Stephen Jackson, Dime #15Before we found out that Monta Ellis will miss the next three or four months with what must be one of those Emeka Okafor/Grant Hill-level ankle injuries, we would have pegged Denver or maybe Indiana as having had the worst offseason of any team in the NBA. Now it’s definitely the Warriors. First they lose Baron Davis, swing and miss on Elton Brand (not to mention Gilbert Arenas), then overpay for Corey Maggette just to save face. Then Maggette’s deal, along with the big-money signings of Andris Biedrins and Monta, created a situation where Stephen Jackson might be disgruntled. And now their franchise cornerstone is gone for a large chunk of the season … While Monta is out, this is Marcus Williams‘ chance to prove he was worth that first-round pick in ‘06. He’ll have plenty opportunities to score and put up big assist numbers, given the system and the scorers around him (S-Jack, Maggette, Al Harrington, etc.), but the key will be maintaining the breakneck pace Nellie had envisioned with Monta running the point — Williams did QB an up-tempo UConn squad featuring Rudy Gay and Josh Boone — and playing decent enough defense to at least hold the opposition under 120 a game … If Williams kills at the point while Monta is gone, should Nellie consider keeping him there, starting Monta at his natural two-guard spot, and platooning Maggette and S-Jack at the three? The only problem there is that something tells us Jackson won’t take too kindly to coming off the bench … The Warriors were rumored to be interested in Shaun Livingston before Monta got hurt, but now he’s obviously in a better position to get signed. Talent-wise, Livingston is better and has more potential than Williams, but who knows where he’ll be health-wise when the season starts. They could take a chance on him as Williams’ backup, try out someone like Chris Quinn, or go with an older vet like Damon Stoudamire or Darrell Armstrong. And why can’t Randy Livingston ever get a fair shot to make an opening day roster? He always ends up with a 10-day contract or two during the season, and he obviously knows how to run an offense; he might not be the best fit for Golden State considering his age and wear-and-tear (which would also eliminate Stoudamire and Armstrong, actually), but some team out there could use him … About those Pacers, we have to give Jeff Foster credit for honesty. In an interview with the Indianapolis Star, Foster (preparing to fight off Roy Hibbert and Rasho Nesterovic in camp for his job) said, “Obviously things haven’t gone the way many people expected since the brawl and Reggie (Miller) retired. You would see that by how we played and the lack of support we got from fans.” About the Jermaine O’Neal situation, he added, “It was tough because Jermaine really didn’t want to be here the last couple of years. It was tough to become a team when your best player did not want to be on the team.” Agreed. Just ask the Raptors about the last days of the Vince Carter era … Round Two of our “Best Shooters in the Last 20 Years” tourney featured, among other matchups, Mark Price going against Glen Rice, and Ray Allen against Peja. Should Bruce Bowen have made the cut for the original 16-man field? One of our guys thinks Bowen got snubbed, falling victim to the standard Spurs-hate … Did you know Sam Dalembert’s new house in Boca Raton is almost 8,500 square feet and has six bathrooms? Imagine what kind of crib he could afford if he played both ends of the floor? … With the news that Stephon Marbury is spending Diddy dollars on private jets, it gave us another idea for an NBA-themed reality show: “I Want To Work For Starbury.” … Wayman Tisdale, who was a BEAST at Oklahoma (25 and 10 per game, first team All-American three years in a row, including his freshman year) and a solid power forward in the NBA for a dozen years, underwent surgery to amputate part of his right leg due to bone cancer. Tisdale, as you know, is a successful jazz musician who said he’s going to keep recording and touring. Our best wishes go out to him and his family … NBA TV replayed Game 1 of the ‘92 Finals, Bulls vs. Blazers (Sega Genesis flashback). This was the game where Michael Jordan hit six threes in a row, gave The Shrug, and basically ended any doubts of whether or not he could shoot beyond the arc. You might have forgot, but MJ missed his first two threes that day before running off six in a row, and ended the first half with a