Basketball blog with takes on basketball and anything related to basketball . . . as well as a haven for jingoists everywhere - in America.

 
Raptors, Bulls Agree to Deal

Raptors get: Jalen Rose, Lonny Baxter, and Donyell Marshall
Bulls get: Antonio Davis, Jerome Williams and Chris Jefferies

Rose gives the Raptors a second scoring option (at this point no one on the Raptors not named Carter is averaging ten points a game. Marshall will also help. He can score, he rebounds well and he plays defense fairly well. He was stuck in the logjam that was the Bulls forward spots. Baxter was in the same logjam with less skills. Personally I think Rose is extremely over-rated and has been for years, but these guys will help Toronto.

Antonio Davis may or may not help Chicago. He's tall, but he's been playing pretty crappy for the first part of the season, so we'll see if he can turn it around. Either way he won't be starting regularly. JYD is the same way. He won't score, but he'll add even more rebounding to the Bulls bevy of big men. As for Chris Jefferies, well . . . ummmm . . . he can wave a towel well? He may get minutes, but I don't see him contributing significantly.

I think this trade probably ends up helping both teams, but a slightly better deal here. They depleted the bench, not that there was much there before, but helped the starting five. The Bulls just added more height and depth, which will help, but won't have the impact the TO guys will have.

For other people's views on the deal, check out the Bulls Blog and Raptor Blog.

--posted by Tim at 9:36 AM | | Permalink

 
Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you from everyone here at the End of the Bench. Yes I know that "everyone" is really just me, but don't burst my bubble here:)

--posted by Tim at 8:42 AM | | Permalink

 
Skiles Is Leading Candidate for Bulls

Looks like Matt over at BullsBlog is gonna get his wish. Crusty young guy it is.

--posted by Tim at 4:48 PM | | Permalink

 
Cartwright Gets the Axe

Paging Dr. Rivers . . . Paging Dr. Rivers.

This is looking a lot like the Rick Carlisle firing this summer. A better guy is out there and the team is willing to cut their guy loose to get him. Now granted Rick Carlisle won 50 games 2 seasons in a ro and Cartwright has the Bulls sucking, but it still seems like similar reasoning behind the firing.

--posted by Tim at 10:18 AM | | Permalink

 
Zo Retires, Need Kidney Transplant

Rod Thorn announced this morning that Alonzo Mourning needs a kidney transplant and that he will retire from the NBA. This brings up three things for me.

1) What a crappy way for Zo to go out. He's been struggling all season and simply looked like he was playing his way into shape most of the time. Obviously, we all know what was really happening now. The guy had a great career and it's just sad to see him have to go out like this after being such a warrior for his whole career.

2) While I realize when Zo had to sit out a year it probably made players reconsider taking those anti-inflammatories, but does him having to retire to get a kidney transplant make them think even harder about the issue?

3) How big of an ass does Kenyon Martin feel like right now? From what I've seen, he seems like he's an ass anyway. But even if you are a huge ass, you gotta feel stupid for making fun of a guys kidney condition when it turns out he needs a transplant.

--posted by Tim at 9:00 AM | | Permalink

 
Good Ways to Lose 11 in a Row

Have starting lineup that includes Stephen Hunter at center and Tyronn Lue at the point. The Magic are awful. I don't what else there is to say. If your name isn't McGrady and you're on that team, you aren't that good. Drew Gooden's numbers look nice, but he seems to have this penchant for making really dumb decisions. Juwan Howard is being Juwan Howard and not rebounding that much while coming off the bench. And for god sakes, Stephen Hunter? That's a weak starting center even in the Eastern Conference. That roster after say McGrady, Howard and Gooden is juts lacking any talent at all. I'll give Reece Gaines and Zaur Pachulia a pass cause they haven't really been getting minutes, but the dearth of talent in Orlando is just stunning.

--posted by Tim at 3:29 PM | | Permalink

 
Your Business May Be in Trouble If . . .

You are trying to build a big campaign based on this year's rookies and the five you choose include Kirk Hinrich, Mike Sweetney and Troy Bell. Now granted the other two are Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, but still.

1) Do you want kids to walk up to your shoes in the store and go "Hey, if I get these maybe I can make more turnovers and assists just like Kirk Hinrich!"?

2) I know Troy Bell has a shoe, but does he need it? Wouldn't you need to get into the game to use them? I know the injury report says he has tendinitis in his left knee, but isn't that just a slight step above back spasms on the injury credibility chain?

3) Oh oh oh!! Lemme get the shoe of that guy who's only gotten into 6 of his teams games for a total of 30 minutes so far!!!!! Get me those!!!! (Yes I'm talking to you Sweetney).

How far Converse has fallen. And to think they used to be THE basketball shoes. Now they can only get guys like Troy Bell and Mike Sweetney to hawk their shoes.

--posted by Tim at 4:42 PM | | Permalink

 
What's Up Doc, You're Fired

Can you say panic button? I know they lost ten in a row and all, but does anyone think this is actually Doc Rivers' fault? Maybe it has to do with having no one that can even pretend to be a center? Maybe it has to due with Tyronn Lue being the point guard? Maybe it is all of that. Someone had to take the fall and it wasn't gonna be the players with the guaranteed contracts. Either way Doc will be fine. He won't be out of coaching too long. He'll be near the top of everyone's list when coaches start getting the axe. As for the Magic. Well, they're a mess. Not sure what else I can say than that. They don't play much defense and they aren't scoring that well and that makes for a lot of losses.

