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Phil Partington's BlogPosted by Phil Partington The Milwaukee Bucks recently traded prospect Forward Yi Jianlian and Forward Bobby Simmons to the New Jersey Nets for Forward Richard Jefferson. This trade confirms that the Bucks are looking to win now, while the Nets are looking more toward the future. After dealing Jason Kidd to the Dallas Mavericks during the season, the Nets look much younger than before. One wonders if Vince Carter might be dealt next. Along with the trades, New Jersey selected Center Brook Lopez with the 10th pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, as well as Forward Ryan Anderson with the 21st pick, giving them a more balanced offensive approach. Pending other transactions, they'll be rolling with Lopez at center, Sean Williams, Josh Boone or Anderson at the power forward position, Yi Jianlian at the other forward position, Devin Harris at point guard and Vince Carter at the shooting guard spot. On the other hand, Milwaukee seems to be trying to make a playoff push right away. Richard Jefferson is a solid finisher with a lot of versatility, but it's questionable as to whether or not he'll be able to get them over the hump. He'll certainly take pressure off of Michael Redd, but the Bucks could still use a bruiser power forward, as well as a pass-first backup point guard. Their success will mostly be linked to the development of Center Andrew Bogut, who's extremely underrated as a prospect. Posted by Phil Partington The NBA's management techniques have been less than impressive recently. First, they do a piss-poor job of handling the Seattle Supersonics' situation, then they call out referee Joey Crawford for missing a key foul call late in game four of the Lakers-Spurs series, then they announce that they plan to fine players for flopping. It seems the league has lost all trust in their refs ever since the Tim Donaghy incident last year. The job of an NBA referee is a very difficult one to be sure, and missing the occasional call has always been part of the game. It's understandable for the league to implement an instant replay system for buzzer-beaters, but to publicly call out an official for missing a call cheapens the refs' in-game authority. The job of a ref is not to make the right call every time. It's to manage the game and keep order, while being as fair as possible. The league is overstepping their bounds and de-valuing the profession of the basketball referee, and not letting them do their jobs. In the case of flopping, perhaps referees should be better trained on how to watch for such a maneuver, or perhaps the league should include "catching flops" in a ref's evaluation, but fining players is a dangerous precedant to start. Whether or not a player is flopping is often determined by individual discrepancy, and sometimes that can be inconsistent. Also, there are many occasions when a player might over-sell the foul, but it is still a foul. It seems the league should be focussing on more pressing issues, like the collective bargaining agreement which continues to drive ticket prices through the roof and has been the cause of several teams changing cities. Posted by Phil Partington This has been a crazy month for me, so I apologize for being so quiet. I'm glad to be back to discuss all the exciting things that have happened in May in the NBA. The Playoffs are down to the final tick with San Antonio and the Lakers left in the West and the Celtics and Pistons dueling things off in the East. I don't think anyone should be shocked to see those teams still in it, but their journeys have been a bit odd. The Spurs faced a difficult seven-game series against the New Orleans Hornets and now find themselves down two games to one to a Lakers team whose star, Kobe Bryant, has been dealing with injuries here and there and whose up-and-coming center, Andrew Bynum, has been M.I.A. Nobody should be too surprised that the Boston Celtics are in the position they're in. Yet, after their first two series, it looked as if the season was going to be a disappointment. They've played back-to-back seven-game series. The first was against the eight-seeded Atlanta Hawks. Meanwhile, the Pistons bounced back in their second round series against the Orlando Magic after being down against the Philadelphia 76ers two games to one in their first series before winning that series four games to two. However, with Chauncey Billups playing through pain, they find themselves down against the Celtics. At this point it will be interesting to see what happens when the Lakers-Spurs series goes back to Los Angeles. Remember, they struggled on the road against New Orleans, too. Posted by Phil Partington Hey folks, I'm back in action. Sorry about the recent hiatus, but thanks for all your comments/opinions on the MVP race. Can you believe the Celtics/Hawks series going to seven games? The Mike Bibby deal seems to have really paid off. What do you think? Is it a match up issue? Is Atlanta just playing their hearts out? Is Boston really a finals contender? Another question is what does this success mean for the Hawks? If they manage to upset Boston in Game 7, do they make any moves? They do have a logjam at the small forward position with Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Josh Childress. They could certainly use a defensive-minded center. Yet, which prospect do they give up? Or, should they keep what they have and hope to continue to develop that talent, despite the holes. At any rate, it should be an exciting Game 7. I'm glad to be back and am excited about hearing your thoughts on the NBA Playoffs. Posted by Phil Partington Though fans should be focused on the excitement surrounding the upcoming NBA Playoffs right about now - after all - the Western Conference features a face that's gone down to the very last day, and the East has a prominent title contender at the top. Yet, there've been some off-court distractions to pull fans' attentions away from the good stuff. First, the situation with Seattle and the Supersonics is awful and should never be allowed to happen. Heck, it should never have gotten to that point. For those who don't know, former Sonics owner Howard Schulz sold the team over a year ago to a group out of Oklahoma. The sale went with the stipulation that the new owners intended to try to keep the team in Seattle and would make all good-faith efforts to do so. Recently, e-mails have emerged that