Monta Ellis might be in trouble, Manu Ginobili is out for a while, and D-Wade gets All-Star help
Dwyane Wade (photo. Mannion)More drama in the Bay. The Warriors apparently aren’t buying some (or any) of Monta Ellis‘ story regarding how he jacked up his ankle, so they’re sending their own people down to Monta’s hometown of Jackson, Miss., to investigate. Initial reports simply said Monta got hurt working out — and we know for a fact that the kid basically plays ball all day, every day, so that’s not a stretch — but some in the Warriors’ camp are obviously skeptical. If in fact Monta violated one of the “morality” clauses in his contract, i.e. he was injured riding a motorcycle or playing tackle football or getting a lap dance, the Warriors could fine him, suspend him or even terminate his $67 million contract … The Spurs are also peeved at their injured-ankle-having leading scorer, even though everyone knows how he got hurt and how he didn’t help matters over the summer. Manu Ginobili‘s impending surgery, which he said would put him out for 6-8 weeks, may actually be closer to a two or three-month deal. So it looks like Pop will have to save half of those “What the f*** is wrong with you?” glares — usually split evenly between Manu and Tony Parker — for George Hill and Fabricio Oberto … We said it when we first heard about the Heat interviewing Jamaal Magloire, and we’ll say it again now that Miami has officially signed the former All-Star (really, he was an All-Star): It’s not a good idea to bring a guy who’s aging in dog years to a city where everyone stays up partying until 4 a.m. If you’re Erik Spoelstra, having Mario Chalmers, D-Wade, Shawn Marion and Mike Beasley as fourth-fifths of your starting five, then having to put either Magloire or Mark Blount on the court with them, is like having your dream car with a brand-new paint job but your air-freshener smells like horse manure … Calvin Andrews, the agent who was most involved in the O.J. Mayo/USC scandal, has been suspended for one year by the NBA stemming from that situation. Andrews’ client list includes ‘Melo, Drew Gooden, Dorell Wright, Chuck Hayes, Francisco Elson, Marcus Williams (Warriors) and Juan Dixon. Not sure what the suspension means for those guys, but Andrews does work under the BDA umbrella, so it’s not like his players are out in the cold … The Dominican Republic national squad added Charlie Villanueva to a summer haul that already included Al Horford. We honestly can’t remember ever having seen them play before, but they should be part of next summer’s FIBA Americas World Championship qualifying field. Francisco Garcia, Felipe Lopez and ex-Mahattan star Luis Flores are the other NBA alumni (other than Horford’s dad Tito) born in the D.R. … We caught some of the Oregon/Washington college football game yesterday, where sophomore QB Justin Roper helped lead UO in a blowout. Roper was a pretty good basketball player and an eight-sport athlete at Buford High School (Ga.), who played for the Atlanta Celtics AAU a little bit after Dwight Howard and Josh Smith had come through the program. During the game they relayed a story about when Roper, at 6-foot-6, went head-to-head with Greg Oden during an AAU tourney and supposedly held G.O. to eight points. Of course there’s a very good chance Oden had 20-something rebounds that day while simply letting Spiece Indy Heat teammates Mike Conley, Eric Gordon and/or Daquan Cook handle the scoring, but it’s still something for Roper to brag about … We’re out like Golden State’s trust …
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August 31st, 2008 at 6:16 am
YOUNGFED says:
TOP 5 BALL HANDLER’S ALLTIME
1.) Tim Hardaway
2.) A.I.
3.) Zeke
4.) Kobe
5.) Magic
Just puttin’ that out there.
BTW good effort DIME but still dry. Hope Austin gets back soon cause yall ain’t cuttin’ it. HOLLA!!!
August 31st, 2008 at 6:18 am
Str8baller says:
first?
August 31st, 2008 at 6:21 am
Str8baller says:
guess not.
And Skip?
August 31st, 2008 at 6:39 am
Dave says:
That Miami squad is a Tyson Chandler/Sam Dalembert type center away from being a contender.
Pity they choose one of the most difficult positions to fill in the NBA.
August 31st, 2008 at 7:03 am
josh tha roc says:
heat shoulda got hadaddi….isnt the saying 3 chumps is better than 2?