Finals-record 35 points … The Bulls attacked in waves; Portland had an early lead and played Chicago even a lot of the time, but were buried by a handful of heart-crushing runs, all sparked by Jordan. And when he got going, everyone from Scott Williams to Scottie Pippen played better. And at the same time, the Blazers would totally fall apart in these stretches, committing silly turnovers, traveling, getting called for charges and hanging their heads while coach Rick Adelman looked like a parent who lost track of his kid at the county fair. (Side note: Later during the day they replayed a game from 2003 where Adelman was coaching the Kings against the Blazers, and he had the same exact look on his face when things weren’t going his way.) … If there was one blight on that game for Chicago, it was B.J. Armstrong. Multiple times while MJ was white-hot, B.J. would come down on a self-made fast break and jack a long two-pointer that missed. We’re not trying to make another Jordan/Kobe comparison, but it’s similar to what you often see Derek Fisher doing when Kobe is cookin’. It’s like they’re trying to siphon the superstar’s heat … We almost forgot that when he got a head of steam, Clyde Drexler was as unstoppable going to the basket as Jordan, LeBron, Dr. J or anyone else you can come up with. He looked rattled yesterday when Mike was eviscerating him, Jerome Kersey and everyone else Portland tried that day, but when Glide had the ball he was The Man … Coincidentally or not, Kevin Duckworth was Portland’s center for that ‘92 game. On the first possession the Blazers were set on feeding the ball into him, and Duck converted an and-one against Bill Cartwright … Ahmad Rashad was rocking a straight box-style high top fade from the Kadeem Hardison Guide to Style, and before the game talked about how “we” (him and MJ) lifted weights together that morning. That’s one think Kobe doesn’t have that Mike always did; a card-carrying posse member in the media. Jim Grey, Ric Bucher and Stephen A have tried to be that guy, but Kobe doesn’t seem to want to let them in … We’re out like B.J.’s judgment …
Related posts:
August 28th, 2008 at 5:46 am
K-Pax says:
FIRST.
August 28th, 2008 at 5:54 am
solomon says:
BJ is one of those 90’s “shooting guard in a point guard’s body”…
again, we’re out like duck… RIP gentle giant…
August 28th, 2008 at 6:14 am
YOUNGFED says:
Kinda dry today Dime
August 28th, 2008 at 6:30 am
Luigi says:
man Monta is out?. im a lil late on that. but damn. the warriors SHOULD do bad this year. i cant only imagine who are they gonna draft..
n i remember when the Indiana Pacers were picked to win or make the NBA Finals…n remember that was only 4-5 yrs ago.
n Samuel..how can u afford that?….
August 28th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Camp Lo says:
Western Conference Play-Off Teams:
(Spurs, Hornets, Lakers, Suns, Mavs, Jazz, Rockets)
Who gets the last spot?
1. Blazers
2. Nuggets
3. Warriors
4. Clippers
August 28th, 2008 at 6:58 am
shake&bake says:
Lol @ the Sega flashback.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:00 am
Damon says:
yeah, i remember when they got artest back, everybody picked them for the finals. that was only back in ‘05. damn
August 28th, 2008 at 7:05 am
Alf (from Melmak) says:
yup. its definitely dry today.
dime, if you are going to talk about the warriors at length, why not bring back some tidbits from the run tmc days. man, those were really fun times for basketball even for me who was a celtics fan back in those days.
but since the stockton-to-malone days, i have been a big jazz fan. now everyone knows where my bias may tend to lead (at times).
August 28th, 2008 at 7:06 am
sans says:
Blazers.
Fed read the date above your name…late August ain’t that hot for ball. Without the Duck and Monta stories we’d be talking about changing sock brands or some nonsense about Baron Davis liking to pick his nose in public. Yet we still get no love for the WNBA, if theyre even playing right now. I don’t even know if they’re playing after the Olympics. Best femnazi quote of the week: “I support women’s basketball, but I don’t watch it. It sucks.”
To all the ladies…that means you don’t support women’s ball. Buy some tickets, jerseys, and hope for women’s professional athletics in this country.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Coop says:
The Warriors deserve everything they get. Stop signing wings you idiots! And get rid of that flaky chimp you call a coach.
