I’d say that of all the college basketball coaches out there, Jim Calhoun is right at the top of the most intimidating list. Calhoun, K-State’s Frank Martin, Bob Huggins and even Pat Knight are some that come to mind…

The Raptors are struggling. Once Jermaine O’Neal didn’t work out and they traded him for Shawn Marion, and before they shipped out Will Solomon and acquired Patrick O’Bryant, according to sources, they had conducted workouts in Toronto with Antoine Walker and Pops Mensah-Bonsu.

Really?!? You think ‘Toine is the answer to your problems? Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been a huge fan of Walker for years, but at this point in his career he should just hang ‘em up for good.

If you were the Raptors, would you sign ‘Toine?

Source: Toronto Star

Rule – unless there are extreme circumstances, if a player drops 50, he gets the night’s fantasy MVP. Congrats to D. Wade for being that dude. The big thing about Wade is that he’s hitting 3′s this season. The percentage might not be ideal for the Heat, but all most of us care about is 3′s made and Wade is hitting more than ever. That being said, lineup day. Let’s get at it.

Carlos Boozer – Although Boozer should return this week, I’d be slightly hesitant to start him this week. I’d be pretty surprised if Boozer’s minutes were anything over 25 per game. I’m guessing he’ll be around 20 minutes for the first few games. Read More »

In the aftermath of last Thursday’s trade deadline and the complete facelift of the Kings organization, Mikki Moore is getting a lot of attention. Remember, just two seasons ago Moore had a breakout year in New Jersey that landed him a nice contract in Sac-Town, and in the right situation (playing for a contender) he could contribute right away off the bench. Read More »

Not to sound like an investigative journalist, but did you think there was something fishy with the nullification of the Tyson Chandler trade?

He’s dealt, and then the trade is rescinded because he “didn’t pass a physical.” I could have sworn that “turf toe” was the condition that the Thunder doctors cited.

However, according to Chandler’s blog, he never actually got on the plane to go to OKC.

On my way to the airport I get a call from my agent again and he says “Don’t get on the plane.” And I’m like “What?” He repeats, “Don’t get on the plane. There’s some problems with the trade, I don’t know if it’s going to go through.” Read More »

As soon as the NBA does the right thing and starts its Rookie Confidence Intervention program, we need to get Jeff Green on the phone with Courtney Lee. As the reigning “Getting my a$$ busted every other night” R.O.Y. — thanks to the Sonics/Thunder grooming him to be Pippen to Kevin Durant‘s Jordan while ex-coach P.J. Carlesimo was apparently unaware of the concept of help D and double-teams — Green perfected his 1,000-yard stare after some nightmare-ish nights left on an island with the likes of Kobe and Caron. Lee is in a similar spot this year, having been stuck guarding Kobe, LeBron, and just about every other top-flight scoring wing in the League. Yesterday the rook hit a low-point when Dwyane Wade handed him 50 points (17-30 FG, 14-15 FT) on his home floor on national TV … After he almost got taken out on one of the game’s first possessions — beating Lee on a cut to the basket, but running into Dwight Howard and landing back-first on the floor — Flash dropped 16 on Lee in the first quarter, and his outside shooting opened the door just enough to create easier driving lanes for circus shots and one-hand crams in traffic … Read More »

From last night’s Thunder/Warriors game. Poor Marco…

During NBA TV’s pre-game show for Hornets/Jazz last night, there was an argument over whether Chris Paul and Deron Williams are definitely the top two point guards in the League. Rick Kamla was the one who threw it out there, Steve Smith agreed with him after giving due respect to Jason Kidd and Steve Nash, and then Mike Fratello brought Chauncey Billups and Derrick Rose into the discussion. Who’s missing from this picture? Tony Parker, of course. Obviously it’s up to your personal preference, but how does a PG who just played in the All-Star Game and is leading a team with a better record than Utah and New Orleans not even get mentioned? … CP vs. Deron stuck to the usual script: Pretty even statistically, and Deron picked up the W. In the first home game for the Jazz since owner Larry H. Miller passed away — which included several tributes throughout the broadcast and everyone showing love to Miller’s wife and family sitting courtside — it was close going into the fourth quarter before Deron (20 pts, 13 asts) and Mehmet Okur started raining big-time shots down the stretch to put it away. Read More »

It’s hard to talk about last night’s ridiculous performances because really the injuries are piling up and what do injuries mean? PICK UPS. So sure we’ll mention LeBron’s crazy double nickel (that’s the mention by the way), but there are some free agents out there that you need to get after in a hurry. Here we go.

Leon Powe/Big Baby – Kevin Garnett is going to miss three weeks and luckily this season, as opposed to last year, we have an idea ahead of time what’s going to happen to KG’s value. If last year was any indication, Leon Powe could be worth owning. He was a double-double regular while KG was out last season and if Big Baby doesn’t get in the way too much we could see similar results. So what about Big Glen Davis? He’s a wild card. I don’t think he’ll have value but he’s been used more than Powe in a whole lot of situations this season and it wouldn’t shock me to see him have some big games here and there. I still think Powe is a decent pick up. The one hiccup in all this? Mikki Moore. If he does sign with the Celtics he could have an immediate impact on Powe and Davis’ playing time.

Matt Barnes – Barnes has second fantasy life. Last nights pretty solid all around line could be a regular thing. Grant Hill (don’t worry about last night’s low minutes) is the better own for the rest of the regular season, but Barnes is worth a flier. Read More »

This is getting ridiculous. In the three games since Terry Porter got the boot and Alvin Gentry dusted off his playbook from the D’Antoni era, the Suns have been putting up points like it’s NBA Live 96 on Rookie level with 12-minute quarters. After handing the Clippers 140 and 142 points back-to-back, last night Phoenix dumped another 140 on the Thunder. Even without Amar’e Stoudemire — who, if you haven’t heard, is out for at least two months following eye surgery — burying OKC under a barrage of buckets was no problem: Leandro Barbosa (who’s been playing with a Ronald McDonald smile on his face since the All-Star break) posted 41 points, seven boards, seven assists and six steals, J-Rich scored 34 points (including a 360 breakaway dunk), and Shaq almost ripped down a couple rims on his way to 22 points and nine boards … Gentry went small to combat the Amar’e problem, surrounding Shaq with Steve Nash, Barbosa, Richardson, and Grant Hill at the four. Lou Amundson and Robin Lopez didn’t see any significant bump in PT … Can you do the Booker T “Watch the hand” thing after a layup? Read More »