August 31st, 2008 at 7:03 am
heartbreaker85 says:
how long before marion complains about being relegated to no. 2?
i say trade his ass and get TWO quality players (a center and a legit starting point guard)
August 31st, 2008 at 7:10 am
josh tha roc says:
rookie impact fantsy wise?
mayo….turn overs could hurt though
rose should be solid
interested in G.O value
the Beast will be real solid…but i usually let others get sucked in by rookie hype when it comes to draft time….
August 31st, 2008 at 7:18 am
josh tha roc says:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=41568673
for anyone who didnt catch Rudy’s dunk on Dwight
August 31st, 2008 at 7:44 am
the_don_mega says:
my take on your list FED…
TOP 5 BALL HANDLER’S ALLTIME
1.) Tim Hardaway
2.) A.I.
3.) Pistol Pete
4.) Nash
5.) Magic
August 31st, 2008 at 7:51 am
Coop says:
Er, you’re not going to get 2 quality players for Marion, and you sure as hell won’t get a quality centre for him. Reality check please!
August 31st, 2008 at 8:23 am
that dude says:
sweet, a line up of horford, villanueva and francisco garica will def challenge argentina and brazil for the 2nd spot of fiba american tour… mos def they will whoop puerto rico ass…lol
August 31st, 2008 at 8:25 am
Luigi says:
nawww matrix wont be enough for that. maybe just 2 starters or 1 starter n a 6th man or 2 role players. unless someone gets stupid and trades one of their centerpieces for him. but i doubt it.
Manu. good luck wit dat ankle. n i like the improvision of the Jamaal M. dudes only like what 29-30? but seems like 40. n Monta…man. ur one of my favs. if the warriors terminate ur contract. means ur a FA right?. then sign with Phoenix. man imagine that?
August 31st, 2008 at 8:28 am
Luigi says:
oh n my top 5 ball handlers
Tim.
Pistol.
Answer.
Magic.
Muggsy.
well muggsy is random i kno. but still i thought he had massive handles
August 31st, 2008 at 8:30 am
miamiVIS3 says:
ahhh Heat talk my favorite
Ok, I’ve said it before you dont have to be fantastic 1 trough 5 to be a good team and even though the Heat seem not to want to do this the can start Joel Anthony at center and look almost like Celtics light with Chalmers, D-Wade, Matrix, Beasley and Anthony, Matrix should stay quiet this year because next year if hr’s unhappy he can go somewhere else and be number 1.
@ heartbreaker
WTF Matrix was always Number 2 down here now he’s number 3.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:40 am
sans says:
mugsy carried the ball so much it was his signature move (y’all remember the little complete go under when in transition he used to pull).
1. Pistol
2. Tim
3. Skip
4. AI
5. Nash
Almost put Starbury on there to get people yelling. His handles got him a plane, though. I was thinking Sauce for a second, but thought better of it.
I always prefered 2nd year players for fantasy potential. Lamarcus helped for cheap, but I missed huge (minus the first two weeks) on Bargnani.
GO DUCKS!
August 31st, 2008 at 8:43 am
sans says:
Matrix would put Minnesota over the top. What are the odds that Miami matches what other teams throw at Shawn this summer, 150-1? 1000-1?
August 31st, 2008 at 9:14 am
the baconator says:
Top 5 Ballhandlers:
1. Pistol
2. Tim Hardaway
3. A.I.
4. Skip
5. God Shammgod
Can’t believe y’all forgot about Shammgod, haha
August 31st, 2008 at 9:28 am
rodnets says:
A bizarro ball handlers top 5
1 Sam Dalembert
2 Stromile Swift
3 Rasho Nesterovic
4 Dennis Rodman
5 Ervin Johnson (not magic of course)
August 31st, 2008 at 9:47 am
YOUNGFED says:
Skip didn’t make the list because like White Chocolate he switched his and one game up when he game to the NBA. To make this list you’ve gotta bring that And 1 game with. However Nash and Starbury would be 6 and 7 Mos Def.