I hope they take a stab at the lottery and leave Jax on the bench. “oh Mr Jackson, regarding your contract extention, well you didnt play in 30 games this season so you won’t be getting one” hahaha.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Kermit the Washington says:
@ Solomon:
“We’re out like Duck”? C’mon man….
August 28th, 2008 at 7:45 am
rangerjohn (mccain in '08) says:
just a question, and a little off basketball (although not completely)
will the people of new orleans heed the warnings this time and get the hell out of town before the hurricane hits them again? and when this one destroys the currently “rebuilding” city, and with OKC already having a team, where will the hornets go play?
its about to happen again and the city isnt ready.
thoughts?
August 28th, 2008 at 7:47 am
BALLZ says:
That sucks about Wayman Tisdale…like when yall said part of his leg, I’m assuming you meant the part with his foot? Damn.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Coop says:
Range,
Seattle should take the Hornets. I’d love that!
August 28th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Kermit the Washington says:
Anyone else think the Suns could easily lose that 8th playoff spot this year?
August 28th, 2008 at 8:07 am
YOUNGFED says:
@Sans
Not true I think Dime has been doing a wonderful job with their off-season writting. Today was just Dry pimpin’.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:42 am
that's whats up says:
rangerjohn, the “I LOVE McCAIN, HOW CAN I HELP SAVE THE WORLD” forum is on another page - this is hoops.
You wanna talk New Orleans, put CP3 in the mix or we just tuning you out.
…and the Suns are going to seriously slip this year, unles Shaq plays 8-10 minutes a game only.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Big Freeze says:
Damn, dimemag is desperate for writing material these days. They spent most of today’s smack analyzing game one of the 92 finals. wow.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:22 am
rangerjohn (mccain in '08) says:
hmmm
“thats whats up”
i dont remember even hinting at “i want to help save the world”
to be totally honest, while i hope the storm doesnt do to much damage ANYWHERE, i would rather it hit NO more then houston (considering i live in houston) but then i also hope it doesnt hit NO either for houstons sake because we will end up having to bail people out again and we have had enough problems of our own here to have to deal with that again.
lets all agree that we all hope it doesnt do much to anyone.
as for CP3, fuck chris paul! everyone here knows how much i like that guy.
now back to the basketball and “where would the nba send the hornets when GUSTAV hits NO next tuesday? OKC is filled up, i dont see them going to seatle, hell seatle just lost a team, they cant get a new one so quick. maybe they will become the “little rock hornets”
August 28th, 2008 at 9:29 am
schoops says:
Monta Ellis good, but the dude is not amazing. If GS was looking at him to be their “franchise cornerstone” then they were fuc*ed already. Now they’re just in a bigger hole. Without a real center of point guard in the west they were already on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:34 am
MSkittle says:
Toni Kukoc used to “freeze out” Jordan a lot too.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:48 am
schoops says:
ranger… since you flaunt your politics, maybe the hurricane can somehow swing into Arizona and hit McCain’s house… but luckily he’ll have numerous other locations at which to seek shelter.
Also, CP is just plain nasty.
@ coop.. well said about golden state. They sign wings like atlanta.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Kermit the Washington says:
Ahmad Rashaad used to be all UP on Jordan’s jock back in the day…I was like 11, 12 years old and even I felt bad for dude
August 28th, 2008 at 10:08 am
rangerjohn (mccain in '08) says:
lmao schoops
now that was a good try right there
yeah he has a couple houses, but hell biden lives on a COMPOUND!
hell i have a couple houses myself lmao.
you know we could all go around and around (and have) with the propaganda about each others choices, but then i didnt mention a single word about politics today. i asked a simple question;
will the people of new orleans get the fuck out of hte way of this one? if gustav his NO what will happen to the nba team currently playing there? how about the nfl team? with the saints finally become the san antonio saints?
hell maybe CP3 will take all that money he just got and build a place for the team to play? maybe he will personally load bus’es with people and get them the hell out of NO BEFORE the storm? maybe he is already gone and is doing the smart thing by being gone.
i this, if the storm heads to houston, i am headed the fuck out of here with my family and we dont even have levees to hold out the lake.