show very clearly that that was never the case. So, Mr. Schulz is suing the Oklahoman owners as a last-ditch effort to keep the team where it is. It's a mess. Take it from a Seattlite. Sonics fans have really stepped up, though. This isn't like when the Hornets left Charlotte and there were less than a thousand fans at many of the games. Fans in Seattle have been showing their support all season, despite a horrid year. Second, Carmelo Anthony recently got arrested for suspicions of DUI. Oops! I'm sure Denver appreciates that with the playoffs less than a week away. Posted by Phil Partington I must admit, I had my doubts as to whether the big three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen could win a title for Boston, but the way they're playing is tough to ignore. After they started winning at the beginning of the seasons, critics (including myself) pointed out that they had played a somewhat weak schedule. However, we're near the end of the season and they have a 58-15 record, including a 25-5 record against the Western Conference, whom most consider a tougher conference overall. Kevin Garnett has led Boston to the best defense in the league and they've picked apart some tough opponents of late. Moreover, they've been relatively healthy this season and haven't shown a whole lot of fatigue. On top of that, most would argue that they'll have an easier path to the finals than teams in the West. The Detroit Pistons will be their biggest obstacles with the Orlando Magic and Cleveland Cavaliers also being pesky opponents. With the additions of veterans PJ Brown and Sam Cassell, the sky's the limit in Boston and the luck of the Irish seems to have finally returned to the Garden. Posted by Phil Partington March Madness is upon us and it's time to start thinking about your office brackets. Here is a quick guide to the 2008 NCAA Men's College Basketball Tournament. Important Dates
Check out the full schedule of events, or find what you're looking for at the NCAA March Madness 2008 site, or at NCAA Sports. If you aren't up to speed on how teams are doing, you might want to check out the current rankings, or conference standings. The teams that are most likely to claim the number one seeds at this point are (1) North Carolina, (2) Memphis, (3) UCLA and (4) Tennessee. Posted by Phil Partington After winning 13 games straight, the Houston Rockets took a big blow with star center Yao Ming going down for the rest of the season. That means, they'll have to put all their hopes on the oft-injured Tracy McGrady, as well as an old Dikembe Mutombo in the paint. After struggling for most of the season, the Rockets had made a major push in the standings, pulling within one game of the Dallas Mavericks and New Orleans Hornets and two games of the San Antonio Spurs. Yet, without Yao anchoring the team's middle, they may not have enough to continue their hot streak. Meanwhile, has anyone noticed how many current winning streaks there are in the NBA? Has anyone wondered if that has something to do with all the recent trade activity? The LA Lakers, after acquiring Pau Gasol, have won nine straight, the Spurs, acquiring Kurt Thomas and Damon Stoudamire to help solidify its bench, has won six straight, and Dallas, after acquiring Jason Kidd, has won three straight. Conversely, the Memphis Grizzlies have lost six straight after trading Pau Gasol for practically nothing, and though the Miami Heat, after acquiring Shawn Marion, have only won one of its last ten games, they have been playing more competitively than before. Posted by Phil Partington The Phoenix Suns recently dealt athletic forward Shawn Marion and back up point guard Marcus Banks to the Miami Heat in exchange for an old, worn-out Shaquille O'Neal. In the last couple of seasons, Shaq has dwindled into a shell of his former self. This season, he averages a career low 14.2 ppg. Yet, it's hard to say what kind of playing condition O'Neal is actually in. Though he's been hurt for most of the season, Suns doctors are finding that he's really not in that bad of shape health-wise. Could it be that Shaq was merely over-selling his injury to avoid further hurting himself for a team that holds the absolute worst record in the NBA? The Heat have been awful this season, and has won only nine games so far. Going from that to a team that's considered just a piece away from winning an NBA title, Shaq has to be pleased. However, it's still uncertain whether or not he's the piece they need. Coach Mike D'Antoni loves to run-and-gun, while Shaq tends to slow things to a halt. Many say Shaq can be the rebounder who sparks the fast break. Only time will tell. Shaq is day-to-day. Phoenix won't rush him back, as they hope to use him more in the playoffs. Posted by Phil Partington Michael Beasley is a basketball stud. How else to explain his 25.3 ppg, 12.4 rbpg average, while shooting 56% from the floor? He's led this once overlooked squad to a 15-4 record and a first place seed in the Big 12. In fact, many expect Beasley to be the number one pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Of course, fellow freshman Bill Walker has helped. With an average of 16.1 ppg to go along with 6.5 rbpg, Walker's acrobatic dunks have helped to not only make the Wildcats an exciting team to watch, but also a formidable opponent. The 24-year losing streak to Kansas was known as "The Streak" to Wildcat fans, but with an 84-75 victory Wednesday night, it was officially broken. "It doesn't sting because of The Streak," an obviously disappointed Kansas coach Bill Self said. "It stings because it's our rival. I could care less about The Streak. But I do care about beating our rivals. So, yeah, this one stings more than what most would sting" [Associated Press]. Posted by Phil Partington Is it just me, or is anyone else itching for college basketball's March Madness? It's a month or two away, but we're entering the downslope of the season, especially with the numerous conference playoffs in February. In addition, is anyone else as excited as I am about the freshman class this season? As great as the Kevin Durant/Greg Oden class was a year ago, I think this class might be even better. Here's how I'd rank the top freshmen as of January 15th, 2008.
Posted by Phil Partington It's 2008 - finally - and the NBA is full of side stories that truly ought to become sitcoms. Here are ten New Years resolutions for certain NBA teams:
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