http://www.yardbarker.com/content/sport/3 Recent Yardbarker articles: National Basketball Association en-us D'Antoni Agrees to Coach Knicks After leading the Phoenix Suns to three division titles and two trips to the Western Conference Finals, Mike D'Antoni will now head to the Big Apple for a change of scenery. Carlisle Replaces Johnson as Mavs Head Coach The Dallas Mavericks named Rick Carlisle as the replacement for their former head coach Avery Johnson. Carlisle was the only candidate for the head coach post when the Mavs fired Johnson after their second straight round 1 playoff exit. Mon, 12 May 2008 18:40:50 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266225 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266225 You all have probably already seen the NBA promotion... But check out this out!!! Mon, 12 May 2008 18:33:04 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266221 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266221 87 Golden State Warriors 4429 Baron Davis Paul Pierce was fined $25,000 for the gesture that you can see him make to Al Horford at the 30-second mark of the video above. It occurred during game three of their first-round series with Atlanta. Kurt Streeter of the LA Times threw down his take yesterday. After speaking with him, he has agreed to monitor our comments over at FTB and contribute to whatever dialogue we can muster up. So c'mon and jump! Mon, 12 May 2008 17:56:14 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266207 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266207 71 Indiana Pacers 63 Boston Celtics 87 Golden State Warriors 4539 Stephen Jackson 4429 Baron Davis 4665 Paul Pierce The Celtics second unit worked well together throughout the regular season; they were a collection of energy players and team players who above all spread the floor, allowing Paul Pierce- who usually stayed in the lineup with them- plenty of room to create. And both Brian Scalabrine and James Posey could facilitate, with baseline and high picks, Ray Allen's diagonal, back to the basket cuts. Eddie House whipped hard passes around the perimeter keeping that good spread going and maintaining a tough upbeat tempo to the game; and he was able, when defensive seams opened up to scorch passes to Kevin Garnett down low. Leon Poweand Glen "Big Baby" Davis were always scrappy inside; Posey owned the corner, and Tony Allen was always a threat to slash. In short the C's bench created a good space for the Big 3 to work as precision craftsmen. Now with the Great Sam Cassell in at point and P.J Brown inside the system just doesn't work. I blame it on the role Sam has been given- as designated gunner- because he is forced toimprovise and look for pull-up jumpers in traffic, which leads not only to low percentage options, but also don't yield the kind of long offensive rebounds that come off of 3-ball attempts from Posey or House. And too much perimeter rotation is happening as a consequence of the second unit's disorganization, and that cramps the Celtic's transition defense. If Doc Rivers wants to use Cassell profitably, he'd be well-advised to lay in some 3 man plays for him, the post and a single weak side cutter. The ineffectiveness of the bench, espeacially on the road could destroy Boston's tittle hopes. Mon, 12 May 2008 17:51:25 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266206 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266206 63 Boston Celtics 4474 Kevin Garnett 4665 Paul Pierce 4409 Sam Cassell 4521 Eddie House The Celtics second unit worked well together throughout the regular season; they were a collection of energy players and team players who above all spread the floor, allowing Paul Pierce- who usually stayed in the lineup with them- plenty of room to create. And both Brian Scalabrine and James Posey could facilitate, with baseline and high picks, Ray Allen's diagonal, back to the basket cuts. Eddie House whipped hard passes around the perimeter keeping that good spread going and maintaining a tough upbeat tempo to the game; and he was able, when defensive seams opened up to scorch passes to Kevin Garnett down low. Leon Poweand Glen "Big Baby" Davis were always scrappy inside; Posey owned the corner, and Tony Allen was always a threat to slash. In short the C's bench created a good