August 31st, 2008 at 9:54 am
luke says:
haha the gms are on the prowl since radmanovics thing
August 31st, 2008 at 10:09 am
original2k9 says:
check this out y’all, possible okc thunder logo leak
http://nbaokc.blogspot.com/2008/08/huge-logo-leak.html
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
August 31st, 2008 at 10:12 am
miamiVIS3 says:
Does OKC want to be a WNBA team?
August 31st, 2008 at 10:22 am
JC says:
But no mention of Oregon’s smoking hot cheerleaders? I reeeeeally hope Monta was just playing pickup ball with his shoes untied or something, but I read that the deltoid ligament isn’t one that sustains damage easily.
DR just needs some depth. Right now if all those cats listed (including Tito lol) were on the squad they would hang with anybody in the first quarter.
I don’t think Jason Williams switched his game up when he got to the NBA. Sure, it lessened after his first few years and eventually disappeared, but his handle is still quite vicious. Surprised Mahmoud Abdoul Rauf (horrible spelling lol) didn’t make that list either.
August 31st, 2008 at 10:35 am
original2k9 says:
@miamiVIS3
I’m gon say it: worst logo in nba/aba history, i really hope this is an attempt to fool us or sumthin
August 31st, 2008 at 10:39 am
me says:
the worriers mgnt are seriouse. not trusting your player like that. i season will be dif. already and the magnt is guna make things worst by having bad relations with a best player on the team.
August 31st, 2008 at 10:49 am
BALLZ says:
top 5 ballhandlers:
1. Pistol
2. Pistol
3. Pistol
and so on
August 31st, 2008 at 11:18 am
Paufve says:
I live around the area where we had a CBA team named Thunder…I will never be able to take OKC seriously, and now with that logo……
August 31st, 2008 at 11:55 am
Ansonious says:
Matrix is sweet defensive minded, can shoot the 3(sometimes,) awesome on fast breaks, is more than able to pull down 10+ rebounds a night, but every year come playoffs he chokes and doesn’t do shit. Lets not forget his ability to go thru 20 boxes of tissues in one night with his complaining ass(mostly due to a severe case of sandy vagina.) Yet somehow I bet that if any teams are out there trying to snatch up matrix it would be the cavs, maybe golden state could throw s-jax and a draft pick, or try to persuade the bucks to deal Richard Jefferson. More than likely matrix won’t be going anywhere this year. I’m out like Manu Ginobili’s ankle peace!
August 31st, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Phileus says:
That can’t possibly be the logo!
Poor OKC fans! Maybe this is the part of a secret settlement of the owners with the city of Seattle. “Okay, we’re moving the team, but we promise to give it a horrible logo just so people in Seattle have something to laugh about.”
Haha! That would be, by far, the least impressive logo in all of American professional sports.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
original2k9 says:
if only they had took sum inspiration from the oklahoma state university logo… SMH@ their college team having a better logo than their PROFFESIONAL one
August 31st, 2008 at 12:13 pm
original2k9 says:
i meant “professional”
August 31st, 2008 at 12:14 pm
DC says:
Top 5 rappers of all time:
Dylon
Dylon
Dylon
Dylon
And Dylon
He spits hot fire.
August 31st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Coop says:
to ‘me’:
1) Speak English, son, not some abbreviated bullshit!
2) If you’d just invested 67million pounds in a guy, you’d be a bit pissed and do your due diligence if he fucked himself up in a non-team circumstance. You get 67million pounds handed to you, you’d damn well better know you cant be jumping around doing whatever you want whenever the wind blows. And I highly doubt they’d be suspicious for no good reason.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:10 pm
miamiVIS3 says:
@ original2k9
i think the should just steal thier name logo and jerseys from OK State
August 31st, 2008 at 1:11 pm
bigmayn says:
@ #18
I like where Rodnets was going with that.
TOP 5 BIZARRO FREE THROW SHOOTERS:
1. CHUCK HAYES
2. CHUCK HAYES
3. CHUCK HAYES
4. CHUCK HAYES
5. CHUCK HAYES
When I saw this guy airball a free throw on 1 and get a lane violation on the second, he is by far the worst to toe the stripe in the history of the L, both ABA and NBA. Double-clutch from the line with zero hang-time.
