It’s kind of hard for me to believe that a Dallas team that’s 17-12 and playing good ball would lose by almost double digits against Utah. Consider that Paul Millsap, Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur are all hurt, leaving the Jazz with a starting five of Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko, Ronnie Brewer, Kosta Koufos, and C.J. Miles, I really start to wonder. You could certainly do worse for a starting five, but that’s definitely not the Jazz’s best lineup. But when you see Dirk Nowitzki getting called for an offensive foul on a play like this and then you see that he later got ejected for a love tap on Matt Harpring, you figure something may have been up with the refs. Check out this brilliant acting job by Andrei Kirilenko that got the call:

I’m telling you, I hardly think about this despite the Tim Donaghy stuff, but a nine point loss for Dallas, a 10 free throw disparity, and Dirk Nowitzki getting ejected doesn’t sound right to me. If I didn’t know any better I’d say the refs had some action on this game.

I’m not saying that the Home Run Derby packs the best stars in the game each year, but half the contestants are legitimate stars if not all of them. Why is it that the Slam Dunk Competition at the NBA All-Star game is too frequently devoid of stars? Dwight Howard’s a monster and watching him participate is a pleasure. Rudy Gay’s an up-and-coming player but not an All-Star. And Nate Robinson? He may be a defending champ but let’s get real — he’s nowhere near a star player. So already you have two contestants that really aren’t stars and the fourth participant will be selected by the fans. That’s a great idea in theory but not so great when the players we get to choose from are Joe Alexander, Rudy Fernandez, or Russell Westbrook. I’m not sure what the NBA is up to here. Obviously they’re trying to market their young players because all three are rookies. Rudy Fernandez they can market to a Spanish crowd I guess. Alexander the same with the Asian crowd I guess. With Westbrook, maybe they’re trying to throw Oklahoma City a bone.

Seriously, what typical fan has even heard of any of these guys? Why can’t they get some decent names into the dunk competition? How about Vince Carter who no longer is worthy of being voted onto an All-Star team? How can they throw in Joe Alexander who barely cracks 10 minutes and four points a game? I’m voting for Westbrook for my obvious UCLA bias and also because he’s the best player (and dunker of the bunch). Since you probably have no clue who these guys are, here’s their publicity videos asking for your vote. And seriously, like any of these guys can compare to Howard as pictured above? Please.

Read The Full Story…

The Milwaukee Bucks were pretty persistent in their initial drafting and pursuit of Yi Jianlian who did not want to play in middle-America. They seemed to be quite smitten with him because he was talented, tall, athletic, and best of all … he was young! But what if Yi Jianlian were really 22 when drafted, not 19 as he professed to be? All of a sudden the allure and prospects go out the window, and then he becomes on par for judgment with your generic college seniors. This was an issue that was raised by Tom Ziller at Fanhouse a year and a half ago, citing Draft Express as his evidence.

Now, in the wake of a Chinese crackdown on age shaving that shows 36 players gave false ages, it’s starting to appear more and more like Yi provided the NBA a false age. As Sports by Brooks has shown, Interbasket.net even has a document (a school report you see above) that appears to show Jianlian’s real birthday — that he was born in ‘84, not ‘87. Of course, this would be nothing new in the sports world as we have come to find out. There’s a lot to be gained in the sports world being “young and talented” rather than just talented, and apparently Yi’s handlers understood that when they swindled a bunch of cash from NBA teams.

When I look at the Raptors or the 76ers, I see what they did last year and the talented players on the roster, therefore I can understand people having fairly high expectations for the team. But when you’re the Sacramento Kings and you’ve been in the lottery the last few years and you traded away one of your best defenders in the off season in Ron Artest, what are you really expecting for the season? Additionally, factor in Kevin Martin’s ankle injury that has caused him to miss pretty much the last five weeks, and you’re looking at a team that’s — let’s face it — not very good. I guess from an outsider’s perspective, the move was surprising given the timing. It even surprised Theus:

“I had no idea [in advance]. We were just coming off our best win [over the Lakers] the past two years. We’ve had a lot of injuries. … Everyone knew we were rebuilding and the projection was for 20-25 wins.”

Yup, injuries and projections of 20-25 wins. That’s about where the Kings were. And it’s really tough to win without a weapon like Martin in the lineup. I guess there really must have been a lot of problems going on behind the scenes because I can’t understand the rationale from a sheer basketball standpoint. The loss to the Knicks was embarrassing, but it’s not like the Kings haven’t been competitive in most of their games. Seriously, given that roster, what are you really expecting the team and coach to do? Unlike the P.J. Carlesimo and Eddie Jordan firings, I can’t understand this one.

The Baron Davis project with the Clippers has not exactly started off as planned. Baron began feuding with coach Mike Dunleavy about the team’s extensive playbook and regimented style mere weeks into the season. Through 20 games, the team is 4-16 and the prospects are grim. To make matters worse, Davis was the team’s marquee addition in the off-season. Problem is the guy packed on some pounds over the summer for endorsement purposes, we’re told. Yes, the guy became a Jenny Craig spokesperson and had to plump up for the part.

I buy the story because I’ve seen how much weight Baron gained and he’s confirmed the endorsement. But you have to wonder why the guy would willingly put his play on the court in jeopardy by gaining the weight. It shouldn’t be about the money considering he signed a $62.5 million contract. Maybe he’s like Sean Avery and just trying to cross over into the female brand. Maybe becoming a household name amongst the Oprah Winfrey crowd is more important to Baron than gaining the respect of his peers, the fans, and the media. At least the guy is back closer to playing shape these days. Only four more years of this for the Clips!

Just like I thought they would, the Miami Heat have bounced back this year and are back in the playoff hunt after stinking up the joint last year. But what do you expect from a team that was missing its best player much of the year, one who was at half strength when he did play? Dwyane Wade is back and healthy this year, leading the league in scoring, and leading the Heat to a 12-9 record. And Wade really did it all on Monday night against the Bobcats, including embarrassing Emeka Okafor with this dunk:

The dunk is the best part, but it doesn’t show that on the other end Wade out-jumped Jared Dudley for the rebound in order to get the ball and bring it down the court. 41 points, 8 rebounds, nearly 29 points per game, I’d say Wade is back.