone Hands Brown” be able to opperate on the fast break. You can see the passes bouncing off of his head already!
PLUS - if Nellie benched Boom Dizz for an entire half cause of bad shooting, Kwame would be getting water and towels for the rest of his career.
LL
July 15th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Austin Burton says:
Kwame’s tall and reasonably athletic and cheap. Biedrins eventually developed into a good center for Golden State’s system and he’s not an offensive genius.
July 15th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
daquest?on says:
quick note on the international game, they call every single foul
July 15th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Bruce says:
BIEDRINS — To beat the Warriors, foul this guy. Shaq free throw percentage is higher.
Just like the Spurs did, they fouled Shaq. slowed down the tempo and won the game/series.
Sign Kwame and teams will do the same thing, both centers can’t make free throws.
And if got a lot of problems if Shaq free throw percentage is higher than yours.
July 15th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
SAS Sizzle says:
Yeah Biedrins has about the ugliest FT’s in the league next to Ben Wallace and Shaq. Then again dude is like 22 and pretty damn athletic, they should keep him and Ellis f’sho. Marion should wanna stick with Miami, I mean he can get attention from them South Beach women, play with D-Wade and crew, why not?
July 15th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
isotope says:
Loved Donte Greene last night but whats up with Rockets and players that dont like to dunk? The only one that does is Carl Landry and he’s about to walk. sigh.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
Homeless J says:
@ Michorizo - I informed my agent that I will not sign a contract extension if I am traded to Miami. my blood is too thick for such high-temperate locales. I mean it’s only been getting to about 100 here and that alone makes me do things like sit in front of a fan and make a lot of comments and observations on summer league games for my dime brethren until it cools down outside and Yogee’s bar starts serving $2 drinks from the well. (which is exactly where I went after the end of the last game I watched.)
@ dime - thanks for the mention. About my name, I havent actually been homeless in years, but this is the kind of name that sticks to you. it’s kind of catchy and rolls off the tongue. I’m 21 now and when I was 15 I made an insane decision to drop out of high school and run away to california to be involved in music somehow (kind of like the small town kid who moves to hollywood to be an actor, except I went to the bay area because I knew some people there). long story short I bounced around for almost a year between Antioch, Pittsburg, Daly City and south san francisco and didn’t do much of anything of note. I was basically a street promoter passing out flyers and putting up posters for other people and writing some music reviews for Xplosive magazine that never ended up getting published. never got to make any music myself or anything like that. got to meet some dudes that I thought were cool growing up but that most people who read dime probably don’t know about. In the end I was way too young to be trying to live on my own in a rough place so I found a way to come back up here. So I’m not homeless anymore but I feel like I earned the nickname regardless.
July 15th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Austin Burton says:
You earned it.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
daquest?on says:
Puerto Rico beat Cameroon. PR almost blew a 21 point lead that they had in the 3rd Quarter. Arroyo had 16 points, jj barea had 13 points, and ricky sanchez (whos rights currently are being held by the sixers) had 17 points
July 15th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
daquest?on says:
oh i hadnt read well, thanx 4 the mention
July 15th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Shep says:
“Kevin Love “torching” the Mavs?
Not quite.”
I agree. What’s up with the ridiculous bias in favor of “K-Love” on this site? For all the good that he’s going to do for the Wolves, his gloss might as well be “K-Fed”.
Wait until the regular season comes and this fat, sloppy loser is riding the pine because he keeps getting torched on defense. Has McHale made one good move as GM yet?
July 15th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
that's whats up says:
he got rid of Marbury
July 15th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
shin says:
Isn’t it time for a new closing? The “we’re out like….” phrase is getting old
July 16th, 2008 at 12:28 am
OKC Hicks says:
How the hell did the Clips pull off getting Marcus Camby from Denver for only a 2nd Rounder? And I thought the Kwame Brown-Pau Gasol deal was a theft…
July 16th, 2008 at 12:41 am
bill says:
MASSIVE vote to get Homeless J on the dime payroll somehow. GREAT writeups!
Thanks
July 17th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Imperial-Mel says:
lmao @ 48
…were out like James Posey