space for the Big 3 to work as precision craftsmen. Now with the Great Sam Cassell in at point and P.J Brown inside the system just doesn't work. I blame it on the role Sam has been given- as designated gunner- because he is forced toimprovise and look for pull-up jumpers in traffic, which leads not only to low percentage options, but also don't yield the kind of long offensive rebounds that come off of 3-ball attempts from Posey or House. And too much perimeter rotation is happening as a consequence of the second unit's disorganization, and that cramps the Celtic's transition defense. If Doc Rivers wants to use Cassell profitably, he'd be well-advised to lay in some 3 man plays for him, the post and a single weak side cutter. The ineffectiveness of the bench, espeacially on the road could destroy Boston's tittle hopes. Mon, 12 May 2008 17:41:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266199 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266199 63 Boston Celtics 4409 Sam Cassell 4521 Eddie House I keep on reading where Mike D'Antoni was the wrong choice to coach the New York Knicks and Donnie Walsh was the wrong choice to run the Knicks. I am not a fan of Garden el jefe, James Dolan, but it's hard to argue with these moves. Mon, 12 May 2008 17:02:36 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266183 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266183 90 Phoenix Suns 65 New York Knicks If we've learned anything so far this postseason, it's that these lottery teams need an elite point guard to turn around their fortunes. That someone is Derrick Rose. Mon, 12 May 2008 17:01:11 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266182 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266182 Ronny Turiaf got ejected last night because of a hard foul that caused Utah's Ronnie Brewer to bleed from the eyebrow. It was a hard foul, but nothing malicious about it and the fact that Turiaf is so much bigger than Brewer probably caused Brewer to fly. It was a flagrant, but not a flagrant 2. Nowhere near the "slap" by Darius Songalia on LeBron, and not as bad as Jason Kidd's throwdown of Pargo. Check out the vid, lemme know whatsup. Mon, 12 May 2008 16:46:12 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266177 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266177 86 Utah Jazz 69 Cleveland Cavaliers 76 Washington Wizards 89 Los Angeles Lakers 4383 Ronnie Brewer 4544 LeBron James 4719 Darius Songaila 4749 Ronny Turiaf When it comes to contract negotiations, the Warriors have been idiots before and they look like they're heading down that path again. After one of the most successful but disappointing seasons ever for Warriors fans, things may be changing for the worst. Negotiations between the team and Baron Davis have been "insulting" to Baron and the two sides are so far apart that they may just stop now and Baron might declare for free agency THIS SUMMER! This would be the worst possible situation for Golden State, they need Baron or at least to trade him for somebody of value, they can't afford to just sit back and watch him leave. RE-SIGN BARON AND SAVE THE WARRIORS! Mon, 12 May 2008 16:38:21 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266176 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266176 87 Golden State Warriors 4429 Baron Davis you know ray and pierce should dunk more its better im a dunking fan Mon, 12 May 2008 16:32:54 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266173 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266173 Caron Butler and Deshawn Stevenson know how to handle a loss! Mon, 12 May 2008 16:21:27 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266166 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266166 76 Washington Wizards 4723 DeShawn Stevenson 4397 Caron Butler Yesterday, Robber Horry played in his 237th playoff game, tying the all-time record held by Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. While he's been a roleplayer for the majority of his career, nobody can downplay his downright deadly clutch shooting. A couple teams owe their rings to Robert... <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xp19op8uK1E&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xp19op8uK1E&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> Mon, 