--posted by Tim at 9:10 AM | | Permalink

 
Flipping Out Over Murray

A nice article by Marc Stein on Ronald "Flip" Murray who is helping keep the Sonics (and my fantasy team) together in the absence of Ray Allen.

--posted by Tim at 6:38 PM | | Permalink

 
The Return of Those Crazy Christies

There is a new article detailing the madness that is the marriage of Doug and Jackie Christie. Not as good as the first one. Give it a read. You'll be amused . . . or horrified . . . or both.

--posted by Tim at 1:28 PM | | Permalink

 
An Addition to the EotB favorite player list

You all know of my fascination with Mateen Cleaves, but Mateen is currently unemployed. So to fill the void he left I have a new favorite player that doesn't really get to play that much. He is Chris Andersen. Now unlike Mateen, Chris actually does something with the few minutes he actually gets. He blocks shots. For example, last night he played 8 minutes and blocked two shots. The guy is ranked 6th in blocks per game and he plays 16 minutes a night. Theo Ratliff who? Adonal Foyle what? Chris's strong play has earned him a spot on my fantasy team. Although let's be honest, that really says more about my team than Chris. But regardless, Chris is the new favorite son of EotB.

--posted by Tim at 12:01 PM | | Permalink

 
New Links!

The basketball blogging community is growing, which is nice to see. When I started this blog, there weren't any other basketball blogs that I knew of. It's nice now to be able to read a fans thoughts that aren't my own. Many of the new additions are team blogs (Celtics, Nets, Raptors, Cavs, Blazers, Magic). RickBrunson.com is hilarious. To put it in an analogy (I've been studying for the GRE, can ya tell?) Mateen Cleaves : EotB :: Rick Brunson : RB.com


--posted by Tim at 11:55 AM | | Permalink

 
Nash hurt in Mavs loss

If this is a significant injury this could be very very bad for the Mavs. Do they even have a nother real point guard? And no Tony Delk doesn't count. Does anyone really think they'll be as good with Travis Best running the point? Exactly. The Mavs and one of my fantasy teams hope it is nothing serious.

--posted by Tim at 10:52 AM | | Permalink

 
Boykins Makes Most of Homecoming (aka. Melo v. LeBron)

I would be remiss if I didn't comment on this as a basketball blogger. For those of you who haven't seen here were the stats from last night:

Anthony: 39min  6-17FG  6 Reb  2 Ast  14 Points

James:   41min  3-11FG 11 Reb  7 Ast   7 Points

People, especially the media, were totally disappointed by these guys because, basically they played like the rookies they are. It's not their fault that the media was hyping this as Magic v. Bird a mere 5 games into their NBA careers. I'm sure it's been covered, but I'm annoyed by this. So I'm gonna explain why this isn't Magic v. Bird.

These guys had never played each other before. Magic and Bird played multiple times in college and had some good duels. Second, Bird and Magic were on good teams. They didn't have to share the court with guys like Voshon Lenard and Kevin Ollie for 30 minutes a night. Third, if Magic and Bird had an off night, you at least got a good game. If Bron and Melo have abad night, you just get a Cavs-Nuggets game and no one wants that.

The other thing that bothered me was that after the game, the talking heads on Sportscenter talked about the game like Melo simply killed LeBron. In scoring yes, overall, I think it was pretty even. Both shot poorly. Bron doubled Melo up in boards though and killed him in assists. This bi-polar mentatlity to LeBron James performances needs to stop. It's like he's either the next Hall of Famer or he's a bust and there's nothing in between. The guy's a rookie. He's gonna be inconsistent. Everyone needs to just settle down until we see more than 5 games.

--posted by Tim at 10:28 AM | | Permalink

 
Duncan has Grade 2 Sprain of Left Ankle

Tim Duncan will miss 1-3 weeks. It could have been worse. Much worse, because really, is there a team with one guy that they could afford to lose less than the Spurs with Duncan. The next week or two is probably gonna be a mess with Parker still hobbled and Duncan out. What are they gonna do, run the offense through Rasho Nesterovic? On the bright side, if you have Malik Rose on a fantasy team you are gonna cash in on this for the next week or two. He'll probably be the main one to pick up the slack because would you trust guys like Anthony Carter, Hedo Turkoglu, Ron Mercer and Bruce Bowen to take more shots? Me either.

--posted by Tim at 4:35 PM | | Permalink

 
Tim's Wishlist

I have two things I really want, but am unable to find them. Can anyone tell me where I can get 1) a Nick Van Exel Warriors jersey and 2) Any Mateen Cleaves jersey (colleg or pro, but must have his number). Drop it in the comments or in an email if you know where to get one.

--posted by Tim at 1:29 PM | | Permalink

 
Martin Sprains Ankle

At the time it looked like it may be worse, and with Kenyon Martin's injury history (the broken ankle his last year at Cincinatti), you almost kind of assume the worst. Turns out it's only a sprain.

Also of note, Mark Madsen got hit in the face and didn't return. This begs the question, what was he doing in the game in the first place?

--posted by Tim at 1:27 PM | | Permalink

 
NBA Opens Office in Shanghai

This is interesting. Asia gets an office before Europe. Yao is a huhe part of that for sure. I wonder if the existing fan support is that much greater in Asia or if this is simply trying to capitalize on Yao. EIther way, the NBA world takeover is starting. First Canadam, then Shanghai, then the world!!!!

--posted by Tim at 1:25 PM | | Permalink

 
Brand Suffers Hairline Fracture in Foot

Elton Brand will be out 4-6 weeks. In other news the Clippers are gonna miss the playoffs again.

--posted by Tim at 1:22 PM | | Permalink