Star Treatment
Baron Davis (photo. Tim Tadder)Pretend you’re Mike Dunleavy Sr. Assuming you didn’t already pack up your things, head for LAX with a one-way ticket and put this whole Clippers debacle behind you, let’s say you stuck around for last night’s game against the Spurs. Your team has rallied from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit, and after Roger Mason broke a tie by nailing a three that your defense gave up way too easily with 8.4 seconds left, you’ve got a chance to force overtime. Do you run the play for Baron Davis, who’s gone 0-for-7 from three up to that point? Or do you get the ball to Cat Mobley (who’s been “wearing out” Mason according to one of L.A.’s announcers), Eric Gordon, Steve Novak or maybe even Ricky Davis? But Baron’s the one making the big bucks, so Dunleavy went with him, on a slow-developing play that almost resulted in a turnover when Baron handed off to Ricky at the top of the key, then ran the wheel before Ricky hit him coming off a curl on the wing. With no time to set his feet or anything, Baron tossed up a wild shot that hit all glass … Tim Duncan put up 20 points, 15 boards and six blocks, and Mason finished with 21. The Spurs are actually 4-1 since Tony Parker got hurt, but they still need him and Manu back ASAP. Yesterday we looked up one time and saw Blake Ahearn and Matt Bonner running a two-man game … Baron ended up with 11 points (5-for-17 FG’s) and eight assists, while Mobley scored 18, including 11 straight at one point in the third quarter when Mason was trapped in the dungeon … Are the Cavs the best team in the NBA right now? We think so. LeBron and Co. hold the #1 spot on this week’s Hit List power ranking. See where Kobe and KG and the rest rank RIGHT HERE … Before Suns/Jazz, Shaq found out he’d been fined $25,000 for his actions following the Rodney Stuckey mugging (yelling at the ref, not leaving the court in a timely matter), meaning he’s been docked a total of 60 G’s over the last few days when you include the fight with the Rockets. Yeah, Shaq is rich, but that’s not Monopoly money … The Big ATM didn’t have any incidents against the Jazz, but got himself in foul trouble and wasn’t much help as the Suns got DESTROYED on the glass, 47-26 while losing to a Utah team that didn’t have Deron Williams or Mehmet Okur. Carlos Boozer pulled down 15 boards to go with 21 points … C.J. Miles (21 pts) was giving Raja Bell the business, draining pull-up J’s and burning him in transition. About time that kid turned into a player. And good for the Jazz to get him at $3.7 million for the next 3-4 years instead of having to overpay him after a promising contract year … Between Yao and Robert Swift, we figured somebody would get hurt before Rockets/Thunder was done. And somehow we forgot about T-Mac. He did something to aggravate his left knee — the one he had surgery on this summer — in the third quarter and spent the rest of the night on the bench. Ron Artest also tweaked his ankle late in the fourth …
Yao Ming, Dime #15Yao, meanwhile, stayed upright and posted 19 points, 12 boards and three blocks, and along with Luis Scola (23 pts, 9 rebs) was able to dominate the Thunder’s undersized/undertalented front line … Houston got its first bucket on a simple floater by Rafer Alston, after which one of the OKC announcers said, “He can get into the paint and make those trick shots. You know he was a member of that AND 1 traveling team.” Yeah, Duke Tango goes batsh*t for those 8-foot floaters … Are the NBA TV studio heads on strict orders to not use the words “Seattle” or “Sonics”? During the Houston/OKC highlight on “NBA Gametime,” Andre Aldridge awkwardly said the Rockets had won eight straight against “The franchise known as the Thunder,” and when it sounded like he almost accidentally said “The Sonics,” he amended it to “The Sss — these guys.” … ESPN’s Brad Nessler may have sounded like he was hating on Tyreke Evans, but he was right when he said, “He’s gonna look like LeBron James tomorrow morning, but it really hasn’t been that good.” Tyreke scored 19 in Memphis’ blowout win over UMass, but most of it was on breakaway dunks off UMass turnovers; in the half-court sets he struggled with his shot and his shot selection. Kid looks like a superstar, though. He’s got the arms of a seven-footer and he’s built like a machine … Crazy how Coach Cal’s squad can fill up FedEx Forum for a midnight tip-off on a school night against an unranked opponent, yet the Grizzlies will draw 300 people for an after-work start against a playoff team … At halftime of the Memphis game they went over to UNC, where the studio crew — including Bob Knight — were seated in front of a bunch of painted-up Carolina fans. You would expect the kids to be screaming their heads off and mugging for the camera, but they were strangely silent. We can imagine a few minutes before going on-air, Knight let them know something to the effect of, “I’m not Lee Corso. Stand back there and shut the f*** up.” … Pour some out and execute a textbook drop-step for Pete Newell, one of the game’s all-time great coaches who passed yesterday at 93 years old. Newell is most known for his annual Big Man Camp, where he schooled everyone from Kareem to Shaq, but he’s also got an NCAA national championship and an Olympic gold medal to his name, plus a spot in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame … We’re out like Mac …
November 18th, 2008 at 3:34 am
BUDZ says:
perst!
