Pretty funny.

Very thorough article by Tim Donahue.

There’s a lot of stuff here, but…for me…it really all comes down to the hard cap. A hard cap will not be a silver bullet that will solve all of the NBA’s problems, but I’m not foolish enough to want to try to solve all of the NBA’s problems. It is, however, the simplest, most effective way to take the biggest step towards this well articulated goal:

"a system in which all 30 teams can compete, and, if they are well-managed, to make a profit." – NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, April 15, 2011

via Eight Points, Nine Seconds

Mystery solved. Mark Cuban left game 4 early because he "couldn't hold it in any longer."

"Six large Diet Cokes during the game will do that to you."

Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus writes...
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Looking strictly at the period since Roy's return, the Blazers have been better with him on the floor, outscoring opponents by 6.7 points per 48 minutes. They're +4.8 per 48 minutes when he's been on the bench. That might actually understate Roy's impact, as he has been a relatively small part of lopsided wins over the Cleveland Cavaliers (by 41 points) and the Washington Wizards (by 35) that have padded Portland's differential."
...
Teams still have to respect Roy's ability, especially as a shooter (even as he's making just 32.4 percent of his threes). That has served to open things up for his teammates, most notably when Roy is the Blazers' lead ballhandler. Per BasketballValue.com, Portland is scoring at a rate of 109.6 points per 100 possessions with Roy at the point since his return. That makes him an upgrade over Patty Mills, who had been backing up starter Andre Miller.
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ed: bumped to front page

Great article on Oden by Henry Abbott. Certainly worth a read. Here's an excerpt:

We judge players by things like uniform, draft position, contract size and rebound rate. That has been the basis of the relationship between Oden and fans.

That's a laughable little concern compared to Oden himself. He's facing a huge mental health hurdle, a total redefinition of who he is and how he sees himself, and a real need to find things outside of basketball that mean a lot to him.

Was Batum snubbed? I'm not saying he should be an all-star, but I think he at least deserves to be listed on the ballot. A sample of other small forwards from the West that were selected include Ron Artest, Trevor Ariza, Grant Hill, and Caron Butler.

Batum is averaging a higher FG% and more points than all of those players, even though playing on a team with a slower pace.

I was looking into this, though, and found out that the all-star ballot was put together in mid-October, so all season stats up until this point weren't even factored in.

Roy is mentioned as one of the "losers of the week." Starts at about the 9:30 mark. Skeets and Tas praise Roy's toughness, but then consider the possibility that we may have seen the old Roy for the last time. Also, in regards to the playoffs, they describe the Blazers as being on the outside looking in, saying that the West is just too difficult.

Interesting to hear a perspective outside of Portland. Also one of the few times I've ever seen Skeets and Tas serious before.

Not really anything new, but Elliot Williams had his surgery today and this part was also interesting:

"The Blazers did not send Roy to Los Angeles for a personal examination, and didn’t take new pictures of his knee because the Blazers medical staff feels no acute injury has taken place. Instead, they feel Roy’s swelling and pain is merely a reoccurrence of symptoms Roy feels every season. The hope is that Roy’s knee will recover as in previous seasons."

You'd think they would take new pictures just in case. I don't want any assuming going on.

"A league source says Portland Trail Blazers guard Rudy Fernandez(notes) has filed a grievance with the league after he was fined $50,000 for comments made on his behalf about him seeking a trade."

The Matthews dunk on Bayless is pretty sick.

Excellent article by Larry Coon.

Hopefully his NBA skills are as good as his Wii skills.

The Bulls reached agreement with Keith Bogans on a two year deal valued at about $2.5 million.

Jason Quick posted this at 6:49pm and updated it at 7:04pm (within his 7-7:30pm timeline he gave). I don't see how this is "drama." There has to be something else coming... but why would he be busy posting this if there was something bigger coming?

Update - 7:49pm: "Trail Blazers actively seeking trade for Rudy Fernandez according to agent Andy Miller. Boston, Chicago and New York are leading candidates"
@jwquick

"The Orlando Magic have replaced the New York Knicks as the top team on Chris Paul's list of preferred destinations, according to league sources.

Paul believes the Magic, with Dwight Howard, would be a better fit for him. Also, Paul realizes the Magic have more to offer New Orleans in a trade and therefore views it as a more realistic landing spot.

New York, Portland and Dallas are still all on Paul's short list."

Good for him.

Good write up on today's scrimmage vs. Washington and John Wall by Joe Freeman.

Update: Note the video posted by Douglast in the comments for some more insight on the scrimmage. Good stuff.

Any interest in adding Foye as a backup PG?

I think Kobe getting first team is a joke. Artest is the one that always matches up with the other team's best player. Also, Josh Smith should have been on the first team and Bogut got robbed.