12 May 2008 16:08:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266161 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266161 81 San Antonio Spurs 4520 Robert Horry Good perimeter shooting? Check. Solid defensive gameplan? Check. Limited turnovers? Check. The Cavs did all the right things in Game 3 that they didn't do in the first two games at Boston. The result was a 108-84 blowout win that made it a series again. But it's going to have to continue if the Cavs hope to win the series altogether... Mon, 12 May 2008 15:20:52 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266139 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266139 69 Cleveland Cavaliers 63 Boston Celtics 4754 Anderson Varejao 4764 Ben Wallace 4480 Daniel Gibson 4773 Delonte West 4733 Wally Szczerbiak 4531 Zydrunas Ilgauskas 4696 Rajon Rondo 4328 Ray Allen 4665 Paul Pierce 4474 Kevin Garnett 4544 LeBron James We New Yorker's love our ballers, It's hard to believe, but it's been eight years since the tragic death of NBA player Malik Sealy. Sealy was 30 on May 20, 2000 when he was on his way home from a birthday party for Timberwolves teammate Kevin Garnett and was killed by drunk driver heading the wrong way on the freeway. Mon, 12 May 2008 14:35:20 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266126 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266126 Over the next five weeks, I will go position by position and rank the top 30 players by total value. The NBA is a business, so it doesn't make sense to purely rank the players only by their talent or stats, or by some other qualitative measure (though those factors do matter). We must also look at a player's salary relative to his peers. Obviously, if a player is in the middle of a very reasonable contract, he'll get a boost in the rankings. To summarize a player's stats, I'll use the NBA Efficiency statistic, which is defined as: EFF = ((Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks) - ((Field Goals Att. - Field Goals Made) + (Free Throws Att. - Free Throws Made) + Turnovers)) I'll list Efficiency Per Game (EPG) for each player, which will give a nice snapshot of his stats. To compare two players that get vastly different minutes, I'll occasionally mention Efficiency Per Minute (EPM), which is simply the player's total efficiency divided by his minutes. I'll also consider a player's age and potential. All else being equal, a franchise would probably prefer a 25 year-old point guard to a 32 year-old point guard, right? Essentially, the order of this list comes down to this question – would you trade Player X for Player Y, assuming the goal is to win a title in the next three seasons at a reasonable payroll? To summarize, there are four major factors I'll consider: talent (statistical performance), contract, age and potential. Without further adieu, here are the top 30 point guards, ranked by total value: 1. Chris Paul, Hornets Age: 23 EPG: 27.8 Contract: two years, $10.6 M ($5.3 M per) Not only has Paul emerged as hands-down the best point guard in the game, he is still on his rookie contract, so he's a bargain to boot. 2. Deron Williams, Jazz Age: 23 EPG: 23.0 Contract: two years, $11.8 M ($5.9 M per) Williams is bigger and stronger than Paul, and is also a better outside shooter. But Paul has the edge in quickness, ball handling and court vision. 3. Tony Parker, Spurs Age: 25 EPG: 16.9 Contract: three years, $37.7 M ($12.6 M per) Parker is young, speedy and a proven player in the clutch. Plus, his salary is fairly reasonable for a player of his caliber. His defense is mediocre at best. (See the rest of the list after the jump.) Mon, 12 May 2008 14:33:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266125 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266125 85 Seattle SuperSonics 70 Detroit Pistons 90 Phoenix Suns 66 Philadelphia 76ers 77 Dallas Mavericks 87 Golden State Warriors 64 New Jersey Nets 78 Houston Rockets 65 New York Knicks 122 Orlando Magic 69 Cleveland Cavaliers 68 Chicago Bulls 73 Atlanta Hawks 91 Sacramento Kings 89 Los Angeles Lakers 63 Boston Celtics 74 Charlotte Bobcats 67 Toronto Raptors 76 Washington Wizards 82 Denver Nuggets 4768 Earl Watson 22828 Rodney Stuckey 4349 Leandrinho Barbosa 4615 Andre Miller 4738 Jason Terry 4450 Monta Ellis 4505 Devin