August 28th, 2008 at 10:17 am
D.H. says:
Kobe’s got Cabbie . . . I kid, I kid
August 28th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Baller ryan says:
LOL at Bowen one of the greatest shooters! The man couldn’t even shoot straight his first couple years in the L. U can’t be considered a great shooter in my book if u can’t shoot with a hand in your face and your ONLY money shot is an uncontested three from the corner. LOL
August 28th, 2008 at 10:39 am
chrisGO says:
Ahmad Rashaad was on everyone’s jock back in the day….dude called everyone his “main man”. word to NBA Inside Stuff w/ Willow Bay.
August 28th, 2008 at 10:43 am
YOUNGFED says:
@Ranjer and Schoops
Mccain’s old a$$ don’t even know how many house’s he has, so I doubt his senial but would even be able to find any of them.
…I mean SERIOUSLY, who doesn’t know how many house they have. Dude ain’t no Donald Trump.
August 28th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Ian says:
baller ryan
i dont know if bowen can make the cut and i dont care but u cant measure a shooter by YOUR book
he has the threes made and he has the percentages for austin to make a case for bowen so i really dont know what u laughin about
August 28th, 2008 at 10:54 am
GEE...the twalet (toilet) is a wonderful and amazing thing! says:
Segggaaaa! What ya know about activision and calicovison! You really wanna go old, try the radio shack Tandy for games lol. Atari of course. I miss the good old days of just two buttons and a control pad lol. Joysticks now days are plum ridiculous lol. What they got like 8 to 10 buttons lol.
I don’t think Fisher does the let me shoot a two that misses thing when Kobe is hot. Felt like they was reaching for that one.
I think I like “Open Mike with Stephon” better for a reality show. Just give that nut a microphone and put him on the streets or in a studio and let him have at it.
Seems like all the this and that guy to an overseas team has finally died. Thankfully. Although Shaun might need to make that look provided he doesn’t get signed in the L.
Out like the good ol A and B button.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:06 am
rangerjohn (mccain in '08) says:
ohh youngfed
there you go with “mccain is old” i see in the months you still have nothing new lol.
hell hensley and co (cindy mccains beer company) makes about $340 mil a yr, compaired to trumps $34 mil a yr. and technically the houses are in cindy mccains name not john mccains name.
now back to the topic, i see nobody is worried about the hurricane, this is what happened during katrina, nobody was worried till after it hit.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:07 am
rangerjohn (mccain in '08) says:
oh and gee
atari was the shiiittttt
nothing better then PONG and TANKS! lmao good stuff
August 28th, 2008 at 11:16 am
YOUNGFED says:
Hey yall check out Team USA posing with Bush after their victory. D-Will is looking like Fuq This Ish. LMAO
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0808/did.you.see.that/content.9.html
August 28th, 2008 at 11:16 am
K Dizzle says:
“With the news that Stephon Marbury is spending Diddy dollars on private jets, it gave us another idea for an NBA-themed reality show: “I Want To Work For Starbury”
In keepin with the marbury and diddy theme, the show steph needs to get on is - Makin the Team lmao
I got no prob with Fish gettin his even when Kobe’s on fire cuz dude can shoot and got good percentages. If it’s a close game, Fish knows who to get the rock to in the crunch; this ain’t a Mo and Mike Redd situation
shaun might get a look from the warriors but you know it’s only minutes b4 we’re gettin one of those “Warriors lookin at one of Memphis’ 4 point guards for Stephen Jackson” stories
I’m out like BBowen among the best 3 point shooters of all time
August 28th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
John says:
I have the 92 finals game 1 in DVD, and sometimes I watch just to remenber how good Jordan was … What about that sick sky high alley-oop in the 2 half ,,, damn
August 28th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
that's whats up says:
Dalembert’s six bathrooms - one for each foul he commits per game.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Cello says:
Does anyone know how much a player with 10 years exp. gets for retirement? Have a bet going?
August 28th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
weezy f says:
mccain is a wasted vote…hes gonna end up dead within a year of getting into office
August 28th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Three Stacks says:
rangerjohn, you’re actually gonna try and blame the people of New Orleans for what happened during Katrina? You make it sound like the government flew over on a helicopter yelling out, “Your homes are going to be destroyed!” when that’s like the exact opposite of what actually happened.