November 18th, 2008 at 3:34 am
UKnow says:
did anyone really think the new-look Clippers with Baron and Camby would be this garbage?
November 18th, 2008 at 4:02 am
qUeSt??? says:
lmfao @ the bob knight joke he probably did say that and threw a couple of chairs too, to get his point across
November 18th, 2008 at 4:02 am
qUeSt??? says:
i guess nobody had a good answer for that allen iverson/detroit tee, or u guys just took it for urselves lol
November 18th, 2008 at 4:03 am
joaquin says:
T-Mac is hurt again…jeez
November 18th, 2008 at 4:07 am
AB_40 says:
rip pete newell
so tmac’s probably out untill feburary. battier needs to come back right now. that 2/3 combination will be feared battier and artest. Then yao can show the word IF he’s the best center in the nba today.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:44 am
rodnets says:
yao is a bust, Scola is way better…and have guts
November 18th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Stef says:
how bout Kirilenko’s monster-blocks on Shaq?
November 18th, 2008 at 4:52 am
oliver says:
cool guy,does he still hook up with those tall beauties on the tall dating site： Tallmingle.c o m ???The last time I saw his profile is last Monday, hope he does not leave.
November 18th, 2008 at 5:20 am
Markito says:
i still see yao as soft and injury prone, but he produces 20 and 10 when he’s healthy, don’t see that as a bust.
November 18th, 2008 at 5:48 am
knoc says:
yao aint a bust. hes just injury prone.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:51 am
YOUNGFED says:
T-Mac is a bust I’m so glad we got AI instead of T-Mac. BTW Shaq is gonna be broke in a minute.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:57 am
Atom says:
Shaq was getting blocked all over the place. The first one was pretty blatant goaltending, but on the second I thought Kirelenko was going to get his arm broken but instead he sent Shaqs ish out. Looks like he is thriving coming off the bench right now, I bet the Jazz are glad they didnt dump him last season.
November 18th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Amar says:
you guys forgot to mention paul millsap breaking his arm blocking a shaq two handed dunk attempt . . . or that andrei was eating everyone’s lunch.
November 18th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Hi, Jurg from Denmark says:
This is Jurg from randy Denmark.
Please dime put some video of your covergirl on this site. You are like gods in my country and for my friends Christian and Romeo who are in jail. They like to read dime and can now look at the photos and enjoy what they can’t see anymore for the jail. And I know they read and hi hi to you Christian and Romeo.
This is Jurgy, and you have got the 311 bitcheys.
November 18th, 2008 at 8:33 am
garbageman33 says:
“This is Jurgy, and you have got the 311 bitcheys” is the new “All your base are belong to us”.
November 18th, 2008 at 8:45 am
rangerjohn says:
t-mac is injured, artest is too, and yao “tweaked his foot” again, looks like the rockets will soon find out what the spurs have been going threw for the past week or so.
tracy is damaged goods, yao is too.
November 18th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Amar says:
tmac was damanged goods back when alvin williams dunked on him in a raptors practice.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:15 am
TWolves Convert says:
Nice work on the Smack today. The “Big ATM” and Bob Knight takes were great.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:16 am
GEE...mobile says:
houston up!
Come on Dime nothin really on Shaq gettin blocked. Its always highlighted when Yao gets it. Lol that aint right. Guess Shaq gettin all types of passes this year.
His name is either Paul George or Patrick George and he plays with some college. But dude had the dunk of last night clearly. WOOO so nasty.
AB how bout the Hoyas! New center looks straight and freshman point guard. G-Town might make some serious tourney noise.
Houston gone be alright. Akuna muth(-$= matata haters lol.
Young what you know about Ashton Roth. Dude is like that on the mic. Mix tape is just wild.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:25 am
JCARR says:
Haha what was Andre Aldridge thinking, too funny.
