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BasslineSpin.com February 21, 2007 ...Caught
the Kings hanging on to beat Boston at ARCO on Tuesday night. Sacramento did
not play well. But Boston was worse. The Celtics presently own the lowest
winning percentage in the NBA. Paul Pierce was
injured and missed over 20 games - so that factors in. He is back now but he
looks out of shape. I also thought Sebastian Telfair and Kendrick Perkins looked heavy. ...Any weight that the
Kings’ Kevin Martin put on
in the Summer is seemingly gone. Kevin looks thinner than thin. He scored 22
points but did nothing else. Martin could be better if he could focus on
maintaining high energy—even when he gets the hook from Eric Musselman. I may be reading between the lines
too much—but my observation is that when Musselman pulls Kevin for a
mistake—Martin loses mental focus on the game. In essence he is pouting and
it affects his play. It even has crept into his free throw shooting. His
misses at the line happen when he doesn’t use energy to get up on his toes.
His shot is flat when that occurs. I wonder what his diet is like? ...Will
the Kings make a trade before the Feb. 22 deadline? The guess here is they
will not. Not because they don’t want to trade some dudes but the Kings most
likely trade bait, Mike Bibby, is making like 12.5 million dollars. That
makes him very difficult to trade. Try
ESPN’s
Trade Machine if you want to see for yourself.
...By efficiency, Jason Kidd is the
second best point guard in the NBA at this moment. He is rumored to be
traded. Another very valuable player who may be on the block is Pau Gasol. The Spaniard is rated fifth in the league at his
position. ...I was sick of hearing the announcers, and studio guys
discrediting David Lee’s 14-14 FG performance at the Rookie-Sophomore game over
All-Star Weekend. They said, “they were all dunks, and lay-ups”. As if a dunk
is a bad thing? Lee should be credited for being an old-school baller that
actually makes cuts to the hoop. He understood he was playing with Deron Williams, and Chris Paul, and they would hit him at the hoop
if he went there. That is smart basketball. The efficiency rating rarely
lies—and it rates Lee eighth among all power forwards in the NBA. ...More
Kings: The Kings are in deep trouble when you consider their contract situations.
Are you excited about three more years of Shareef Abdur-Rahim?
`Reef is the 55th most efficient power forward in the league. Brad Miller also has three more years on his
deal. Miller and Shareef are already slower than most. What will they look
like in 2009-10? How about three more years after this for Kenny Thomas? If Geoff Petrie can trade Bibby, Abdur-Rahim, Miller
or Thomas for anything—he should be applauded. ...Did you know Jason Hart makes $600,000 more this year than
Martin? Hart, Corliss Williamson (6.5
mil), and Vitaly Potapenko (3.6
mil) all come off the Sac books after this season. Ronnie Price, and Justin Williams also have deals that end this year. February 17, 2007 ...My
long term Final Four: North Carolina, Ohio State, Florida, and Kansas. February 13, 2007 ...Sacramentans
should be preparing themselves for the Kings move to Las Vegas. That is the
only conclusion I can draw after NBA Commissioner David Stern said yesterday that he would not
oppose a relocation of an existing NBA franchise to Vegas if it was the will
of the NBA’s Board of Governors (owners). This is a change in policy by
Stern. In the past—he would draw a hard line citing betting on NBA games in
Nevada as a solid steel road block. With Stern’s softer stance - I can’t see
how any businessman in his right business mind wouldn’t want to be in Las
Vegas. It could also be the Seattle Sonics but their owners do not own a
Hotel and Casino in LV as the Kings’ Maloof Brothers do.
Usually one owner won’t stand in the way of a move by another owner because
they would want the same courtesy if they were jammed up. February 12, 2007 Are
the Grammy producers out of their minds? I was insulted at the ‘tribute’ to James Brown. That man deserved more than a Christina Aguilera shout. It’s not Christina’s fault.
She can actually sing (but I think she tries too hard). The Eagles tribute
was four songs long but JB’s deal is a Christina cover and some old video
with a guy dancing in front of it? ...The Grammy’s also ran long. The highlight
of the show to me was the performance of “Gravity” by John Mayer with Corrinne Bailey-Rae and John Legend. Mayer has a tone on guitar that I
enjoy. ...Mary J. Blige’s appeal
came through in her acceptance speech (the second one). She is realer than
real. ...Someone explain to me how Carrie Underwood is a
“New Artist”. ...Did Chris Rock say
the Red Hot Chili Peppers were the best band in the world? |