And even if they did heed the “warnings,” how the hell were they supposed to evacuate an entire city without the governments help?
August 28th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
RENO SKEET says:
CHURCH
August 28th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
rangerjohn (mccain in '08) says:
well lets see THREE STACKS
yes i blame the people who didnt listen to the warnings, they where given 3-4 days of warning (much like this one) and there where actually BUSES SENT TO PICK THE PEOPLE UP BEFORE THE STORM, i remember watching the greyhounds driving right out of houston BEFORE the storm. while i say no not everyone could get out, the majority of the people left there where nont “left” but just stayed.
so 3 stacks your telling me it is the govts job to fly over and tell everyone the storm is coming? as if the local weather, the weather channel, local and national radio all didnt have it blaring day in and day out, not to mention local and national news papers? i mean damn i can understand say something like 1/4 of the population didnt have a tv (not even that large a number) but then of those 1/4 didnt have a radio either? and then 1/4 didnt have a friend with a tv or radio?
every single person in NO knew there was a damn bad ass storm coming right at them, and even if they didnt know before from one of those sources, they didnt notice the large numbers of people leaving? did they think that 1/2 of hte city was going to fucking disneyland?
now then there where those who “could not get out” because the govt didnt help them. sure i can agree with that, oh wait there are those pesky greyhounds again. houston got hit by rita just a few months later, and the govt didnt help us get out, we all got out on our own and houston is about 6-7 times larger and more congested then NO.
there should have been 1/4 of the people left over there of what was actually there.
now again i ask what happens when gustov hits them next tuesday? it is thursday now, and we all know about it and we are all a big group of people from all over the country. are they going to “wait this one out” like last time? i say this, if NO gets hit again and it turns into another katrina situation, i hope the govt doesnt help one bit. now i know i am an asshole for saying that but shit the entire world has known this storm is going to hit that area (or somewhere close) since yesterday at least, a full 7 days before the projected landing day. GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE or dont come crying to the rest of us on this one.
August 28th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
GEE...the twalet (toilet) is a wonderful and amazing thing! says:
dang ranger what happened dawg? You used to be like real mellow with it, and now you are just wild. It’s like ever since folks started arguing Obama vs. McCain wit you, you been going hard.
I see what you saying, but for real I think you being somewhat unsensitive (and I know it’s in). Granted most people have warnings ahead of times with storms, but for many and I would say more than you know (especially lower economic parts) can’t just pack up and roll.
Some people think it will just blow over. I ain’t saying that is right. I just know there have been some storms where I been, and we get the warning to go in the basement or something and I just be like man whatever it aint even that bad.
Again if you have the means to leave safely you should, but some don’t and some hope that it will pass. Even now, based on the past sure many of them should be out, but again some don’t have a way and some are hoping it won’t happen. You can send them pesky greyhounds all day long, but they ain’t gone carry everyone and I even remember reports of people wanting to get on but they were so full that they were denied. Also everyone is not able to go to the greyhound locations to get on and some didn’t even know greyhounds were coming.-
Many cats were ill and senior citizens that could just get out and go all fast.
I ain’t saying you wrong pimpin just that perhaps you should be a lil more sensitive to many situations where you don’t even have a clue what was going on being that you, me and a whole lot people were not there.
If it happens again and people are there I hope the Gov. does help. It’s just one of those situations where you can’t really point out who was able to go and who was not, cause we don’t know people’s status.
Do you though, but you talking hard on a subject where it wasn’t as easy as many of us reckon.
August 28th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
GEE...the twalet (toilet) is a wonderful and amazing thing! says:
Correction
Many cats were ill and senior citizens that couldn’t just get out and go all fast.
