SB Nation User Blog: Unselds

Bye Bye Eddie

Unselds — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:56:41 -0000

Bye Bye Eddie

Editor's Note: Well, that happened quicker than I expected, but then again, Ernie Grunfeld's a man who isn't afraid to make bold moves. Ed Tapscott is set to take over, which is really interesting. Ed and Ernie have a history dating back to New York, but it's odd to see every single assistant passed over for the job. Including Randy Ayers.

I wouldn't be surprised to see stories about EJ and EG fighting come out in the coming months. The big elephant in the room seemed to be that they didn't like each other. -PM

UPDATE: According to ESPN, Mike O' Koren was also released today and Randy Ayers is now head assistant. (HT: Stet Sports Blog)

Looks like Les Boulez are getting ready to can Eddie Jordan. I would say I can't believe it, but this franchise is looking more and more like its old self every day.

Livingston Lives

Unselds — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:11:19 -0000

Livingston Lives

Despite rumors to the contrary, Shaun is still on the radar of a few teams.

Donyell Marshall?

Unselds — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:13:16 -0000

Donyell Marshall?

Editor's Note: Bumped because I remember Ernie really going after Marshall in 2005, signing AD instead. At this point, Donyell's pretty much done though. -PM

Cheap, and can shoot the three.

"I think I'm in the best situation ever," Brown, 26, said Tuesday during a teleconference with...

Unselds — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 14:01:25 -0000

"I think I'm in the best situation ever," Brown, 26, said Tuesday during a teleconference with reporters. "I came in as the No. 1 draft pick and now there are no expectations.

Tough Juice UConn Reunion

Unselds — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:49:49 -0000

Tough Juice UConn Reunion

Hey, at least it's something to read about.

Ron Artest

Unselds — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:45:28 -0000

Ron Artest

Here's what a poster suggested on SI Truth & Rumors. I love this idea. Getting Ron Artest would be exactly the kind of move that could make us an instant contender. Yes, he's a malcontent, but I don't think he would be a problem with this team of weirdos as well as veterans:

Trade Quincy Douby, Ron Artest, and Shelden Williams to Washington for Andray Blatche, Darius Songaila, DeShawn Stevenson, Oleksiy Pecherov, and a future 1st rounder.......

Wizards:
C - Brendan Haywood, JaVale McGee
PF - Antawn Jamison, Etan Thomas, Sheldon Williams
SF - Ron Artest, Dominic McGuire
SG - Caron Butler, Nick Young
PG - Gilbert Arenas, Antonio Daniels, Quincy Douby

Okafor?

Unselds — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:27:24 -0000

Okafor?

People on the Post site are debating trading BTH, one of the rooks and a pick for Okafor. Some even want to trade Jamison (even though he can't be traded for months even if we wanted to do that). Come on, dudes! This is the team we roll with.

Welcome back Gilbert!

Jason Smith?

Unselds — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:28:11 -0000

Jason Smith?

"The signing of Elton Brand has left Philadelphia with a bit of a logjam at power forward. With Brand, who has averaged 38.3 minutes in his career, expected to log heavy minutes at the position, incumbents Reggie Evans and Jason Smith will be fighting for the backup minutes.

If Sixers GM Ed Stefanski is looking to trade one (and there have been no indications that he is), Smith has value. The 6-10, 240-pound forward averaged 15.6 points and 8.0 rebounds in a superb summer league. Several scouts were impressed by Smith's improved ability to knock down the mid-range jump shot with regularity.

"He's a starter in this league," an Eastern Conference scout said. "No question."

Smith will make $1.3 million this season, and with team options at $1.4 and $2.2 million the following two years, he is one of the league's best bargains."

This guy had a nice stroke in SL. Just sayin...

Gilbert in the New York Times

Unselds — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 04:26:25 -0000

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/sports/basketball/17arenas.html?ref=sports

Jay-Z reference and shooting one-handed 3s. I'll take it.

A Filipino Embrace By RAPHAEL BARTHOLOMEW

MANILA — For N.B.A. players making their first visit to the Philippines, the adoration of fans can be flattering and startling.

“They make you feel like you’re a god,” said Gilbert Arenas, who recently spent three days promoting his new line of sneakers. “When my N.B.A. career is done, I have to play here one year just to feel that.”

Arenas, 26, sometimes jokes that being the Washington Wizards’ franchise player makes him “the black president.” Sure enough, this tour gave him a taste of presidential life.

When he landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Arenas was met by a horde of television and newspaper videographers and photographers who followed him throughout his three days in Manila. Arenas said that he was so taken aback by the size and opulence of his presidential suite at the Peninsula Manila Hotel that he took pictures to prove he stayed there.

To visit Adidas stores, he traveled in a motorcade of dark sport utility vehicles with an escort of three police motorcycles. Before he arrived at each site, bomb-sniffing dogs swept the areas, and brawny Adidas-clad security guards wearing Secret Service-style earpieces set up barricades to corral the fans who had crowded mall walkways to catch a glimpse of him. (The sportswear company is one of Arenas’s sponsors.)

“It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before, and I’ve seen crazy fans all over the world,” Arenas wrote on his NBA.com blog. He also offered this advice to his fellow N.B.A. players: “If you’re having a bad day or you’re having a bad career, go to Manila. They’ll bring your spirits up.”

This country’s love of basketball may surprise the players, but it is well known to sportswear companies, which have been sending American stars to Manila for years. Despite its small population and weak economy compared with other Asian markets like China, India and Japan, the Philippines consistently cracks the top four in rankings of Asian basketball sales for Adidas, according to Joey Singian, the managing director of Adidas Philippines.

The sneaker companies reward the country for such dedicated consumption by sending their star endorsers to visit. Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Tracy McGrady of the Houston Rockets have been to Manila twice in the past 10 years, and it is rare for an N.B.A. off-season to pass without at least one stopover by a star player. That visit is usually followed by a jump in sales of that player’s signature merchandise, and of basketball products in general, Singian said.

Even non-sportswear companies try to tap the interest here. They sponsor teams in the Philippine Basketball Association and give them corporate-themed names, like the Magnolia Beverage Masters and Santa Lucia Realtors.

The way fans climbed over one another during the Fourth of July weekend to touch Arenas’s hand was reminiscent of a papal visit. Some went in for high-fives, grabbed his hand and would not let go until security guards pried away their fingers.

Reynar Monteclaro, a 21-year-old college graduate from Zamboanga del Norte on the southern island of Mindanao, howled after Arenas signed his plush toy basketball. Monteclaro said he made the cross-country journey to Manila just to see Arenas.

During other moments of Arenas’s tour, his reception was more like that of a pop star. At an exhibition in the atrium of a mall in Quezon City, Adidas set up bleachers and a half court at which Arenas gave interviews and shot one-handed 3-pointers. More than 1,000 spectators watched from the ground floor and looked down from walkways on the upper levels.

“I feel like Jay-Z in the States,” Arenas told the crowd. “I don’t get this kind of love in Washington.”

Gil "touching the ball" already

Unselds — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:41:40 -0000

It appears he's backtracking from his statement already. Now he won't be "playing basketball" until August. Careful there, big fella!

"I’m not going to play basketball until August. I’m going to go out there and do some basic dribbling and then go back to fundamentals stuff like passing and all that. But I’m not going to do anything jumping wise until August." -Gilbert Arenas, $111 million man.

http://my.nba.com/forum.jspa?forumID=400032200&start=0