Harris 4329 Rafer Alston 4692 Nate Robinson 4631 Jameer Nelson 4773 Delonte West 4517 Kirk Hinrich 4364 Mike Bibby 4751 Beno Udrih 4456 Jordan Farmar 4696 Rajon Rondo 4458 Raymond Felton 4462 T.J. Ford 4402 Jose Calderon 4336 Gilbert Arenas 4630 Steve Nash 4429 Baron Davis 4570 Jason Kidd 4534 Allen Iverson 4366 Chauncey Billups Outspoken Magic guard Jameer Nelson actually made two guarantees for Game 5. You probably heard about the first one -- a predicted win for Orlando. Mon, 12 May 2008 14:30:45 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266123 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266123 Kobe's antics are just as bad as Chad Johnson's but Kobe's sh*t apparently don't stink. Take a whiff at the Hungry Actor Mon, 12 May 2008 14:02:47 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266109 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266109 89 Los Angeles Lakers 4392 Kobe Bryant After some informal contract discussion, the Warriors and Baron Davis are far apart on contract terms. So far, in fact, that Baron's agent actually brought up the possibility of him opting out. I can not say that I am surprised - especially after the Dunleavey/Murphy semi-disaster - that they are being tight with thier money. Monta and Biedrins are going to be requiring hefty contracts next year and I think Mullin is kind of planning to build around the two of them. I think the combo of Boom w/ Monta at the 2 is pretty exciting. I can't imagine it differently. Hopefully they come to terms soon! Mon, 12 May 2008 13:31:20 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266101 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266101 87 Golden State Warriors 4365 Andris Biedrins 4450 Monta Ellis 4429 Baron Davis Apparently, the Detroit and Orlando media aren't playing nice together. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News confronted a radio host who he felt insulted him before Game 4's tip off Mon, 12 May 2008 13:22:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266096 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266096 122 Orlando Magic 70 Detroit Pistons Chris Paul is for real. He lead the New Orleans Hornets from no playoffs the year before to the 2 spot in the highly competitive West. He's extremely dangerous to other teams when it comes to decison making. From pulling up for a jumper, to driving in the lane to dishing it back out to an open teammate, they're all possibilities for him in just one play. He is the best point guard in the NBA. Player (Current Team/Former Team) PPG, RPG, APG, SPG * = Best in Category (R) = Rookie Steals 1+ Shown 1. Chris Paul (NOH) 21.1, 4, 11.6*, 2.7* 2. Baron Davis (GSW) 21.8*, 4.7, 7.6, 2.3 3. Deron Williams (UTA) 18.8, 3, 10.5, 1.1 4. Tony Parker (SAS) 18.8, 3.2, 6 5. Steve Nash (PHX) 16.9, 3.5, 11.1 6. Gilbert Arenas (WAS) 19.4, 3.9, 5.4, 1.8 (13 Games) 7. Chauncey Billups (DET) 17, 2.7, 6.8, 1.3 8. Jason Kidd (DAL/NJN) 10.8, 7.5*, 10.1, 1.7 9. Andre Miller (PHI) 17, 4, 6.9, 1.3 10. Mo Williams (MIL) 17.2, 3.5, 6.3, 1.2 11. Jamal Crawford (NYK) 20.6, 2.6, 5, 1 12. Raymond Felton (CHA) 14.4, 3, 7.4, 1.2 13. Jamaal Tinsley (IND) 11.9, 3.6, 8.4, 1.7 (39 Games) 14. Jose Calderon (TOR) 11.2, 2.9, 8.3 1.1 15. Rafer Alston (HOU) 13.1, 3.5, 5.3, 1.3 16. Rajon Rondo (BOS) 10.6, 4.2, 5.1, 1.7 17. Devin Harris (NJN/DAL) 14.8, 2.7, 5.8, 1.4 18. Kirk Hinrich (CHI) 11.5, 3.3, 6, 1.2 19. T.J. Ford (TOR) 12.1, 2, 6.1, 1.1 20. Beno Udrih (SAC) 12.8, 3.3, 4.3 21. Derek Fisher (LAL) 11.7, 2.1, 2.9, 1 22. Mike Bibby (ATL/SAC) 13.9, 3.3, 6, 1.1 23. Jameer Nelson (ORL) 10.9, 3.5, 4.6 24. Sam Cassell (BOS/LAC) 11.2, 2.5, 3.9 25. Nate Robinson (NYK) 12.7, 3.1, 2.9 26. Louis Williams (PHI) 11.5, 2.1, 3.2, 1 27. Daniel Gibson (CLE) 10.4, 2.3, 2.5 28. Delonte West (CLE/SEA) 8.3, 3.2, 3.8, 1 29. (R) Mike Conley (MEM) 9.4, 2.6, 4.2 30. Kyle Lowry (MEM) 9.6, 3, 3.6, 1.1 Just Missed It Ramon Sessions (MIL) 11.5, 4.9, 11.3, 1.5, (10 Games April) Antonio Daniels (WAS) 8.4, 2.9, 4.8, 1 Sebastian Telfair (MIN) 8.3, 2.3, 5.9, 1 Just a few things to say before I wrap this up. Jamal Crawford, he's a shooting guard running the point. He did pretty good, but Nate Robinson really should have taken that spot, and he might get that chance with Mike D'Antoni heading to New York and Marbury possibly opting