LMAO no bob knight joke.
Tmac = depressed
November 18th, 2008 at 9:27 am
JCARR says:
***LMAO ON bob knight joke and i think the CLIPS need to hire Avery Johnson “the little general” imagine with all those bigs and organized game play. Someone get him on the phone.
November 18th, 2008 at 10:15 am
chaos says:
great bob knight piece. no way I see him putting on a tarheel mascot head and going crazy with tar heel fans
November 18th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Brown says:
@Gee
You mean Asher Roth? Besides that one mixtape, I haven’t heard much from him. I know he’s working with a lot of legendary/dope producers though. I hope he puts out an album and doesn’t get lost in the shuffle like so many other young dudes who actually have talent.
November 18th, 2008 at 10:34 am
GEE... Well Sa da Tay! says:
Oops yea lol Asher Roth. Dude is sooooo ill. I think he will be coming out sooner than later and yea he hasssssss taaaalent. Dude is so nice!
CGF what you know bout dude?
November 18th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Sho-Nuff says:
I’m with Nessler, T. Evans looked bad yesterday. He jacked a 3 in transition that hit the other side of the backboard, got his shot blocked plenty of times trying to power up, looked kind of selfish with the ball. Really not like him.
T-Mac should get a skeleton transplant.
November 18th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
that's whats up says:
Spurs already got that 8 seed
November 18th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Austin Burton says:
@GEE — I only say the G’town box score, but I liked Greg Monroe’s line. This is supposed to be Dajuan Summers’ year, and I’ve been hyping him ever since I saw him in high school, but I wonder if he’ll deliver. He has the skill set to be the next Jeff Green, but he hasn’t really stepped up and shown the dog in him yet.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
GEE... Well Sa da Tay! says:
AB - Monroe did well. He seems to be more agile than Hibb. Then again my deceased granny probably more agile than Hibb at times. Still I think G-Town will be the squad no one wants to face come tourney time. I hope Dajuan comes through also. Big East is going to be ill.
Did you see the Patrick or Paul George dunk?
REEDIKULUS!
And what is the deal with the UNC dance they do before the game any info on that? It looks crazy.
November 18th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
sans says:
loving the pooty tang in your name gee….
Rangerjohn…you’re a hater, ridiculous, living under a cloud kind of guy–you’re Spurs are going through what the Rockets have gone through for 5 fuckin years.
And FED, Shaq hasn’t spent a dime of his NBA monies since he went to the Lake Show–not a dime. I think he’ll do alright. Shaq might just be the first player to be the first majority owner of a franchise with the bankroll he’s got.
November 18th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
GEE... Well Sa da Tay! says:
sans kappy ti on the wanny stee then. Someone recognized it lol. It’s funny how back then I thought that was pretty funny and now, it’s comical, but not hilarious. That dirty villian still cracks me up though.
November 18th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Austin Burton says:
Pootie Tang was the Black “Vanilla Sky” for me … after it was over, I just sat there like, “What the hell did I just watch?” I don’t like movies that confuse me.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
baron von faulk says:
TMAC INJURED HIS KNEE ON A HEAD FAKE !!! HAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA
November 18th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
baron von faulk says:
Urban dictionary word of the day
Negrocious = beyond blackness. (See photo of KG)
November 18th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
GEE... Well Sa da Tay! says:
LOL @ baron that is hilarious I really got to check that again. If it’s true that is even more messed up, but if you made that up that was a good one I never heard that.
AB LOL @ the “Black Vanilla Sky”
November 18th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
SpursFan says:
The spurs are 4-1 during Parker’s injury because of two reasons:
1) Great coaching and
2) A SUPER favorable schedule: Houston after the brawl and suspensions, New York who couldn’t adjust to a slowed down pace, a struggling Sacramento (without a bunch of key players), and the Clippers (who haven’t even won 2 games yet).
It sure ain’t because Parker’s replacements are better.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
baron von faulk says:
GEE, are you talking about Tracy injuring himself on a headfake?
(no bullshit, one of the announcers or highlight guys said that, not jokingly either, and I almost died…”Tracy McGrady just injured himself on a headfake”)
Or are you talking about the urban definition of the day? As in, “KG is also known as the most negrocious player in the NBA, he is beyond blackness”
both are pretty damn funny
November 18th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
baron von faulk says:
Also, I’m a panny tie on the runny kine
November 18th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
baron von faulk says:
Oops I mean Sine yo pitty on the runny kine