August 28th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
rangerjohn (mccain in '08) says:
gee
of all the people here, you are one of the FEW that i truely have respect for, not that i have no respect for the others but you are one of the few i really respect. that being said, i dont fully agree.
while yes there where SOME people who could not get out, that does not even BEGIN to equal the rediculous numbers of people who where still there. that EXCUSE only goes so far. something like 1/3 of the population of the city stayed, so how many of those “cound not go anywhere”? i would say realisticly another 1/3 of those, so if the city had 1 million people that would equate to about 300k stuck, there is no way that 300,000 people COULD NOT get out. (these numbers are a bit inflated i am sure but they are more round to work with)
i agree there are some things none of us can know about, but then i do know a couple hundred thousand “refugees” showed up in my city both before and after.
as for the mccain vs obama talk, i never said a word about either of them today until others brought it on me. not like i popped in and started off with fuck obama even if i would like to tell that to his face.
all i did was come in and ask people what they though about if people would leave NO this time and if they get pounded where would the sports teams end up. so far i have only gotten one answer to either of those questions and that was someone saying “i wish they would come to seattle” which imo is not exactly likely.
that is what i love about this site, it is sooooo easy as a white person to get under the skin of all the “you are a racist” crowd. i also love this site because VERY FEW people will answer a question directly or even stay on topic (i tend to get off topic myself)
August 29th, 2008 at 4:44 am
nicky says:
@ranger
yo, like in a lot of places, in New Orleans there’s a lot of people who are just flat out poor. Even if you put them on a Greyhound for free, where they gonna do? It’s not like they can just shell out for a month-long stay at La Quinta, man. First, you call the people of New Orleans stupid for not leacing then you rag on ‘em for going to Houston. Where the fuck they supposed to go, Toronto? That’s messed up.
@Gee
I see you with Tandy joint, one of my earliest memories as a kid was when i spilt orange soda on the keyboard and that was basically it for the Tandy
oh yeah, lol at the D-Will with Bush pick…
August 29th, 2008 at 4:46 am
nicky says:
btw, on the hurricane tip, being from NC, im familiar with the typical “i ain’t afraid of no hurricane” type wackos who live out on the beach and dont evacuate, and im pretty sure the folks who might have stayed in NO were doing it out of spite or trying to be a badass or whatever
August 29th, 2008 at 4:47 am
nicky says:
werent doing it out of spite i meant
my bad
August 29th, 2008 at 10:19 am
rangerjohn (mccain in '08) says:
nicky,
i understand what you are saying, but there are 2 ways to look at it, 1st i can stay here where i am sure to get fucked by the storm and have a good chance to die, 2nd i can leave and go where ever it is the buses take me and i have a much lesser chance to die, either way i will be fucked. i would rather be fucked and alive then to die. i see poverty every day here in houston i drive through the wards damn near every day and i see the homeless on damn near every street corner (houston has some of the highest homeless populations in the country) while i dont live it and i pray i never have to, i see it on a dayly basis.
i have ever right to say “dont come here” just like everyone else. there is not a city in the world that would say “sure send all the homeless, jobless, and poor to us we will let them stay here and do as they please” now that being said, there is not a city in the world that would turn them away either. all i am saying is get out, go somewhere if it is houston so be it but i would say try somewhere else this time. hell maybe you would like the to come to NC with you?
August 29th, 2008 at 11:39 am
nicky says:
i hear you ranger, houston just makes the most sense since its the closest major urban center (if my geography serves me), which is about as far as you gonna get. other destinations closeby would prolly be likewise f’ed up by the hurricane, or i imagine.
in any case, nobody stuck around because they thought it would be fun to hang out with Granny and the kids at the Superdome all week.
lets just all pray on it and hope it works out.
August 29th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
rangerjohn (mccain in '08) says:
nicky
i agree people didnt stick around thinking it would be fun but i do think people stuck around saying “its not going to happen to me” or they just didnt give a damn.
we get hit all the time (so to speak) here in houston so i see this all the time here too. hell we got a cat 1 about 2 weeksago and there where soooo many people saying “im not leaving” and they didnt. they got lucky but they didnt leave.
August 30th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
VERTMAN says:
Randy Livingston is still hanging around?! DAM! Whatever happened to his former AMAZING teammate, Ronnie Henderson!? This guy was SO GOOD! 2x SEC player of the yr!!! Got drafted by the Bullits/Wizards & then I never heard another word about him!
I remember him torching KY big time! And not just once, but twice. HE WAS NASTY!