out or getting traded. In fact a lot of players in the NBA are going to get their chance to shine in the NBA soon. A lot of the star veterans are nearing retirement. Players like Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups, Allen Iverson, Shaq, Dirk Nowitzki, even Shawn Marion turned 30 a few days ago. Soon they'll start to break down and eventually retire, making room for the younger guys to take charge. In a few years, the NBA's going to be a whole differnt game. Mon, 12 May 2008 13:19:10 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266095 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266095 80 New Orleans Hornets 87 Golden State Warriors 86 Utah Jazz 81 San Antonio Spurs 90 Phoenix Suns 76 Washington Wizards 70 Detroit Pistons 77 Dallas Mavericks 66 Philadelphia 76ers 72 Milwaukee Bucks 65 New York Knicks 74 Charlotte Bobcats 71 Indiana Pacers 67 Toronto Raptors 78 Houston Rockets 63 Boston Celtics 64 New Jersey Nets 68 Chicago Bulls 91 Sacramento Kings 89 Los Angeles Lakers 73 Atlanta Hawks 122 Orlando Magic 88 Los Angeles Clippers 69 Cleveland Cavaliers 85 Seattle SuperSonics 79 Memphis Grizzlies 4656 Chris Paul 4429 Baron Davis 4789 Deron Williams 4654 Tony Parker 4630 Steve Nash 4336 Gilbert Arenas 4366 Chauncey Billups 4570 Jason Kidd 4615 Andre Miller 4420 Jamal Crawford 4458 Raymond Felton 4746 Jamaal Tinsley 4402 Jose Calderon 4329 Rafer Alston 4696 Rajon Rondo 4505 Devin Harris 4517 Kirk Hinrich 4462 T.J. Ford 4751 Beno Udrih 4460 Derek Fisher 4364 Mike Bibby 4631 Jameer Nelson 4409 Sam Cassell 4692 Nate Robinson 4786 Louis Williams 4480 Daniel Gibson 4773 Delonte West 18364 Michael Conley 4584 Kyle Lowry Believe it or not, there are some fan favorites on this team. David Lee is chief among them. Renaldo Balkman's cannonball style of basketball has earned himself some fans as well. Nate Robinson's game seems to swing like a pendulum, but he's a popular player nonetheless. In his limited minutes toward the end of the season, fans liked what they saw out of Wilson Chandler as well. The one quality that all of these players have in common is that they rebound the basketball (even little Nate) and they run the floor. Think D'Antoni can find a use for players like that? And let's not forget the team's leading scorer, Jamal Crawford. You tell me, is this a guy best suited for walking the ball up the floor or tearing up and down it? Hell, maybe QRich isn't washed up after all. If anyone can find that out, it'd be his coach from Phoenix. Bottom line. Obviously this is a team and roster in flux, however the reality of the situation is that there are pieces in place here who, like it or not, D'Antoni will have to coach, and the coach's job will be to make those pieces as effective and competitive as possible. Walsh is thinking outside the box on this one, and I think he just might have gotten it right. Mon, 12 May 2008 12:30:44 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266073 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266073 90 Phoenix Suns 65 New York Knicks If this has offended any of the Magic fans that DO have class, I apologize in advance. If you see these guys walking around, tell them they're making all of you look bad. Mon, 12 May 2008 12:29:55 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266072 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266072 70 Detroit Pistons 122 Orlando Magic 4762 Rasheed Wallace 4524 Dwight Howard The Knicks are a slow, un-athletic bunch, which doesn't fit with D'Antoni's scheme. Unless some roster moves are made, I can't see much improvement from last season's disappointment. The best way for the Knicks to be a winning franchise is to be a defensive team. If they played off other team's mistakes, that's when they can find success. When you're fast-breaking down the court, let it come off a turnover, or a big rebound. Then Marbury and Jamal Crawford can play their game, while Lee, Curry, and Zach Randolph score inside. Mark Jackson would have been a better choice as Knicks coach. He was a former favorite and native New Yorker. Not to mention the positive effect he could have on Marbury. As disappointing as he's been, he's the starting point guard. Seeing how Marbury and D'Antoni feed off each other this season will be the latest installment in the soap