August 31st, 2008 at 1:22 pm
doc says:
1-AI 2-Zeke 3-CP3 4-Nash 5-Timmy 6-Kenny Anderson 7-Steph 8-KJ 9-Kidd 10-Rod Strickland
August 31st, 2008 at 2:08 pm
that's whats up says:
Oklahoma City Thunder? WNBA type logo?
That logo is garbage.
If they use that OKC logo they can truly call themselves the
OklaHomo’s
August 31st, 2008 at 2:08 pm
that's whats up says:
…and Terry Cummings had a pretty ugly jumper and free throw form
August 31st, 2008 at 2:15 pm
original2k9 says:
the generic “NBA OKC” logo that they are temporarily using is better than that BS they came up with
August 31st, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Joe says:
@post 32…that was some funny ish, now you just gotta choke out Wyclef
August 31st, 2008 at 3:56 pm
QueSt??? says:
@ dime.. there is a tournament going on right now called centrobasket thats is supposed to be for qualifiation t the 2009 fibas americas tournament. let me tell u DR sucks, they have francisco garcia, al horford, charlie villanueva,and franklyn western( i know him we used to play together in the bayamon cowboys) and they lost to the us. virgin islands and last night they lost to a puerto rican team with arroyo, barea and a lot of scrubs.
August 31st, 2008 at 4:08 pm
QueSt??? says:
maybe that leak will force the nba to change the logo.
August 31st, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Pots-n-pans says:
Top 5 handles:
1. Zeke
2. Kenny Anderson
3. Tim Hardaway
4. Shammgod
5. Will Bynum (wait till you see him dribble)
August 31st, 2008 at 6:31 pm
sans says:
Rip and I rime, rime and I rip, this is the way that Dy-lon spits…that ish is classic.
August 31st, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Homeless J says:
I bet Marcus Williams jacked up Monte with a tire iron so he could start in Golden State and Monte is too ashamed to admit it. would that be more humiliating than Vladimir busting his shit trying to be Shaun White?
Glad to see the Ducks game get a mention. What didn’t get mentioned was that Roper got taken out of the game right after he threw an interception and was taken out for the rest of the game due to what was described at halftime as “unclear reasons” but later on they said it was a concussion. In reality it was clear that Mike Belotti took him out so he could run more of a Dixon-esque run-pass game with their other two quarterbacks who outplayed him. Roper did throw one touchdown but it was mostly Scott who caught it at a weird angle and then spun around and ran it in for a touchdown. After rolling to an early start he could see that Roper was giving Washington a chance to come back, and he’s a coach that’s more comfortable with a quarterback who can also run, which Roper isn’t. You could tell from Belotti’s halftime interview that Roper wasn’t injured, I didn’t see him get hit very hard and at the most he would have a slight concussion. It seemed like it was more of an attempt to save face.
Personally I was impressed with Chris Harper, the freshman third string quarterback who played a good chunk of the second half. He can run like hell and his passes are accurate, he seems to have a good feel for the system (although it’s only the first game so we’ll see how it goes from here.) If Roper doesn’t get his shit together, I could see him losing his starting spot. Jeremiah Johnson is also filling in really nicely for Jonathan “I’m not the guy from Comedy Central” Stewart.
August 31st, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Stan says:
Have you seen Oden on the offensive end?
If the guy has the ball beyond 8 feet from the basket, he couldn’t hit the ocean if his life depended on it. He is strictly a dunking machine that is damaged goods after micro-fracture surgery at the age of 19. Its not hard to see Oden being held to eight points. Make him go left and its like he never played basketball in his life.
August 31st, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Austin Burton says:
@Homeless J — Jeremiah Johnson looked very good. My Dad (big UW fan) was wondering if he’d put something slick on his jersey (same for #32 on Oregon): that’s how bad UW’s tackling was. I thought Harper looked the best of the 3 QB’s, but Roper wasn’t bad.
September 1st, 2008 at 1:21 am
Ta!ented says:
lol damn i hate yall. i thought we pulled some blockbuster type sh*t. he aint no dammn allstar help