opera that is the New York Knicks. Mon, 12 May 2008 12:29:21 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266071 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266071 90 Phoenix Suns 65 New York Knicks The Lakers limped back to Los Angeles after losing Sunday in Utah 123-115 in overtime. Fans got a glimpse of what Kobe Bryant will look like if he stays in the league until he's 45 years old. Kobe tweaked a back muscle early in the game and couldn't play the game the way he normally does. He shot multiple air-balls, couldn't get back on defense and didn't have any lift when he jumped. After receiving numerous emails and phone calls, one question was heard over and over. Why didn't Phil Jackson take Kobe out of the game? The reason is, you can't. Kobe didn't want to come out of the game. When someone is a fighter and the leader of your team, you let them play, even if they are not at 100%. When you have the world MVP and he says he wants to play, you have to let him play. This is not Kwame Brown saying "I can do it coach." This is the heart and soul of the team; he is the past, the present and the future of the Lakers. You cannot sit him down if he wants to play. What Phil did was talk to him, ask him what he wants to do. Kobe wanted to be in the game, so Phil put him in. Mon, 12 May 2008 12:07:17 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266060 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266060 89 Los Angeles Lakers 4392 Kobe Bryant So the recruitment of one of the NBA's brightest coaching minds was done with a tantalizing lure. Donnie Walsh couldn't sell the present to Mike D'Antoni, but because of the well-known Madison Square Garden resources, the future always has unlimited potential. Mon, 12 May 2008 11:48:21 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266051 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266051 Questions about Kobe's health put series in doubt.... Mon, 12 May 2008 11:30:06 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266037 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266037 89 Los Angeles Lakers 4392 Kobe Bryant Jazz OT thriller send it back to LA, 2-2.... Mon, 12 May 2008 11:29:02 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266036 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266036 86 Utah Jazz 89 Los Angeles Lakers Andrei sure looked beastly with those 2 blocks on Kobe in OT. Is he ready for game 5? Hear it from the man himself... Mon, 12 May 2008 11:04:42 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266015 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266015 86 Utah Jazz 89 Los Angeles Lakers 4571 Andrei Kirilenko 4392 Kobe Bryant MR. Monday usually tries to steer clear of the grassy knoll, sports fans, but this spring it's becoming a little hard. Mr. Monday keeps seeing visions of shady men in black suits trying to manipulate some of his favorite things. Two of our nation's great institutions have a shadow of a doubt rolling over them. Both are them are run by power-hungry little men, with short haircuts and strange accents. Both of these men choose their words very carefully, but still can't control some loose cannons in their organization. And because of that, for years, fans have gotten a little paranoid. Mon, 12 May 2008 10:38:31 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266004 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266004 80 New Orleans Hornets 81 San Antonio Spurs 86 Utah Jazz 122 Orlando Magic 70 Detroit Pistons 69 Cleveland Cavaliers 63 Boston Celtics 89 Los Angeles Lakers Well right now I'm in Columbus going through some training with the Grizzlies/Ohio State strength coaches. This is really my first full off season I'm able to train since my final year of high school. The training program starts today and is supposed to last 12 weeks so that pretty much takes me through my entire summer. I'm also wondering what pick our team will get in the lottery this year and who we actually take in the draft. I will have to lay off the videogaming for a while until I get my internet hooked up here in columbus... if you see my gamer tag online it's probably not me. Mon, 12 May 2008 10:37:50 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266003 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/266003